A SXSW AI Showdown: The takeaways

...from discussions on the rise of autonomous robots and how AI is altering the shopping landscape to showcases of emerging AI tech in action, and beyond. 

“Beyond” includes an electrifying two-hour session we hosted: The Insights Showdown: Humans vs AI, Who Will Reign Supreme?

We set out to discover how AI research can replace or complement insights gleaned from traditional consumer research. To do so, we pitted one of our real-life, flesh-and-blood strategists, Dara Fuhrman, against an AI bot "digital twin" of herself. Here's how it worked:  

• We leveraged our Jobs to be Done methodology, a human insights-driven approach to creating growth, to interview both Dara and Dara Bot about an everyday occurrence: the purchase of a fitness device.

• Workshop attendees were able to follow along as we interviewed, as well as submit questions to each as well—all to compare the responses and see where (and if) the AI could be additive to the consumer research process.

A note on tech: When we built Dara Bot, we weren’t just creating another AI chatbot—we were crafting a nuanced, trained AI persona designed to embody the depth, reasoning, and personality of a real respondent. This wasn’t about gimmicks; it was about whether an AI could hold its own in a high-stakes, structured workshop setting. 

Could it add value? Could it engage an audience? Could it be mistaken for the real Dara?

The answers? Yes, yes, and almost. 

Let’s get to the takeaways.

SXSW has no shortage of innovation-based programming, but we knew we had something special when the audience didn’t just show up but actively participated. Attendees probed both Dara and Dara Bot, testing and experimenting with their ability to respond, diverge and adapt. The session was more than a demonstration—it was an interactive experience.

Some of the most fascinating moments came when both Dara and Dara Bot provided answers that were nearly indistinguishable—but then the nuances crept in. Human Dara could pivot based on context and subtext. AI Dara could process at scale and bring pattern recognition to the table. Each had its strengths, and that was exactly the point: AI personas aren’t here to replace us; they’re here to augment us. 

Our work crafting the AI persona (and hosting our subsequent workshop) gave us a clear picture of the opportunity for this technology: 

• When it comes to consumer research and innovation, AI is most helpful when seeking angles into a problem or new avenues of exploration. Validating specific facts can cause a problem in the process—because AI can give false certainty.

• AI is helpful when a research team already has rich data about a respondent or persona that they need to recreate—when the team has true texture behind the person, ideally from a mix of quantitative and qualitative research, you can build something that becomes a living artifact of that persona. If you only know a little about the persona, or only have limited or single dimensional data, you’re leaving more room for the AI persona to extrapolate, which may be fine when you’re looking for inspiration, but starts to become problematic when you’re looking to get deep into the heart of a particular topic.

• Using an AI bot can make access to a brand’s target personas something that can be shared broadly within a team. Imagine if everyone in Sales and Marketing were all clued in to the specific needs and aspirations of your primary target customer at all times!? AI personas make this possible.

But the biggest observation of all: an AI persona needs to be created in conjunction with real human research. It won’t replace it. We still need the texture and insight that comes from really understanding individuals and their perspectives.

On top of being an engaging and entertaining experiment, Dara Bot was a peek into a very real, very commercial future.

AI personas like Dara Bot unlock a massive opportunity across industries: 

• Scalability of Expertise: Imagine scaling thought leadership and expert knowledge without time constraints. AI personas allow experts to be in two places at once—delivering insights, guiding discussions, and supporting decision-making.

• Always-On Engagement: AI-driven personalities can extend brand and business presence beyond the 9-to-5. They can engage customers, train employees, and provide on-demand expertise with remarkable consistency. These are potentially some of the best ways to use AI.

• Customization & Personalization: Unlike generic AI assistants, personas like Dara Bot can be fine-tuned to reflect specific viewpoints, expertise, and organizational tone—creating a much richer, more tailored experience.

SXSW was the perfect stage for this challenge. AI personas have arrived—not as replacements, but as powerful amplifiers of human intelligence and expertise. The commercial implications are massive, and the audience reaction proved it: this is not just an experiment. It’s an evolution.

The future of work, experience strategy, and brand interaction is shifting. AI personas like Dara Bot aren’t just novelties—they’re business-critical assets.