New for 2026: Enlightn is pivoting
Jan 12, 2026
·
by
Adrien Vermeirsch
2025 taught me a hard lesson: financial incentives matter more than good intentions.
I started Enlightn believing data quality, profiling, and targeting were business priorities for sample providers. But after many conversations (and a lot of observation), I’ve realized something: suppliers operate under real pressure (speed, quotas, margin), and in today’s setup, improving quality is often just a cost:
removing panelists who still complete and generate revenue
paying for fraud detection and security tooling
adding extra ops / compliance work
At the same time, buyers want better data, but they’re not always ready (or able) to pay the true cost of getting it. So the system often ends up rewarding volume, marketing stunts, and opacity.
That’s why Enlightn is pivoting.
What stays the same
The philosophy hasn’t changed: fix profiling and targeting so research can rely on participants we can actually trust, with less screener waste and fewer fraudulent respondents misrepresenting themselves.
What changes
The format is evolving to be more aligned with market dynamics.
In 2026, Enlightn is focusing on a more direct outcome: bringing a solution for buyers who want access to high-quality participants, while still ensuring suppliers have a clear way to benefit economically when they protect quality (instead of losing money for doing the right thing).
More to come soon on the full pivot and repositioning.
Want to pilot it?
In the meantime, I’m opening a limited number of pilots to stress test an innovative approach to recruit high-quality participants and measure impact on real outcomes (IR, dropouts, fraud, reconciliation).
Interested? Click the button below to discuss a pilot.
2025 taught me a hard lesson: financial incentives matter more than good intentions.
I started Enlightn believing data quality, profiling, and targeting were business priorities for sample providers. But after many conversations (and a lot of observation), I’ve realized something: suppliers operate under real pressure (speed, quotas, margin), and in today’s setup, improving quality is often just a cost:
removing panelists who still complete and generate revenue
paying for fraud detection and security tooling
adding extra ops / compliance work
At the same time, buyers want better data, but they’re not always ready (or able) to pay the true cost of getting it. So the system often ends up rewarding volume, marketing stunts, and opacity.
That’s why Enlightn is pivoting.
What stays the same
The philosophy hasn’t changed: fix profiling and targeting so research can rely on participants we can actually trust, with less screener waste and fewer fraudulent respondents misrepresenting themselves.
What changes
The format is evolving to be more aligned with market dynamics.
In 2026, Enlightn is focusing on a more direct outcome: bringing a solution for buyers who want access to high-quality participants, while still ensuring suppliers have a clear way to benefit economically when they protect quality (instead of losing money for doing the right thing).
More to come soon on the full pivot and repositioning.
Want to pilot it?
In the meantime, I’m opening a limited number of pilots to stress test an innovative approach to recruit high-quality participants and measure impact on real outcomes (IR, dropouts, fraud, reconciliation).
Interested? Click the button below to discuss a pilot.
2025 taught me a hard lesson: financial incentives matter more than good intentions.
I started Enlightn believing data quality, profiling, and targeting were business priorities for sample providers. But after many conversations (and a lot of observation), I’ve realized something: suppliers operate under real pressure (speed, quotas, margin), and in today’s setup, improving quality is often just a cost:
removing panelists who still complete and generate revenue
paying for fraud detection and security tooling
adding extra ops / compliance work
At the same time, buyers want better data, but they’re not always ready (or able) to pay the true cost of getting it. So the system often ends up rewarding volume, marketing stunts, and opacity.
That’s why Enlightn is pivoting.
What stays the same
The philosophy hasn’t changed: fix profiling and targeting so research can rely on participants we can actually trust, with less screener waste and fewer fraudulent respondents misrepresenting themselves.
What changes
The format is evolving to be more aligned with market dynamics.
In 2026, Enlightn is focusing on a more direct outcome: bringing a solution for buyers who want access to high-quality participants, while still ensuring suppliers have a clear way to benefit economically when they protect quality (instead of losing money for doing the right thing).
More to come soon on the full pivot and repositioning.
Want to pilot it?
In the meantime, I’m opening a limited number of pilots to stress test an innovative approach to recruit high-quality participants and measure impact on real outcomes (IR, dropouts, fraud, reconciliation).
Interested? Click the button below to discuss a pilot.