The New Architecture of Insight: AI Enters the High-Stakes Deal Room

NEW YORK, NY – June 10, 2026 – In the high-stakes world of private equity and management consulting, decisions worth billions are often made under immense time pressure. The core tension has always been between speed and rigor; moving fast enough to seize an opportunity while ensuring the underlying data is sound enough to stand on. Today, New York-based research platform IncQuery unveiled a new suite of AI tools designed not just to manage this tension, but to resolve it by fundamentally re-architecting the primary research workflow.

The company, which specializes in survey-based research for deal teams and their advisors, has embedded artificial intelligence directly into the heart of its platform. The new capabilities, including an “AI Moderator” and a suite of AI-powered authoring tools, aim to accelerate everything from survey creation to analysis, all while capturing richer, more nuanced human insight.

“Every business decision should be powered by primary research that is fast enough to influence the decision and rigorous enough to stand behind,” said Felipe Ochoa, CEO and Founder of IncQuery, in the announcement. “Most AI tools were not built for the context and complexity of modern research workflows. We designed these capabilities to empower consulting and deal teams to develop stronger surveys, uncover deeper respondent insight, and move from questions to decisions under tight timelines.”

Beyond Automation: The Rise of the AI Research Moderator

The centerpiece of the new offering is AI Moderation, a feature that represents a significant leap beyond simple data collection. When a respondent provides an open-ended answer—whether through text, audio, or video—the AI steps in to ask dynamic, intelligent follow-up questions. It’s a system designed to probe for the crucial “why” that often gets lost in the rigid structure of traditional surveys.

This move taps into a broader industry shift towards conversational and adaptive research. Studies have shown that survey formats mimicking human conversation can yield significantly higher completion rates and, more importantly, richer qualitative data. While competitors like Rival Technologies are also pioneering “AI probing,” IncQuery’s key differentiator is its integration of this capability within a comprehensive platform built for the specific demands of commercial diligence and corporate strategy. Instead of being a standalone feature, it’s a component of a larger system where qualitative detail remains linked to structured quantitative data, preserving analytical continuity.

For a consultant trying to understand customer churn or a PE firm evaluating an investment thesis, this is transformative. It automates the work of a skilled human moderator at scale, digging for context, emotion, and reasoning that can be the difference between a good and a great decision. By embedding this intelligence directly into the survey experience, the platform aims to capture candid insights in the moment, rather than relying on costly and time-consuming follow-up interviews.

Re-Engineering the Research Workflow

Beyond moderation, IncQuery is using AI to streamline the entire front-end of the research process. The new suite includes an AI Drafter, which can ingest project briefs, prior surveys, or simple research objectives and generate a structured first draft that adheres to market research best practices. For teams under pressure, this dramatically shortens the path from a blank page to a near-final product.

Complementing the drafter are “Magic Edit” and “Magic Question.” The former allows users to refine question wording, simplify answer choices, or even add complex logic using simple text prompts. The latter intelligently suggests new questions based on the existing survey context, ensuring the inquiry is comprehensive and aligned with the project's goals. Together, these tools function as an expert co-pilot, helping both seasoned researchers and junior analysts build more robust surveys faster.

This system-level approach appears to be resonating. According to the company, approximately 80% of organizations on its platform have already adopted its AI features. More tellingly, 36.3% of all active users now incorporate AI into their workflow, a figure that shows consistent growth. As one project manager from a leading consulting firm noted in a testimonial, the platform’s combination of rich functionality and intuitive design has been highly effective. This adoption data suggests the tools are not just a novelty but are becoming integral to the modern consulting toolkit.

Building a Digital Fortress Around AI Insights

Perhaps the most critical element of IncQuery’s strategy is its emphasis on security—a non-negotiable for its clientele. In an era where teams might be tempted to paste sensitive project details into public-facing AI models, the company has built its new capabilities within its existing secure environment. This framework is validated by SOC 2 Type II compliance and aligned with GDPR data handling standards.

Achieving SOC 2 Type II certification is a rigorous process involving an independent audit of a company’s controls over security, confidentiality, and privacy over an extended period. For a PE firm handling transaction-sensitive materials or a consultant working with confidential client data, this certification provides essential assurance that the platform’s systems are sound. By keeping the AI-powered workflow inside this digital fortress, IncQuery allows teams to leverage cutting-edge technology without exporting sensitive context to disconnected, less secure tools.

This approach aligns with emerging best practices for enterprise AI, which favor hybrid systems that combine automation with human oversight inside a controlled, compliant ecosystem. It directly addresses the profound risks associated with using AI in environments where data integrity and confidentiality are paramount.

The Shifting Landscape of Strategic Intelligence

IncQuery’s launch is not happening in a vacuum. It reflects a seismic shift in how business itself is conducted. Recent industry analysis shows that 73% of B2B buyers now use AI tools in their own research processes, signaling a broad market expectation for AI-driven efficiency and insight. The explosive growth of AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT has normalized a new way of interacting with information.

By building an AI-native research platform, IncQuery is meeting its clients where they are heading: a future where primary research is less about manual data collection and more about generating strategic intelligence. The tools are designed to empower teams to move up the value chain, focusing their expertise on interpreting nuanced data and forming strategy rather than on the mechanics of survey programming and data cleaning.

This evolution promises to change the very nature of how strategic decisions are informed. By seamlessly blending the scale of quantitative surveys with the depth of qualitative inquiry, this new generation of AI-powered systems is creating a more holistic, responsive, and ultimately more reliable architecture for understanding the world.