On this episode of "After Hours, in partnership with Tanqueray Africa," we speak with Serigne Fall, the founder of LOOKA Research, a company focused on solving one of Africa’s most overlooked challenges in tech, research operations.Drawing from firsthand experience inside research agencies, he breaks down why, despite having strong frameworks and smart consultants, many companies still struggle to generate meaningful insights.We explore why research is often treated as a “nice-to-have” rather than essential infrastructure, especially among startups navigating tight budgets and pressure to move fast. Instead of pushing for expensive, large-scale studies, LOOKA Research champions an iterative approach: small, continuous feedback loops that help businesses validate ideas, avoid costly mistakes, and move with greater clarity.The conversation also challenges a common founder mindset, that research must be expensive to be valuable. In reality, even simple actions like speaking to a handful of users or applying “The Mom Test” can offer powerful direction. It’s not always about spending more money, but about being intentional with time and curiosity. We also dive into the evolving role of AI in research, highlighting its power to speed up data collection and analysis, while cautioning against biases that can arise from incomplete or unrepresentative datasets, particularly in African contexts.To keep up with Serigne Fall, Check out his linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/serigne-fall/Check out LOOKA Research :https://www.linkedin.com/company/getlookaresearch/

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