Headshot of Niels Schillewaert
Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Marketing & Growth Lead

Marketing & Growth Lead

Niels is a PhD researcher and Professor of Marketing at Vlerick Business School who leads Research and Methodologies at Conveo, bringing decades of industry and academic experience to the role. He co-founded Human8 (formerly InSites Consulting) and grew it into a $100M+ research agency, and previously served as global president of ESOMAR. His work has been published in journals including the Journal of Marketing, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and he has guest-lectured at Columbia, NYU, and the University of Georgia. At heart, Niels is a research geek who likes to innovate methods and insights with relevance. At Conveo, that means shaping methodology, setting standards for AI-led work, and making sure innovation stays grounded in rigour and in what actually matters to clients. His writing reflects that balance: data-backed, experience-driven, and focused on what AI actually changes. He explores how video and voice analysis unlock new layers of understanding, why scale is redefining qualitative research, and how researchers can stay essential as the field evolves.

Niels is a PhD researcher and Professor of Marketing at Vlerick Business School who leads Research and Methodologies at Conveo, bringing decades of industry and academic experience to the role. He co-founded Human8 (formerly InSites Consulting) and grew it into a $100M+ research agency, and previously served as global president of ESOMAR. His work has been published in journals including the Journal of Marketing, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and he has guest-lectured at Columbia, NYU, and the University of Georgia. At heart, Niels is a research geek who likes to innovate methods and insights with relevance. At Conveo, that means shaping methodology, setting standards for AI-led work, and making sure innovation stays grounded in rigour and in what actually matters to clients. His writing reflects that balance: data-backed, experience-driven, and focused on what AI actually changes. He explores how video and voice analysis unlock new layers of understanding, why scale is redefining qualitative research, and how researchers can stay essential as the field evolves.

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Articles by

Niels

Niels

Success stories

“The Quickest Wins”: How Pronails Finds Creative Sparks Faster with Conveo

If you work in consumer marketing, you can feel the ground shifting under your feet. New formats pop up, algorithms blink, trends peak and vanish. The brands that thrive aren’t necessarily the loudest,they’re the ones that move the fastest, test the most, and let real customer language guide every creative decision. That’s the spirit of Lize Olaerts, Marketing Manager at **PN Self‑Care**, the B2C sister of **ProNails**, a manufacturer and distributor of professional gel nail products. As Lize puts it, “In marketing, the one who is the quickest wins.” In this story,filmed as a short testimonial,you’ll hear how her team uses **Conveo** to move from *hunch* to *hook* faster: spotting fresh segments they missed, turning real customer phrases into scroll‑stopping ad angles, and ramping up the volume of creative tests without burning the team out. Whether you run paid social for a beauty brand or you’re building a new DTC play, Lize’s process is a blueprint for speed without sacrificing substance.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Success stories

“The Quickest Wins”: How Pronails Finds Creative Sparks Faster with Conveo

If you work in consumer marketing, you can feel the ground shifting under your feet. New formats pop up, algorithms blink, trends peak and vanish. The brands that thrive aren’t necessarily the loudest,they’re the ones that move the fastest, test the most, and let real customer language guide every creative decision. That’s the spirit of Lize Olaerts, Marketing Manager at **PN Self‑Care**, the B2C sister of **ProNails**, a manufacturer and distributor of professional gel nail products. As Lize puts it, “In marketing, the one who is the quickest wins.” In this story,filmed as a short testimonial,you’ll hear how her team uses **Conveo** to move from *hunch* to *hook* faster: spotting fresh segments they missed, turning real customer phrases into scroll‑stopping ad angles, and ramping up the volume of creative tests without burning the team out. Whether you run paid social for a beauty brand or you’re building a new DTC play, Lize’s process is a blueprint for speed without sacrificing substance.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

How AI Transforms Qualitative Market Research: Complete 2025 Breakdown

AI cuts qualitative research time from weeks to hours, transforming insights delivery. Trusted by Unilever, Instacart, AB Inbev and 350 other organizations, Conveo leads this transformation. Traditional qualitative research faces mounting pressure to deliver faster insights while maintaining depth and accuracy. AI-powered platforms like Conveo now enable researchers to conduct hundreds of interviews overnight, analyze video responses in real-time, and generate actionable insights within 24 hours. This transformation isn't just about speed, it's about unlocking scale and precision that manual methods simply cannot match.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

How AI Transforms Qualitative Market Research: Complete 2025 Breakdown

AI cuts qualitative research time from weeks to hours, transforming insights delivery. Trusted by Unilever, Instacart, AB Inbev and 350 other organizations, Conveo leads this transformation. Traditional qualitative research faces mounting pressure to deliver faster insights while maintaining depth and accuracy. AI-powered platforms like Conveo now enable researchers to conduct hundreds of interviews overnight, analyze video responses in real-time, and generate actionable insights within 24 hours. This transformation isn't just about speed, it's about unlocking scale and precision that manual methods simply cannot match.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

[Press Release] Consumers are twice as likely to trust AI over family and friends for recommendations, finds new study by Conveo

London, 18th November 2025 – New research revealed from Conveo last week shows that artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the most trusted source for shopping recommendations, surpassing advice from friends and family by a 2:1 margin.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

[Press Release] Consumers are twice as likely to trust AI over family and friends for recommendations, finds new study by Conveo

London, 18th November 2025 – New research revealed from Conveo last week shows that artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the most trusted source for shopping recommendations, surpassing advice from friends and family by a 2:1 margin.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Listen, Outset.ai, Marvin, Dovetail, GetWhy, and Voxpopme arranged in rows below.

