Podcast Summary: The Digital Executive – Vivek Kumar on Reimagining Market Research Through AI-Powered Audience Simulations | Ep 1064

Date: May 19, 2025
Podcast: The Digital Executive
Host: Coruzant Technologies (Brian)
Guest: Vivek Kumar, CEO & Co-founder of SocialTrait

Overview

In this episode, host Brian welcomes Vivek Kumar, CEO and co-founder of SocialTrait, to discuss how AI-powered audience simulations are revolutionizing market research. The focus is on leveraging generative AI to create large-scale virtual communities that allow brands to preview real audience reactions and optimize campaigns. Vivek shares SocialTrait’s origin story, platform differentiators, scaling challenges, and upcoming innovations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Origin of SocialTrait: From Public Service to AI Innovation

• Vivek's Career Shift:
  Vivek traces his journey from HM Revenue and Customs in the UK, through investment banking, to founding SocialTrait. The inspiration came from a real incident where his co-founder, Suraj, faced online backlash after a social media post.
• Genesis Story:
  “Brands have no safe way to see real reactions before they gamble millions on a launch... We asked what if we could build a virtual world populated by AI consumers where you can preview emotion, outrage or delight before you hit publish.”
  — Vivek Kumar [01:42]
• Mission Statement:
  The leap was “about chasing a bigger purpose. Showing companies what people will feel tomorrow, today.”
  — Vivek Kumar [02:55]

SocialTrait’s Platform: Blending Generative AI & Community Simulation

• How It Works:
  • SocialTrait has built a virtual world with over 500,000 AI agents who mimic real human behaviors, demographics, and psychographics.
  • Clients create custom virtual communities reflecting their real-life target segments (e.g., “loyalty moms in Minneapolis” or “sneakerheads in LA”).
• Simulated Market Research:
  • Brands can run large-scale experiments (simulated surveys, focus groups, attention heat maps) to see organic responses form in real time.
  • Delivers “deeper whys” and actionable insights far faster and cheaper than traditional research.
• Comparison to Traditional Methods:
  • “Teams can run experiments like large scale surveys, simulated surveys... and watch opinions form in real time and the output is deeper, wise actionable insights at a fraction of a cost in time.”
    — Vivek Kumar [04:46]
  • Example: A global food brand reduced a 30-day positioning study to just a few days, powered by feedback from thousands of AI-driven “shoppers.”

Scaling Challenges: From Tech Bottlenecks to Market Demand

• Demand Outpaced Tech Issues:
  The main challenge was not technical but operational — adapting to an explosion of demand post-ChatGPT, especially from enterprise clients.
• Building Capabilities & Trust:
  • Solution: Hired experienced insight leaders and built self-serve dashboards to empower clients directly.
  • Results: Scaled from 3 to 20 concurrent pilots and completed over 300 research projects in six months, all with rapid turnaround.
• B2B Wisdom:
  “A key takeaway in B2B AI, you scale trust first, software second.”
  — Vivek Kumar [07:25]

What’s Next for SocialTrait: Virality Simulation & Partnerships

• New Frontiers in Virtual Worlds:
  SocialTrait is developing a social media simulation world populated by millions of AI agents, built to test content virality, backlash, influencer impact, and forecast crises—before campaigns go live.
  • “We are launching a social media simulation world populated by millions of AI agents who scroll like comment and create content 24/7. Marketers can drop a post or an ad and watch in real time how fast it spreads, who boosts it, where backlash sparks.”
    — Vivek Kumar [08:32]
• Partnerships & Integration:
  Integrating with top retail media networks for real-time creative optimization just before launch.
• Vision:
  “Our North Star is an audience behavior simulation layer that every marketer taps before spending a dollar in the wild.”
  — Vivek Kumar [09:17]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Origin:
  “Suraj’s backlash showed me a bigger gap. Brands have no safe way to see real reactions before they gamble millions on a launch.”
  — Vivek Kumar [01:42]
• On Market Research Evolution:
  “Reusable virtual audiences, so no recruitment fees, so there is no research fatigue... uncover deeper whys and actionable insights which you cannot do with the traditional methods.”
  — Vivek Kumar [05:22]
• On Scaling Startups:
  “In B2B AI, you scale trust first, software second.”
  — Vivek Kumar [07:25]
• On Innovation:
  “...to create this social media virtual world with all these AI personalities and we’re going to get some amazing insights through this testing before it’s even launched out to the real world.”
  — Brian [09:38]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:42] – Vivek describes the inspiration and leap into AI-powered research after his co-founder’s social media incident.
• [04:03] – Technical description of SocialTrait’s virtual communities and capabilities compared to traditional market research tools.
• [06:23] – Discussion on key challenges in scaling and the focus on operational solutions over pure tech.
• [08:19] – Vivek outlines future plans: viral content simulation, new social media worlds, and integrations with major partners.

Conclusion

This episode spotlights how SocialTrait is transforming market research with AI agents that simulate human emotion and reaction. Vivek Kumar emphasizes the necessity of prediction, speed, and trust in the digital age, sharing both the company’s journey and its next frontiers—pioneering simulated worlds for marketers to experiment, learn, and de-risk innovation before it reaches real consumers.