Meridian Research Institute conducts systematic field research documenting how marketing agencies integrate AI tools into operations. Through structured interviews and workflow documentation, the research builds comprehensive datasets on operational maturity and adoption patterns.
The institute maintains institutional standards for research methodology, participant confidentiality, and transparent reporting. Field research operates independently without vendor sponsorship or consulting dependencies.
The institute documents operational reality in marketing services through qualitative field investigation. Research examines workflow integration, documentation practices, team adoption dynamics, and maturity patterns across agencies with 10-200 employees.
Field research produces individual documentation reports for participants and aggregate pattern analysis for industry-wide understanding. All research maintains strict confidentiality protocols and internal methodology governance standards.
Meridian Research Institute is conducting a single-cohort field study documenting AI workflow adoption across 50+ marketing agencies from November 2025 through December 2026. The research examines how agencies integrate AI tools into day-to-day operations, measuring maturity across six operational domains through structured assessment interviews and systematic documentation.
Participating agencies receive professional documentation reports analyzing current workflow integration, maturity positioning, and benchmark comparisons. The research builds the industry's first comprehensive dataset on AI workflow adoption in marketing services.
Meridian Research Institute operates as a focused, single-study program dedicated exclusively to AI workflow adoption in marketing agencies, maintaining institutional research standards in a tightly defined domain. The institute conducts systematic field research on how operational technologies integrate into day-to-day workflows, examining documentation practices, adoption patterns, and maturity development.
Research programs use structured assessment interviews, workflow documentation frameworks, and systematic analytical methods. The institute maintains independence from vendor sponsorship, consulting dependencies, and software development interests.
Founded in 2025, Meridian Research Institute operates under strict internal methodology governance and participant confidentiality standards, with transparent reporting of findings and limitations.
The institute follows established qualitative research standards for interview-based field investigation, including systematic data collection procedures, consistent analytical frameworks, and transparent reporting of methodology, findings, and limitations.
Research programs operate under strict internal methodology governance and participant confidentiality standards. Interview recordings and transcripts are maintained in secured systems with strict access controls.
Meridian Research Institute does not sell software, does not provide implementation consulting, and does not accept vendor sponsorship. The institute exists solely to document operational reality in marketing services using rigorous, transparent research methods.
This independence ensures analytical objectivity and prevents conflicts of interest in research findings. All aggregate findings are made publicly available to contribute to broader industry understanding.
The AI Workflow Benchmark Study produces three distinct research outputs over the 14-month program, building from individual documentation to comprehensive industry-wide findings.
All aggregate findings preserve participant confidentiality while documenting operational patterns across the industry. Individual agency reports remain private unless explicit permission is granted for case study attribution.
The AI Workflow Benchmark Study employs systematic qualitative research methods designed for field investigation of operational practices in service organizations.
Each agency participates in a structured 60-90 minute assessment interview following a standardized, scripted protocol covering six operational domains. The researcher works from a fixed protocol to ensure consistency across all participants while allowing contextual exploration of agency-specific patterns.
Interviews follow a structured, scripted protocol rather than a free-form conversation. This ensures consistency and comparability across all participating agencies.
Interviews are conducted via video conference, recorded with participant consent, and transcribed for systematic analysis.
The maturity documentation framework applies consistent criteria across six domains: tool adoption and integration, workflow documentation practices, team capability distribution, operational outcomes, strategic alignment, and systematic innovation practices. Agencies are positioned along a developmental spectrum from ad-hoc experimentation through emerging standardization, developing capabilities, systematic implementation, and optimized operations.
Interview recordings and transcripts are stored in encrypted cloud systems with access limited to authorized research personnel. Recordings are retained for 120 days post-interview; transcripts are maintained indefinitely for pattern analysis across the dataset.
Individual agency data remains confidential. Specific operational details, proprietary processes, and identifying information are not disclosed in aggregate reporting without explicit written permission. Participants select their attribution preference: full (agency named with permission), partial (agency named but specific practices anonymized), or anonymous (agency referred to generically in all contexts).
All documentation reports undergo internal review for analytical consistency, factual accuracy, and adherence to confidentiality protocols before delivery. Participants may request corrections to factual errors within 14 days of report receipt.
Meridian Research Institute commits to transparent reporting of all findings, methodology, and limitations. The interim benchmark report (20 agencies) and definitive benchmark report (50+ agencies) will be published openly with full disclosure of participant selection criteria, interview methods, analytical frameworks, and research limitations.
For research participation inquiries, institutional partnerships, or information requests, contact Meridian Research Institute at research@meridianresearchinstitute.org.
The institute responds to inquiries within two business days. Research participation applications are reviewed on a rolling weekly basis.