B2B Research Conference 2026

09.00 Registration & coffee

09.45 Extended opening address from the Chair: what B2B buyers say about you when you’re not in the room

In Conor’s opening remarks he’ll outline how B2B brand positioning is actually landing with buyers based on an analysis of 7.2 million real B2B buyer conversations; and what may need to change before it impacts revenue.

Conor Wilcock, Managing Partner, Basis Research

10.05 The UNSAID: hidden truths about AI transformation in marketing 

VML and Google share findings from a two-year experimental study exploring the behavioural drivers of AI adoption in marketing organisations.  

Combining qualitative interviews, semiotic and discourse analysis, the research identified three distinct “AI mindsets” linked to adoption behaviours. Live behavioural experiments with marketers and MBA students, examined how people responded to uncertainty, loss of control and ownership when working with AI systems and revealed that behavioural outcomes were shaped less by capability training alone, and more by the contexts, conditions and systems surrounding AI use. 

Gain practical insight into how multi method research blended with behavioural science can help organisations design environments that enable more effective AI adoption and implementation. 

Charlotte Burgess, Managing Director, Customer Insights, VML The Cocktail 

Maxwell Minckler, Senior Market Insights Manager, Search and YouTube, EMEA 

Google 

10.35 AI in action: solving B2B research challenges
A quick pace PechaKucha style session which will look at three ways AI is enhancing B2B research.

• Can AI moderated conversations improve B2B quant?
• Boosting N-sizes - A quant case study on using synthetic samples to augment small B2B universes and the challenges it solves
• AI for Analysis - advanced segmentation and modelling

Chaired by:

Stephen Bairfelt, Managing Director, Purple MR & Chair, MRS B2B Network

Panel

Andrew Way, Joint Head of Life Sciences Research, Strat 7 Jigsaw

B2B Network members

11.05 Morning refreshments

11.35 Tracking to targeting: refreshing SME segments with the SME Finance Monitor

This session will show how to turn a longitudinal asset like the Ipsos SME Finance Monitor SMEFM into an always-on answer engine delivering sharper, faster answers to ad hoc briefs without the need for new fieldwork.

Hear how data and insights from the SMEFM were used to answer new and emerging challenges for the British Business Bank helping to refresh SME lending segments and then putting them to work for a range of practical applications across segmentation, campaign messaging, product testing and audience sizing.

Shiona Davies, Director, Ipsos

Fiona Morrill, Senior Director & Economist, British Business Bank

12.05 From gatekeeper to architect: how Sage made customer understanding everyone's business

Examine how Sage reimagined the role of insight in a fast-moving SaaS environment. Faced with increasing pressure for faster decision-making, Sage and Electric Twin developed synthetic audience models across key B2B segments, enabling non-research teams to test ideas, validate direction and access customer understanding without relying solely on traditional research cycles and shifting the insight team from gatekeeper to architect.

This presentation shares what it took to make this work in practice: the guardrails that protect quality, the cultural shift required, and what it means for B2B insight teams navigating the same pressure to be faster, broader and more embedded in decisions.

Leanne Tomasevic, Insight & Strategy Lead, Electric Twin

Eddie O'Brien, Senior Director, Global Customer Insight, Sage

12.35 SPONSOIRED SESSION: How verified human expertise is the competitive advantage in an AI dominated world 

As AI and automation reshape the research landscape, high-stakes, executive level strategic decision making still relies on verified human expertise to guarantee credibility and quality.

This session explores how a €10B European electrical infrastructure organisation tackled complex decisions around the future of connected building systems in a rapidly evolving market. Faced with fragmented information and fast-moving technologies, IDR built a custom network of verified experts spanning engineering, software, academia, facility management and competitive intelligence. The result was a uniquely comprehensive market view that informed executive-level strategy and demonstrated why, in high-stakes B2B environments, verified human expertise delivered a critical competitive advantage.

Giulia Baldi, Principal, IDR

12.50 Lunch

14.00 Researching the revolution: a multi-modal global study into AI, career disruption and the future of B2B talent

ACCA commissioned a study across 180 countries to understand how AI, climate change, demographic shifts and geopolitical uncertainty will reshape careers in the accountancy profession by 2035. 

With thousands of survey responses and hundreds of in-depth discussions, AI played a critical role in analysing and synthesising the data. To socialise the findings and drive actionability beyond the published report, a custom dashboard was built giving ACCA non-research staff direct access to the full dataset.

The session will explore how researchers balanced automation with expert judgement and delivered complex but digestible findings to non-specialist users. Hear how the research has informed ACCA's qualification design, career tools and policy positions.

Bertie Heppel, Director, Meridian West  

Clive Webb, Head of Business Management, Policy and Insights, ACCA

14.30 Combining multi-method research and behavioural science to meet regulatory demands and enhance B2B customer outcomes

In this session, explore how Ipsos partnered with HSBC to combine quantitative, qualitative and behavioural science approaches to meet regulatory requirements while improving the B2B customer experience. Focusing on the complex mandates journey for business banking customers, the case study will demonstrate how communications testing, UX evaluation and behavioural science insights were used to reduce friction, confusion and improve application success. The session will highlight how behavioural science can help stakeholders better understand the drivers of customer difficulty and confusion, and identify practical interventions to improve journeys, communications and customer outcomes.

Jacqui Banerjee, Research Director, Ipsos

Ted Utoft, Director, Ipsos

Lizzie Hartley, Customer Communications Manager, HSBC

15.00 Afternoon refreshments

15.30 Blending insight, creative and strategy to sharpen positioning and power new B2B growth for Makita

Makita is a household name in power tools but far less so in professional gardening - a key B2B market. Examine how a strategic project partnership between insight and creativity helped Makita achieve growth in the professional gardening sector. Bringing together teams from Dentsu Creative and B2B International, the project combined brand health and audience insight to shape positioning, messaging, creative development and media strategy.

This case study showcases how insight directly informed campaign effectiveness, optimised brand investment, and supported measurable business growth in a complex B2B market.

Colette Stevens, Managing Partner, B2B International

Jonathan Turner, Managing Partner, Dentsu Creative

Senior representative, Makita

16.00 A blueprint for innovation: delivering large-scale, high-impact B2B research with senior decision makers

How do you conduct large-scale B2B research with senior decision-makers on some of the most complex, innovative and technical issues facing UK industry today? In this session, PA Consulting and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology share the story behind the UK’s first Innovation Adoption and Diffusion Survey. This nationwide study explores barriers and enablers of adoption of AI, biotech and quantum technologies. Discover how a network-led recruitment strategy, rigorous respondent verification and close policy collaboration enabled the team to deliver robust, actionable insight at scale. The session will explore methodological innovation, engaging hard-to-reach B2B audiences and how research directly shaped UK innovation policy and strategy.

Anna Campbell, Associate Partner, and Human Insight Leadership Team, PA Consulting

Senior representative, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

16.30 End of conference