Reflecting on 2025, A Year of Growth, Perspective, and Purpose at Martlenz

As 2025 comes to a close, we’ve been spending some time reflecting on the year that was not just on milestones or outcomes, but on how our work, our partnerships, and the research ecosystem itself continue to evolve.

2025 was a year where momentum met maturity. A year where we were reminded that while tools and techniques change, the fundamentals of good research remain constant.

This reflection also coincided with an important milestone for us. In 2025, Growman Group marked its 10-year journey, ten years of building research-led businesses grounded in credibility, curiosity, and long-term partnerships. For Martlenz, being part of that journey has shaped how we think about scale, responsibility, and the craft of research itself.

2025, The Year Complexity Became the Norm

Over the course of 2025, we had the opportunity to work closely with clients running some of their most complex and high-stakes research programs.

These weren’t easy audiences to reach:

• Senior decision-makers and CXOs

• Deep technical and operational experts

• Highly niche B2B segments across technology, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services, aviation, retail, and the public sector

 What stood out was not just the diversity of studies, but the rising expectations around accuracy, speed often all at once.

Quality Became Non-Negotiable

If there was one theme that consistently shaped our decisions in 2025, it was data quality. As timelines compressed and sample requirements became more specialized, we doubled down on:

• Thoughtful recruitment over brute-force sampling

• Hybrid and moderated approaches to improve engagement

• Strong verification, fraud prevention, and QA processes

 For us, speed never came at the cost of rigor. And that discipline paid off in stronger outcomes and longer-term client relationships.

Technology Played a Supporting Role, not the Lead

AI and automation became unavoidable topics in 2025, and rightly so. They’ve opened up meaningful efficiencies across the research lifecycle. But one thing became increasingly clear to me this year: technology works best in research when it supports human judgment, not replaces it. We used technology to reduce friction, improve targeting, and enhance respondent experience, while continuing to rely on expert-led recruitment, moderation, and quality control where it matters most.

Global Research Still Needs Local Intelligence

Running multi-country studies across North America, Europe, APAC, the Middle East, and emerging markets reminded me of an important reality: Global research doesn’t succeed on scale alone.

It succeeds when local context, cultural nuance, and realistic feasibility are part of the conversation from day one. Many of our best engagements in 2025 came from setting clear expectations early and building studies grounded in what is practically achievable.

Partnerships That Went Beyond Delivery

One of the most rewarding aspects of 2025 was deepening partnerships with clients who saw us not just as a vendor, but as a true extension of their research teams.

The most successful projects were collaborative built on transparency, trust, and shared ownership of outcomes. Those relationships are what make this work meaningful.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we step into 2026, the research landscape will only get more demanding, tighter timelines, harder audiences, and higher scrutiny on data quality and that’s exactly what excites me.

At Martlenz, we’ll continue to focus on what matters most: clarity, and care for the craft of research.

Thank you to our clients, partners, and teams who made 2025 a year of learning and progress. I’m genuinely excited about what we’ll build together in 2026.

Chandan Rastogi

Senior Vice President, Client Services, Martlenz Knowledge Services