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Several months ago, I wrote an essay about a concept we were working on at ThinkGen called QuickTHINK. QuickTHINK is a simple but powerful data quality “hack” designed to capture in-the-moment insights immediately after qualitative interviews are completed. The idea was rooted in a basic truth: there’s a brief, fleeting window after a conversation ends when moderator and viewer impressions are clearest, one's intuition is sharpest, and the gold is still fresh. And too often, in today's fast-paced, virtual work world, that window closes before we have a chance to write anything down.
Today, I’m thrilled to share that QuickTHINK isn’t just an idea anymore -- it’s live, and we’re already seeing how it’s elevating the quality of our qualitative research. And this transformation -- from vision to reality -- has been made possible thanks to two extraordinary collaborators: Himavanth Chandra, who has spearheaded ThinkGen’s AI efforts these past few years, and Liam Hull, a summer intern with us who brought creativity, technical fluency, and a ton of initiative.
As we’ve conversed regularly with many of our clients in pharma, biotech, and medtech, one theme keeps emerging: everyone’s investing in AI. From consultancies to brand teams, there’s a shared urgency to figure out how artificial intelligence can bring greater efficiency and value to insights work.
At ThinkGen, we’ve been asking a slightly different question: How can AI enhance human judgment -- without replacing it?
That’s what QuickTHINK is about. It’s not a flashy platform or a black box. It’s a lightweight system built around one high-leverage moment: the few moments immediately after a qualitative interview ends. We ask our moderators -- and optionally, clients or agency partners who viewed the session -- to respond to a short survey capturing their initial impressions. Not just what was said, but what stood out. What was different. What surprised them. Whether the respondent was insightful. Whether the client should watch the interview.
Those answers -- raw, honest, in the moment, and unfiltered -- become the foundation for deeper synthesis.
The brilliance of QuickTHINK isn’t just the idea, it’s in the execution. That’s where Himavanth and Liam came in.
Together, they built a fully functional system that:
This was a full stack build, and Liam ran with it. He mapped the end-to-end workflow, designed AI prompts for clean, concise summaries, structured the database for usability, and engineered a system for automated distribution so those reflections spark conversation -- not just sit in a file.
He did all this in just a few weeks, with minimal oversight, and the result is a tool that adds real business value, both for our internal team and our clients.
QuickTHINK is already delivering impact:
For our clients in pharma, biotech, and medtech, where insights often influence meaningful clinical and commercial decisions, these benefits compound over time.
To me, QuickTHINK represents the best of what AI in market research can be: a tool that elevates and amplifies, not replaces, human expertise. It’s also a great example of how small, smart systems can punch well above their weight.
And I’m deeply proud of the team that made it real. Himavanth’s leadership and Liam’s execution have set a new bar for how quickly and thoughtfully we can bring AI-powered tools to life.
If you’re thinking about how to make AI useful (and usable) in your insights work, let’s talk. We’re learning a lot -- and building as we go.
