This episode of the Sunny Ray Show features Adeel, founder of Iris Flex, an audience intelligence firm, and author of the book AI for Marketing, The Consumer Perspective. Adeel discusses the gap between the business of AI, which is investing heavily in workflows and products, and the everyday consumer, who often feels scared or distrustful of AI. She traces her path from studying sociology in Istanbul and at Bryn Mawr, to media effects research at Annenberg, to years tracking word of mouth and influencer marketing, and now to AI adoption research. She introduces her framework of AI proximity, the idea that people accept AI when it operates at a distance, such as in a lab or customer service setting, but resist it when it comes close to their children, parents, or personal lives. She also outlines four factors shaping adoption: exposure, comfort, context, and willingness to delegate. Throughout, Adeel emphasizes that research must lead to actionable strategy, not just interesting findings, and that understanding audience segments is key to moving people from AI avoidance toward adoption.
A researcher explains why most people distrust AI up close and how brands can close that trust gap.
What is Iris Flex?
Iris Flex is an audience intelligence firm I started a couple years ago. We focus on how people decide and take action, what mobilizes them. We constantly ask these kinds of questions to different populations, working with brands around the world to do research on consumers.
What is your book AI for Marketing about in a nutshell?
The impetus is the distance between the business of AI and the consumers of AI, which I call the AI gap. Businesses invest heavily in AI while end users feel scared and don't trust what they see. I explore why trust matters for selling, who is trusting AI and why, and how to adjust communications to each group's needs to mobilize participation.
What pulled you from Istanbul to study sociology at Bryn Mawr?
I'm a firm believer in media effects. I watched a lot of 90210 growing up and thought my life would be like that if I came to the States. So I applied and got a scholarship, ending up at Bryn Mawr, which shaped my education deeply.
Isn't research the final frontier for AI, something it can't fully do yet?
AI does a phenomenal job of research, but a human has to be in charge of what's coming out and going in. It speeds up administrative processes, crunching weeks of fieldwork into seconds, but it has to be a conversation between the end user and AI, especially in the hands of someone who knows enough to catch mistakes and direct it.
When did the gap between the business of AI and users of AI become obvious enough to study?
A couple years ago I noticed the scale of fear, shifts in the job market, and hesitancy to believe in what people were getting from AI. Even though it was exciting, it wasn't working perfectly, and people were still frustrated or fearful, which told me there was something deeper to dig into.
Can you walk me through the moment your AI proximity framework clicked?
In a study in early 2025, I asked how comfortable people would be if AI did things like customer service, helping scientists, or caring for children and elderly parents. People were fine with AI helping those far from them emotionally, like scientists, but resistant to AI touching their children or parents, which is where the proximity idea emerged.
How do you turn research insight into something an entrepreneur can actually build?
The worst reaction is when someone says that's interesting and stops there. Information has to be applied. So what if AI adoption has four pillars like context and delegation. The point is you have to know your audience and your interception points, meeting them where they are to turn insight into a viable business strategy.
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