The Next Evolution of the UX Researcher Role

!! WE'RE HIRING !! JOB DESCRIPTION (2027?)

Senior Applied Research Strategist

Not someone who runs studies. Someone who defines where the company competes.

This person will:

• Decide which problems are worth solving, not just analyze the ones handed to them

• Design AI-augmented research systems instead of manually synthesizing everything

• Challenge AI-generated insights for bias, blind spots, and false confidence

• Identify emerging, unwon problems before they’re visible in the data

• Turn research into executive decisions, not decks

• Clarify where we have a Right to Win, and where we should not play

AI can connect dots. But it cannot connect dots it cannot see.

• If AI can already generate 50-70% of an insight deck… why are we still hiring researchers primarily for synthesis?

• Are we over-indexing on execution skills?

• Are we training researchers to compete with AI instead of operating above it?

This is not an open role (yet). It’s a thought experiment.

I think this is what the applied researcher's job description in the very near future looks like.

• What’s unrealistic?

• What’s missing?

• What’s uncomfortable about this shift?

The good, the bad, and the ugly. I genuinely want to hear it.