Partnership with Metaforms: Supporting smarter survey programming
At Purdie Pascoe, the best partnerships are the ones that make a real difference to how we work day-to-day, and Metaforms is a strong example of that. It is an AI-assisted platform that supports survey programming, helping turn complex questionnaires into live surveys with less manual effort. One project type that used to take about a week of programming now takes two to three days. For our team, that creates more space to respond when clients need updates with a quick turnaround.
One of the most interesting aspects of the platform is that it works through conversational AI. In practice, that means we can describe what we need in plain language, whether that is a new survey flow, a logic change or an adjustment to an existing script, and the software can generate the underlying code in response. That approach is increasingly being described as vibe coding, a term that has become a major talking point in the programming world because it shifts the role of the programmer from writing every line manually to directing, refining and checking what AI produces. While some experienced developers see that as untidy or overly reliant on automation, the broader reality is that this way of working is quickly becoming part of modern programming. You do not need to be the kind of person who can build everything from scratch unaided; you need enough expertise to guide the AI well, sense-check the output and make sure the final result is robust. Metaforms is built around that checking step. Surveys are generated in small batches that our programmers review against the questionnaire, with our own templates and conventions applied automatically, so oversight is part of the workflow.
The technology is one part of the story, but what makes Metaforms particularly valuable is the partnership behind it. Adopting a new way of working took deliberate effort, and the support from the Metaforms team helped make that transition smoother. Through training, regular conversations and an openness to feedback, we have built a relationship focused on making the platform work better in practice. That ongoing exchange means improvements are not just acknowledged, they are often reflected in the system itself, creating something that continues to evolve alongside the way we work.
"Working with Paolo and the Purdie Pascoe team has been genuinely special for us. The hard part of adopting AI is in managing organizational change and helping your team trust a new way of getting real projects done. Paolo’s team has approached that work with real steadfastness and ambition, and that is why the partnership has evolved so beautifully!"
— Akshat Tyagi, CEO and Founder – Metaforms
The balance between AI capability and human oversight is central to how we use Metaforms. The platform helps take on some of the heavier programming tasks, whether that is helping generate production-ready code, managing changes to questionnaires or handling more complex logic. As our Innovation team has been discussing throughout 2026, the real value of AI is not in removing people from the process, but in giving experts better tools to work more effectively. That is exactly how we use it here. Our team still checks every input, reviews the detail and applies the judgement that comes from experience, so while AI helps streamline the work, the quality and rigour still come from the people behind it. As a result, the proportion of projects we program in-house has continued to rise, and our programming team has grown alongside it.
That growing internal capability is important because it supports both sides of our business. Whether we are delivering work in Primary Market Research or running Post Market Surveys, having a platform that can adapt to different project needs gives us a stronger operational foundation. It helps us maintain consistency across projects by easily adopting our templates and supporting clients with a more seamless experience, while still applying the research rigour and attention to detail that underpin everything we do.
As Metaforms has made the programming stage faster and more efficient, it has also helped us look more closely at the wider project workflow around it. With programming no longer demanding the same level of time and resource, attention has naturally shifted towards the project coordination and fieldwork activities that follow. This has helped identify new opportunities for improvement and shaped the next phase of our ongoing conversations with the Metaforms team.
In short, working with Metaforms helps us stay responsive, work more effectively and support clients with greater agility. For us, that is what a good partnership looks like: open conversations, practical improvements and a shared commitment to making the way we work even better.