News

7 Best Customer Insights Platforms for Enterprise Insights Teams (2026)

Compare the best customer insights platform tools for enterprise teams. See which platforms support real qualitative research and faster stakeholder decisions.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Listen, Outset.ai, Marvin, Dovetail, GetWhy, and Voxpopme arranged in rows below.

News

7 Best Customer Insights Platforms for Enterprise Insights Teams (2026)

Compare the best customer insights platform tools for enterprise teams. See which platforms support real qualitative research and faster stakeholder decisions.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

Greenbook - Conveo AI Demo Recording - From Questions to Insights in Minutes

Generative AI is transforming market research, but the real breakthrough isn’t just faster data processing, it’s the way AI can work alongside humans to uncover deeper, more actionable insights. Together with Greenbook, Conveo recently organized a webinar where Niels, Head of Research, demonstrated how the company’s AI Insights Platform streamlines every stage of the research process, from study design to real-time moderation to instant, multi-layered analysis, using a global “coffee rituals” study to showcase its ability to blend speed, scale, and human empathy.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

Greenbook - Conveo AI Demo Recording - From Questions to Insights in Minutes

Generative AI is transforming market research, but the real breakthrough isn’t just faster data processing, it’s the way AI can work alongside humans to uncover deeper, more actionable insights. Together with Greenbook, Conveo recently organized a webinar where Niels, Head of Research, demonstrated how the company’s AI Insights Platform streamlines every stage of the research process, from study design to real-time moderation to instant, multi-layered analysis, using a global “coffee rituals” study to showcase its ability to blend speed, scale, and human empathy.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research and analysis platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Marvin, Thematic, Looppanel, Maze, MAXQDA, NVivo, and Dovetail arranged in rows below.

News

Best AI Tools for Thematic Analysis in Qualitative Research (2026 Comparison)

Compare AI tools for thematic analysis across interviews, surveys, and research repositories. Find the right fit for your workflow and outputs.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research and analysis platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Marvin, Thematic, Looppanel, Maze, MAXQDA, NVivo, and Dovetail arranged in rows below.

News

Best AI Tools for Thematic Analysis in Qualitative Research (2026 Comparison)

Compare AI tools for thematic analysis across interviews, surveys, and research repositories. Find the right fit for your workflow and outputs.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Listen, Outset.ai, GetWhy, Marvin, Voxpopme, Dovetail, Strella, Glaut, Yasna, Voiceform, and Tellet arranged in rows below.

News

The 12 Best AI Tools for Qualitative Research in 2026 (Ranked for Research Teams)

AI tools for qualitative research compared across 12 platforms. See which support interviews, analysis, and end-to-end workflows for faster research insights.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo highlighted at the top with a cursor arrow pointing to it. Surrounding platforms include Listen, Outset.ai, GetWhy, Marvin, Voxpopme, Dovetail, Strella, Glaut, Yasna, Voiceform, and Tellet arranged in rows below.

News

The 12 Best AI Tools for Qualitative Research in 2026 (Ranked for Research Teams)

AI tools for qualitative research compared across 12 platforms. See which support interviews, analysis, and end-to-end workflows for faster research insights.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo at the top, followed by Listen, Outset.ai, Dovetail, ATLAS.ti, NVivo, Voxpopme, Marvin, MAXQDA, and GetWhy arranged in rows below.

Articles

The 10 Best Qualitative Research Software Platforms for 2026

Compare the 10 best qualitative research software platforms for 2026, from AI-moderated interview tools to QDA software. Find the right fit for your team's research workflow.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Graphic on a beige background showing a hierarchy of qualitative research platform logos, with Conveo at the top, followed by Listen, Outset.ai, Dovetail, ATLAS.ti, NVivo, Voxpopme, Marvin, MAXQDA, and GetWhy arranged in rows below.

Articles

The 10 Best Qualitative Research Software Platforms for 2026

Compare the 10 best qualitative research software platforms for 2026, from AI-moderated interview tools to QDA software. Find the right fit for your team's research workflow.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

From chat to checkout: The rise of the AI-powered shopper

From essentials to big buys, AI now guides every shopping stage. Conveo’s AI Shopper Study uncovers how generative AI is transforming consumer behavior.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

From chat to checkout: The rise of the AI-powered shopper

From essentials to big buys, AI now guides every shopping stage. Conveo’s AI Shopper Study uncovers how generative AI is transforming consumer behavior.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

A smiling woman looking at her smartphone outdoors, overlaid on an orange-to-pink gradient background with white sparkle icons and a bar chart graphic, suggesting AI-powered consumer research insights.

