Build vs. Buy a Research Repository: Let's Talk About the Costs
Every research team eventually faces the same call: build your own insights repository, buy a platform, or bolt AI onto whatever you've got. Most teams frame it as build vs. buy, and think one of the options is free. In reality, none of them are.
Kaleb Loosbrock has some experience with this. He built a research repository four times at Instacart. Each had its own challenges, but it wasn't ever really the tool's fault. In this fireside chat, Kaleb sits down with Alex Knoll of Condens for an open (and at times spicy) conversation about what a research repository actually costs, what AI does and doesn't solve, and how to get clear on what you're building before you pay for it.
If you're a researcher or ResearchOps leader weighing how to invest in your team's insights engine, this is a session you won't want to miss.
Our Speakers
Kaleb Loosbrock is an independent consultant and founder of the AIxUXR community, where researchers worldwide discuss, debate, and design the future of research. He helps enterprise teams move from AI experimentation to real adoption — through workshops, frameworks (HEARTS & CRAFTe), and courses that have reached 1,200+ practitioners. Midwesterner by birth, yoga teacher by choice, dog lover by default.
Alex is the CEO and Co-founder of Condens. He started his career as a product manager, and interviewed more than 160 UX Researchers from around the world to identify pain points and find opportunities for improving research processes before founding Condens. He is particularly passionate about Research Ops, creating effective Product teams, and he often speaks at UX Research events.
