21.07.2026

Human8 has been featured as part of a documentary series hosted on USA TODAY for bringing back the Human Spark to brands in the age of AI, in partnership with Acumen Media.

As artificial intelligence transforms how brands innovate, communicate and make decisions, a new challenge is emerging: a growing sea of sameness.

With access to the same data, technologies and AI-powered tools, many brands are finding it increasingly difficult to stand apart. According to Human8’s 2025 global study of 15,000 consumers across 16 markets, 76% of consumers say most brands today feel interchangeable, with only a few standing out. Campaigns begin to look alike, innovation pipelines converge and authentic consumer connection becomes harder to achieve.

A new episode in the Innovation Leaders documentary series explores this challenge through the lens of Human8, helping organisations to uncover what the company calls “the human spark”: the emotions, motivations and cultural nuances that data alone cannot capture.

The episode showcases how Human8 combines human understanding, cultural fluency and creativity to help brands move beyond surface-level insights and build stronger connections with the people they serve.

Featuring real-world examples from global organisations including Cargill Animal Nutrition & Health and Rocket Companies, the documentary highlights how Human8 helps brands move from simply collecting data to creating actionable understanding.

For Cargill, Human8 helped develop a global insights platform that brings together research from around the world into a single intelligence ecosystem. The initiative enabled teams to identify universal pet owner needs across markets and transform fragmented knowledge into a shared strategic asset.
For Rocket Companies, Human8 built an always-on insights community, helping the company stay closely connected to consumers and better understand what prosperity, homeownership and financial security mean in people’s everyday lives.

At the heart of the episode is a message increasingly relevant for business leaders navigating rapid technological change: the future is not about choosing between humans and AI. Instead, it is about bringing the strengths of both together.

Niels Neudecker, Managing Director, North America at Human8 says “AI can bring speed, scale and efficiency. Humans bring judgment, meaning, empathy and intuition. The brands that will stand out in the future are those that successfully combine both.”