Hire an AI trend researcher

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• A trend brief with a clear verdict and what it rests on
• An evidence table listing each signal, its source, date and how much weight it carries
• A stage call and the forces that push the trend or hold it back
• Adoption risks, assumptions and what would change the verdict
• Next steps, from cheap tests to bigger moves

How it does the job well

• Every signal needs a source and a date from what the user supplied or what you opened. If you cannot give one, mark the signal "no source" and give it low weight.
• Call a trend real only when at least two different kinds of signal agree (for example search interest and customer comments). One signal alone is "unproven".
• Mark every forecast and market size as Estimate, show what it rests on, and never present a range as certain. Do not quote accuracy rates or lead times as results.
• Do not size a market without figures from the user or a source you opened. Say "cannot size without data" instead.
• Money, legal and investment decisions need a qualified professional. Say so when the brief feeds one.
• Start from the user problem and the evidence for it, then the solution.
• Write decisions down with the reason and the options you rejected.

Mistakes it avoids

• Naming a trend from one chart or one viral post.
• Reporting the profile's sample metrics as results.
• Filling empty signal groups with guesses.
• Long lists of every possible data source. Name the few that matter for this decision.
• Treating opinions or one loud request as proven demand.
• Specs that skip edge cases, error states or dependencies.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You are choosing what product or feature to build next and want to know if demand is rising or a short fad.

• Verdict. Whether the trend looks real, early, crowded, unproven or fading, with confidence and one reason.
• Evidence table. Each signal with its source, date, what it shows and how much weight it carries.
• Stage and forces. The trend's stage, what pushes it and what holds it back.
• Market size. Sizing steps built only from figures you supplied, each marked estimate or fact.
• Adoption risks. What could stop people from adopting, who it affects and how to test it.
• Next steps. A small test first, a bigger move after it and what to keep watching.

How the work is checked

• Every requirement can be tested.
• Assumptions and risks are listed with how each will be checked.
• Dependencies and owners are named.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

A second opinion

Before it hands back, your AI reviews the draft the way Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett would. This is a way of reviewing the work. It does not mean they wrote or endorse it.

Capabilities

• Frame the decision. It restates the trend, the decision and the kind of proof needed. Missing parts are asked once, then marked MISSING.
• Gather the signals. It lists search, social, rival, money and rule signals from your data. It searches the web only if your AI can.
• Test each signal. Each signal gets a source, a date and a weight. Single-source or old signals count for less.
• Place the stage. It calls the trend early, growing, peaking, settling or fading, and names the drivers and barriers.
• Size only with real numbers. If you give figures, it sizes the market in steps you can check. Without them it says it cannot.
• Write the brief. You get the verdict, evidence table, adoption risks, assumptions, checks still needed and next steps.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id product-trend-researcher only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/product-trend-researcher/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• The trend, market or product idea to study, and the decision it should help with
• Any data you already have, such as search interest, articles, reviews, rival pages or survey results
• Who your customer is and where you sell (optional)
• The date range and the places to look, such as one country (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• A search interest export, such as Google Trends data for your terms.
• Reviews or comments from your own customers.
• A list of rivals and the dates they launched.

Tools and access

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with web search: It can pull public signals itself. Without search it only judges the data you paste.

Functions and deliverables

• Trend researcher agent: Find out if a product trend is real and worth acting on. Get a brief with the evidence, its stage, adoption risks and next steps.
  • A trend brief with a clear verdict and what it rests on
  • An evidence table listing each signal, its source, date and how much weight it carries
  • A stage call and the forces that push the trend or hold it back
  • Adoption risks, assumptions and what would change the verdict
  • Next steps, from cheap tests to bigger moves
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• Market research report writer: Name the market and decision. Get a source-linked report with market-size scenarios, assumptions and gaps made clear.
  • A sourced report
  • A claim and source table
  • Market size with assumptions
  • Forecast ranges
  • A list of limits
  Source: K-Dense.
• Amazon product opportunity finder: Share an interest, category and any search data. Get ranked product-gap ideas and the evidence needed to test them.
  • A ranked list of 5 to 10 gap ideas, each with the phrase, the volume, what page 1 shows and the gap
  • The 3 ideas worth a full viability check, and which ideas were dropped and why
  • A short list of search phrases for you to verify by hand
• Investment decision brief writer: Turn your four filter results into a clear yes, no or too-hard call, with how big to commit and what would change it. Built for close choices.
  • A call: yes, no or too hard, with the rule that gave it
  • How the choice compares with your best recent chances
  • How big a commitment fits
  • What would change the call, and how you will judge the process
• Product context file writer: Share product facts, audience and positioning. Get a reviewed context file that other marketing skills can reference.
  • A product marketing context file
  • A summary of what the file already holds
  • A change log of updates
  • Gaps you still need to fill
  Source: Corey Haines.
• Charlie Munger: Stress-test a plan using Charlie Munger’s recorded approach. Turn it upside down, examine incentives and ask where your knowledge ends.
  • Your problem worked on the way Charlie Munger would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Charlie Munger's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step
• Warren Buffett: Review a business using Warren Buffett’s recorded principles. Check how it earns, what protects it, how managers use cash and which facts remain uncertain.
  • Your problem worked on the way Warren Buffett would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Warren Buffett's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step

Tasks you can use it for

• You are choosing what product or feature to build next and want to know if demand is rising or a short fad.
• A rival launched something new and you need to know if it signals a wider shift.
• You are about to enter a market and want to know how big it is and how early you would be.
• An investor or your team asks "why now?" and you have no evidence written down.

Limits to check before starting

• You want to pull findings from a pile of papers or reports into one summary. Use the Research evidence reviewer.
• You want live market numbers, such as exact market size or a financial forecast. It needs real data from you, and a financial adviser should review any plan that relies on it.
• You want to see what people say about your brand on X. Use the X research analyst.
• You want to compare tools you could buy. Use the Software tool comparison planner.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the pack from this page and add it to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md.
• Say what trend or market you are studying and what you will decide. Paste the data you have, or say that your AI can search the web.
• Type "Make the trend brief. Show the source and date for every signal. Mark estimates as estimates."
• Read the verdict and the evidence table together. Check that more than one kind of signal agrees.
• Open two of the sources it cites. Add what you know about your customers, then ask it to run the brief again.
• Use the next steps list for a small test first, such as a landing page or a customer call.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/product-trend-researcher for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.