# What insight leaders talk about off the record, and how it has changed

David Boyle hosts the TMRE Insights Executive Retreat for Informa and LIONS: a day, off the record, for senior consumer-insight leaders from large brands. Each retreat is transcribed so that the host can write Chatham House compliant notes for the room. From the transcripts of six of them we drew 1,504 distinct points and coded every one into themes. The arc is clear. Talk about machines went from 1% of the discussion in San Antonio 2022 to 33% at its peak in Las Vegas 2025, then fell back to 20% in Denver 2026. In its place came the question the function has always asked, in a sharper form: how insight earns its seat where decisions are made. That rose from 14% in Las Vegas 2025 to 27% in Denver 2026.

Source: [https://audiencestrategies.com/case-studies/tmre-executive-retreats.html](https://audiencestrategies.com/case-studies/tmre-executive-retreats.html)

Run under the Chatham House rule: no names, no companies, no session-by-session account.

## The machines arrived, peaked, then gave way

Talk about putting machines to work took 1% of the discussion in San Antonio 2022 and 33% at its peak in Las Vegas 2025, then fell to 20% in Denver 2026. The fall is not just the agenda: in open discussion it went from 53% at Cannes to 37%, and in the opening introductions, where people say what is on their mind before any speaker, from 47% to 29%. Two things limit this: the Cannes and Denver rooms were different audiences four months apart, and one retreat is not a trend.

## The function's seat at the table came back as the question

How insight earns a place in decisions took 22% of the discussion in San Antonio 2022, slipped to 14% in Las Vegas 2025, then rose to 28% at Cannes and 27% in Denver 2026. Within it, the theme 'Insight at the decision table' reached 11% of the discussion in Denver 2026, its highest at any retreat.

## The human side of the job went quiet

Building teams people thrive in was the biggest current in San Antonio 2022 at 29%; by Denver 2026 it was 6%. Wellbeing and flexibility went from 10% to 1%, inclusion from 8% to under 1%.

## The machine question changed from what the tools can do to what stays human

In Las Vegas 2025 the machine conversation was about the tools: checking generated answers took 6% of the discussion. By Denver 2026 that was 1%, and the largest machine theme was the division of labour between human expertise and automated work: 12% at Cannes and 8% in Denver 2026, against 4% in Las Vegas 2025.

## Back to the consumer

Getting closer to the truth reached 17% of the discussion in Denver 2026, its highest. What drove it was not fraud or synthetic data but the consumer: empathy and lived experience took 6%, the most at any retreat, alongside customer metrics (3%) and evidence standards (3%). 'Consumers' is among the words this retreat used more than any other.

## Share of discussion by current

| Current | San Antonio 2022 | Denver 2023 | Virtual Meet-Up 2024 | Las Vegas 2025 | Cannes 2026 | Denver 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earn a place in decisions | 22% | 19% | 16% | 14% | 28% | 27% |
| Make the function work | 15% | 14% | 38% | 10% | 15% | 11% |
| Get closer to the truth | 12% | 12% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 17% |
| Put machines to useful work | 1% | 17% | 19% | 33% | 33% | 20% |
| Build teams people thrive in | 29% | 13% | 10% | 23% | 7% | 6% |
| Keep up with people's lives | 7% | 17% | 11% | 5% | 6% | 11% |
| Make room to learn | 15% | 8% | 0% | 6% | 4% | 8% |

Built from the transcripts made at each TMRE Executive Retreat so that its host, David Boyle, could write Chatham House compliant notes for the room.