Redefining Research For The AI Era Starts With Trust

I’ve been fortunate to have a career that’s married two things I’m passionate about: technology and research. Long before I was Forrester’s CTO, I was an analyst covering emerging technologies, helping leaders turn innovation into action. Today, I apply those same principles inside Forrester: helping our teams work smarter with technology and building tools that help clients get more value from our research.

It’s always been rewarding work. But AI has taken it to a whole new level.

AI is transforming how research is delivered and consumed. It’s a superpower — helping our employees and clients move faster and make better decisions. But here’s the catch: That superpower only works if it’s built on trust.

Building AI That Doesn’t Lie

When ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in late 2022, we at Forrester saw a massive opportunity. Along with upskilling our people for a new technological era, we recognized that generative AI could help us deliver insights to our clients in a whole new way. Using a chat interface, clients could validate ideas, innovate, and make smarter decisions faster.

We knew from the start that if we were going to do this, it had to be rooted in the integrity that Forrester is known for. That meant trust was nonnegotiable.

Sure, we knew that some people saw (and still see) publicly available LLMs as a threat to research firms. “Why pay analysts when you can ask an AI?” the thinking goes. But these tools, of course, have limitations. They’re not always reliable. In other words, AI lies sometimes. The fact that there’s no malicious intent doesn’t matter if you’re basing a business decision on faulty information.

When we built Izola — one of the first client-facing genAI tools offered by a research firm — we were fanatical about accuracy and ensuring that Izola only pulls from Forrester IP. The goal wasn’t to be ChatGPT; it was to help our clients find the insights they need — fast and with confidence.

Building it involved risk. LLMs don’t behave like websites. Their output isn’t deterministic — it’s shaped by variables that can shift unpredictably. Controlling for that risk was critical. We implemented guardrails around the types of questions that Izola would answer. We continuously tested and refined. We had to protect the trust that our clients place in us.

The effort was clearly worth it. Izola gave us a strong foundation for everything that followed, including AI Access, our latest offering. These tools have changed how clients engage with our research. They’ve sparked deeper conversations with analysts. They’ve even helped us spot gaps in our coverage.

Our AI tools have succeeded because trust is baked in. If you’re building AI, whatever your goals, trust will make or break your success.

As AI tools become more deeply embedded in workflows, trust will be even more critical. We’re acutely aware of this as we work to integrate AI Access directly into our clients’ environments. And with the growing prevalence of agentic AI, trust must be present at every step.

Empowering The Organization

Harnessing AI’s potential means more than building great tools. It also requires employees seeing AI as their superpower. As AI continues to advance, the divide between companies with AI-empowered employees and those without will only deepen.

Just as we’re continuously improving our client-facing AI tools, we’re steadily strengthening our own AI foundations. That means boosting employee “AIQ” — helping teams choose the right tools, access training, and evaluate AI output critically. It also means aligning around a clear, documented strategy that defines how AI supports our business goals and policies that guide responsible use and protect sensitive data. At Forrester, we’re lucky to be guided by experts who focus on those very areas.

These internal efforts are just as critical as the tools themselves. Together, they position us — and our clients — to thrive in an AI-powered future.

We’re at a pivotal moment. AI is reshaping how research is delivered — and we’re proud to be leading that change. We’re learning alongside our clients and walking the walk with them.

Trust isn’t just a feature. It’s the foundation. And it’s what will define the winners in an AI-powered world.