News

How Enterprises Use Consumer Intelligence for Competitive Advantage

Enterprises turn consumer intelligence into a competitive advantage by building searchable, reusable insight repositories that brand teams access continuously.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

A smiling woman looking at her smartphone outdoors, overlaid on an orange-to-pink gradient background with white sparkle icons and a bar chart graphic, suggesting AI-powered consumer research insights.

News

How Enterprises Use Consumer Intelligence for Competitive Advantage

Enterprises turn consumer intelligence into a competitive advantage by building searchable, reusable insight repositories that brand teams access continuously.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

AI‑Moderated Research in 2025: Framework, ROI Benchmarks, and Best Tools

AI‑moderated research delivers focus‑group depth at survey speed,unlocking decisions in hours, not weeks. In 2025, companies from Unilever to Orange proved that automated, adaptive interviews can achieve qualitative depth at a fraction of the cost of traditional qual. Conveo’s case data shows that its AI‑led video interviews deliver insights 100× faster and at 75 % lower cost while still capturing the nuance and empathy of human‑moderated sessions. At the same time, search queries like “best AI research tools for market analysis” have surged, so this guide lays out a practical framework, benchmarks, and tool comparison for decision‑makers who need reliable AI research methods now.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

News

AI‑Moderated Research in 2025: Framework, ROI Benchmarks, and Best Tools

AI‑moderated research delivers focus‑group depth at survey speed,unlocking decisions in hours, not weeks. In 2025, companies from Unilever to Orange proved that automated, adaptive interviews can achieve qualitative depth at a fraction of the cost of traditional qual. Conveo’s case data shows that its AI‑led video interviews deliver insights 100× faster and at 75 % lower cost while still capturing the nuance and empathy of human‑moderated sessions. At the same time, search queries like “best AI research tools for market analysis” have surged, so this guide lays out a practical framework, benchmarks, and tool comparison for decision‑makers who need reliable AI research methods now.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

Qualitative Insights at Scale: Why Multimodal Research Beats Surveys Alone

Quant surveys are great at telling you what happened. But when the stakes are high,new product, creative work, positioning, pricing,teams need the why. That’s where qualitative research shines, especially when it captures voice and video. You hear hesitation and conviction. You see body language. You catch the little contradictions that never show up in a checkbox. Historically, the trade‑off was depth versus scale: focus groups and IDIs deliver nuance, but they’re slow, expensive, and hard to analyze. That trade‑off no longer holds. With modern multimodal AI, you can run video‑based qual at scale,without losing the human story that makes qual valuable in the first place.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

Qualitative Insights at Scale: Why Multimodal Research Beats Surveys Alone

Quant surveys are great at telling you what happened. But when the stakes are high,new product, creative work, positioning, pricing,teams need the why. That’s where qualitative research shines, especially when it captures voice and video. You hear hesitation and conviction. You see body language. You catch the little contradictions that never show up in a checkbox. Historically, the trade‑off was depth versus scale: focus groups and IDIs deliver nuance, but they’re slow, expensive, and hard to analyze. That trade‑off no longer holds. With modern multimodal AI, you can run video‑based qual at scale,without losing the human story that makes qual valuable in the first place.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

Choosing the Right Qualitative Research Platform: A 2025 Guide for Insights Teams

Choosing a qualitative research platform in 2025 means more than comparing features, it’s about matching your team’s workflow, speed, and insight goals. This guide breaks down the differences between AI-led interviews, video survey tools, and human-moderated qual platforms, so you can find the best fit for delivering faster, deeper, and more actionable consumer insights.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Articles

Choosing the Right Qualitative Research Platform: A 2025 Guide for Insights Teams

Choosing a qualitative research platform in 2025 means more than comparing features, it’s about matching your team’s workflow, speed, and insight goals. This guide breaks down the differences between AI-led interviews, video survey tools, and human-moderated qual platforms, so you can find the best fit for delivering faster, deeper, and more actionable consumer insights.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Conveo dashboard that features top-down insights extractions

Articles

Enhanced Insight Generation for Your Qualitative Studies

We’ve rolled out one of our most requested features: top-down insights extractions. What used to take countless hours, is now automated by Conveo.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

Conveo dashboard that features top-down insights extractions

Articles

Enhanced Insight Generation for Your Qualitative Studies

We’ve rolled out one of our most requested features: top-down insights extractions. What used to take countless hours, is now automated by Conveo.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

The Conveo logo centred inside an orange circle with three black square nodes and a cursor icon, suggesting a platform integration or workflow connection diagram.

News

Voice of the Customer Template: How to Structure VOC Programs

Build a VOC program that explains, not just collects, feedback. Get interview guides, coding sheets, and stakeholder report templates with full traceability.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

The Conveo logo centred inside an orange circle with three black square nodes and a cursor icon, suggesting a platform integration or workflow connection diagram.

News

Voice of the Customer Template: How to Structure VOC Programs

Build a VOC program that explains, not just collects, feedback. Get interview guides, coding sheets, and stakeholder report templates with full traceability.

Headshot of Niels Schillewaert

Niels Schillewaert

Head of Research

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