AI-Powered Discovery · Design Leadership
Insightful Chat
From Navigating to Knowing: How AI Chat Transformed Content Discovery and Login Conversion
Role: Design Lead
Company: TechInsights
Focus: UX Strategy, Conversational Design, Funnel Optimization, AI Systems
Collaboration: UX, Platform, Architecture, Product
Impact: 8K+ MUs, 77% SAM adoption, measurable retention lift, and improved time to value by 50%
PROJECT OVERVEIW
TechInsights Platform contains thousands of reports and analyses across semiconductor domains like packaging, power, and connectivity. Users once relied on deep menus and filters to find value, often spending hours searching or abandoning sessions altogether.
Insightful Chat reimagines that experience through AI-powered, conversational discovery — making complex intelligence accessible in seconds and driving active user growth.
UX Contributions
- Translated AI vision into usable, scalable conversational flows
- Designed interface for clarity, confidence, and multi-persona adoption
- Integrated citation and entitlement cues for trust and transparency
- Partnered with Architecture to build MVP in Retool and scale through MCP
Challenge
TechInsights set an ambitious goal: reach 100K Active Users.
Yet discovery was slow, hierarchical, and persona-specific.
Key Friction Points
Strong content, weak discovery.
- Overwhelming navigation and nested filters
- Engineers succeeded; strategists and procurement users did not
- Drop-off before value realization
- Hours spent searching per question
How might we...
Reduce time-to-value and make trusted semiconductor intelligence accessible through natural, conversational interaction?
Hypothesis
If users could ask natural questions instead of navigating taxonomies, they would:
- Find insights faster
- Engage more deeply with gated content
- Be more motivated to sign in and continue
Traditional Discovery Flow
AI Discovery Flow
If we allowed users to express intent naturally using AI chat (Insightful Chat), they would:
- Find relevant information faster
- Engage more deeply with gated content
- Be more willing to log in when prompted
The Opportunity
Reimagine discovery through AI-powered conversation to reduce time-to-value, increase retention, and expand adoption across all personas.
User Journey
From Search to Conversation
Users no longer need to know where to look, they just need to express what they need.
Insightful Chat shifts the burden from the user to the system — users no longer need to know where to look.
Anatomy of Insightful Chat
Query → Role Awareness → Data Retrieval → Citation Layers → Deep Links
Each answer is verified, cited, and explainable.
EARLY PROTOTYPES & TESTING
Building the Foundation for Insightful Chat
Key Insight
Users trusted AI answers when citations were visible and preferred conversational refinement to filter results.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Insightful Chat is not another chatbot.
It’s built on 30 years of verified semiconductor intelligence.
Bottom Line
Insightful Chat delivers verified, contextual intelligence where public AI delivers speculation.
Public Rollout
From 500 pilot users to 8K+ MUs by Q3.
Insightful Chat went live in May 2025. Rolled out in phases, it marked the first major step in bringing AI and Connected Data into the Platform.
Adoption
- 8,124 unique users
- 13K+ monthly interactions
Engagement
- 77% of users from SAM accounts
- Strong traction with engineers and strategists
Funnel Conversion
- 3.9% CTA click-through to login
- 28.6% conversion after click
Evolution Roadmap
Phase 1: Complete
FEATURE | Natural language queries. Source-linked answers.
Phase 2: In Progress
INTERFACE LAYER | Embedded summaries in reports. Workflow integration.
Phase 3: Future
PLATFORM FABRIC | Proactive insights. Personalized workflows. AI as default discovery layer.
WIN, WIN, WIN
One feature, three wins: Users. TechInsights. Leadership.
Insightful Chat delivers value across three critical dimensions: user efficiency, business growth, and organizational proof that AI can scale with the right strategic alignment.
Users: Faster insights. Verified data. Natural interaction.
TechInsights: Acquisition driver. Retention loop. Brand differentiation.
Leadership: Proof of scalable AI. Clear value toward 100K AU target.
Insightful Chat succeeded because of cross-functional collaboration.
- Architecture built the AI foundation (MCP and model integration)
- Platform leadership aligned AI to business goals
- UX designed for usability, trust, and scale
This was not just an AI project.
It was proof that design-led alignment can turn emerging technology into measurable business growth.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Insightful Chat turned a slow, menu-driven search experience into a conversational discovery system grounded in verified data. By aligning UX, Architecture, and Platform strategy, it increased adoption, reduced friction, and proved that thoughtful UX can scale AI responsibly across an enterprise platform.
Insightful Chat made discovery immediate and trustworthy and is accelerating TechInsights’ path to 100K active users.
Contact me at chris@cgervais.ca