Every day, we benefit from the work of people we'll never meet. A nurse in New York buys a car built in Munich. An engineer at the carmaker takes a vacation in Sicily. The owner of the hotel uses a phone designed in California, powered by a chip made in Taiwan, and assembled in China. Each has a specialty. Trade lets them benefit from each other's work.
Together, we've made extraordinary progress. Passenger flights began in the 1910s, and by 2025, 87% of American adults had flown[1]. That same year, 85% of infants worldwide were fully vaccinated against whooping cough[2]. Things even kings couldn't buy are now part of everyday life, thanks to innovation and trade.
For trade to work, customers and businesses have to find one another. Television and store shelves favored big brands with broad appeal, while the internet helped smaller businesses find customers with specific needs[3].
AI gives us a chance to go further. It will lower the cost of making products and services, and make it easier for people to find the ones that fit them. When both get cheaper, markets move faster: needs shift, competitors appear, and yesterday's research goes stale.
We help brands understand their customers as fast as their market changes, from testing a new idea to improving the experience they already offer.