The human context AI can’t replicate with Nancee Halpin
January 6, 2026
AI can accelerate research. It cannot replace context.
In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie and Molly sit down with Nancee Halpin, a researcher and insights specialist whose career spans Fuel Cycle, SurveyMonkey, Highlight, and Strella. Nancee explains why human judgment, curiosity, and lived context still sit at the center of good research, even as AI reshapes how fast teams can move. The conversation explores where AI genuinely helps, where it falls short, and why researchers remain essential interpreters between data and decision-making.
In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie and Molly sit down with Nancee Halpin, a researcher and insights specialist whose career has been shaped inside tech-enabled research companies including Fuel Cycle, SurveyMonkey, Highlight, and Strella. Having worked across research, product marketing, and solutions engineering, Nancee brings a clear-eyed view of what happens when research moves into SaaS environments built for speed. She shares how her role evolved from running studies to protecting research quality inside systems optimized for scale. Much of her work now centers on helping teams understand trade-offs, explaining methodology to non-researchers, and ensuring insight remains trustworthy when timelines shrink. Nancee explains why leadership teams continue to respond more strongly to real language and lived context than to high-volume data alone, especially in a market where differentiation is hard to sustain. The conversation also addresses AI directly. While AI accelerates setup and reporting, Nancee makes clear that context, judgment, and storytelling still sit with humans. The episode offers a grounded look at how good research survives and stays relevant in a tech-first world.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why AI cannot replicate human context in research
- Where AI strengthens research workflows and where it falls short
- How context shapes which insights actually influence decisions
- Why leaders respond more to real voices than polished charts
- What breaks first when research moves too fast
- How researchers protect rigor without slowing teams down
- Why curiosity remains a core professional advantage
- How to operate confidently at the intersection of AI and insight
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Episode Resources:
- Nancee Halpin on LinkedIn
- Stephanie Vance on LinkedIn
- Molly Strawn-Carreño on LinkedIn
- The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on Apple Podcasts
- The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on Spotify
- The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on YouTube
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