A prediction that came true: guidebooks and personal tour guides

In April 2023, five months after ChatGPT launched, we argued that insight would split in two. The reports, decks and dashboards that every insight team produces would stay. Alongside them would come something new: AI that answers each decision-maker's own question, from the company's own data, at the moment they need it. We called the first guidebooks and the second personal tour guides. This is what we wrote, unedited.

What we wrote in April 2023

Think of companies as embarking on a journey to achieve their strategic objectives. They require reliable navigation tools to reach their desired destinations. They have relied on traditional research, insight and analytics, akin to guidebooks, for years. We've built hundreds of such 'guidebooks' and seen them lead artists, brands and companies to tremendous success. However, a new breed of AI-powered analytics offers navigation assistance that's more like a personal tour guide. Brands should harness the strengths of both types of analytics to ensure a successful journey.

Guidebooks (traditional insight and analytics), have been a staple for business leaders in planning strategies. They provide valuable insights into market trends, competitive analysis, and potential opportunities. These guidebooks offer a general overview, presenting "one-size-fits-all" presentations, reports or dashboards that, when done well, lay out a comprehensive roadmap for decision-making. However, they don't usually cater to individual decision-makers' situations, needs, preferences, and context.

Enter the personal tour guide, an AI-powered analytics tool (think ChatGPT, but for your data!) designed to understand each decision-makers' specific context, goals, and challenges, adapting its advice accordingly. In the moment. It's like having a knowledgeable and experienced companion by your side, ready to offer guidance, support, and advice based on your unique situation. Just ask.

Personal tour guides are better than guidebooks in many ways - they can suggest alternative routes, help you think through new paths, and share experiences throughout the journey. In contrast to the guidebook's fixed way of delivering data, the personal tour guide offers a more adaptable and personalized approach, making it an indispensable resource in the corporate world.

Guidebooks are still as important as ever, of course. To illustrate the complementary nature of both analytics types, imagine the guidebook providing a coherent overall picture of the market and the right overall brand strategy, while the personal tour guide helps leaders identify which market trends are most relevant to their specific situation. Businesses absolutely need both.

We believe in a balanced approach that incorporates both guidebooks and personal tour guides. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each, you can leverage their complementary features.

By embracing the power of AI-powered analytics, companies can reap the benefits of having a personal tour guide alongside their trusted guidebooks, ensuring a more successful and fulfilling expedition towards their strategic objectives. The future of corporate decision-making is here, and it's time to embark on a new chapter in the grand adventure of business strategy.

How it landed, October 2026

The tour guide arrived. At the TMRE Insights Executive Retreat in Las Vegas in October 2025, where David hosts senior insight leaders off the record, one leader described building agents on their own research data, "so stakeholders query validated sources rather than the open web". That is the personal tour guide, nearly word for word.

The guidebook is changing shape rather than disappearing. By the Denver retreat in October 2026, several leaders described "a shift from projects that end in a deck to continuous learning", which raises a practical problem: "nobody can keep every deck current." Their answer was "a searchable evidence base, kept separate from the formats people use to reach it". The guidebook becomes the evidence; the tour guide becomes the way in.

What we did not see

We wrote as if the tour guide would be reliable because it drew on the company's data. We did not see how easily it would sound expert when it was not. In Las Vegas in October 2025 the room put the new job of insight this way: "to champion the integrity of the data and be clear where AI exploration stops and validated truth begins." And in October 2026 David reported a leader's worry that "self-appointed researchers have started showing up across the business, now that anyone can get an answer out of a chatbot".

So the prediction held, with a condition we missed. A tour guide is only as good as the guidebook behind it, and somebody has to own both.

What to do on Monday

• Ask whether your stakeholders can already query your research directly, or only read it. If only read, you are still a guidebook team.
• Build the evidence base first: one searchable store of validated findings, kept separate from decks and dashboards.
• Decide who owns the answers your tools give, before the tools are given out.

Related: Steer, for deciding where insight should sit in the decisions that matter.

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