Headless Research
What happens when research tools lose their UI
Marc Busch · Busch Labs · Vienna
?
API
Logic
Data
About
UX and market research agency and soon platform
From psychologist and researcher to “research engineer”
This talk: How I needed to become “technical” to stay on top of AI in research
Headless Research
01 · The pattern
What is a head?
Head
UI · what people see and click
API
Body
data · logic · workflows
Headless: the body ships without a fixed head
Any head attaches via API
web · app · kiosk · agent
You know this already
Headless UI components
Radix · React Aria · Headless UI
behavior and a11y built in, the look is yours
Headless Research
Vocabulary
Six terms for today
API
Application Programming Interface
how software asks other software
CLI
Command Line Interface
typed commands instead of clicks
MCP
Model Context Protocol
USB-C for AI agents: one plug, any tool
SQL
Structured Query Language
the language for asking a database
Postgres
PostgreSQL
open-source database, data in tables
Schema
the database blueprint
tables, fields and how they connect
Headless Research
01 · The pattern
2013: content and commerce go headless
Contentful
Berlin · 2013 · headless CMS
commercetools
Munich · 2013 · coins “headless commerce”
MACH
Microservices · API-first · Cloud-native · Headless
Web
App
Kiosk
Voice
Commerce engine
catalog · cart · checkout · orders
Headless Research
01 · The pattern
2026: the CRM loses its head
Salesforce Headless 360
TDX, San Francisco · 15 April 2026
Every capability: API · MCP tool · CLI
60+ new MCP tools
Browser optional
29 Sep 2026 · deal signed
Salesforce to acquire Listen Labs
AI-run research at scale: research joins the stack
CRM agent
in Slack · now
Renewal ready for approval
3-year renewal · 12% discount
Approve
Review
The CRM becomes background infrastructure
Headless Research
01 · The pattern
The new head is an agent
Headless
UI optional
one body, many heads
people still click
Agentic
Human optional
agents discover, compare, buy
ACP · OpenAI + Stripe · Sep 2025
UCP · Google + Shopify · Jan 2026
Headless Research
02 · Headless research
Research today: one tool, one head
final_deck.pptx
where insights end
own login · own export · own data model
Headless Research
?
What if research tools had no UI?
02 · Headless research
Headless research: the model
Heads
Researcher
Designer
PM
Agent
Clients
Access
SQL · API · MCP
Data layer
Research data layer
schema · codebook · consent · evidence
Sources
Interviews
Surveys
Usability tests
Panel
Analytics
Headless Research
02 · Headless research
Research tools are growing APIs
MCP server · 2025
read + write
Dovetail
search, create, update insights
MCP server
read-only by design
Condens
query published research
MCP server
query from chat
Great Question
studies, transcripts, insights
MCP server · Graz
read-only by design
Userbrain
sessions, clips, findings
Research leaves the app
Headless Research
02 · Our setup
How we run it at Busch Labs
Panel
participants
Admin
our team
Portal
clients
Agents
via MCP
One Postgres
panel · studies · invitations
surveys · responses · consent
Questionnaires live in tables, not in a survey tool
Open answers: LLM-coded, cached, logged
Every dataset ships with a codebook
Rights per column: participants never see the client
Agent actions name the human behind them
Headless Research
03 · Skills
What researchers need now
Data modeling
entities · relations · IDs
SQL
select · join · group by
Taxonomy
codebooks · tags · definitions
APIs and MCP
what an agent can see and do
Governance
consent · access · GDPR
Headless Research
03 · Skills
And for designers?
Ask directly
query the evidence yourself
no research ticket, no waiting
Check sources
follow the link to the quote
which study · how many · when
Design the heads
answers in Slack, IDE, Figma
research as a component
Headless Research
03 · Skills
One question, five lines
Question
Which checkout problems came up across all studies in the last 12 months?
SQL
SELECT study, observation, evidence
FROM nuggets
WHERE tag = 'checkout'
AND created_at > now() - '12 months'
ORDER BY study;
Illustrative schema
Headless Research
04 · Possibilities
A repository you can query
Observation
what we learned
+
Evidence
clip · quote · screenshot
+
Tags
who · where · which flow
=
Nugget
smallest unit with meaning
Atomic research: Tomer Sharon, Daniel Pidcock · Polaris at WeWork, 2017
Filing cabinet → database
cross-study
longitudinal
re-analysis
Headless Research
04 · Possibilities
Ask without knowing the schema
Question
in plain language
Agent
turns it into a query
Schema
plus codebook: what things mean
Answer
with links to evidence
Who asks
Designers
PMs
Engineers
Sales
Where
Slack
IDE
Figma
Headless Research
05 · Risks
Keyholes instead of a map
each circle: what one person sees
Overview lost
answers without context
plausible but wrong
fast answers to bad questions
consent and privacy
agent security: prompt injection, tool poisoning
Headless Research
06 · Prerequisites
What it takes
Ownership
someone owns the map
Permissions + consent
as data, not as UI
Interfaces
SQL · API · MCP, open standards
Semantic layer
schema · codebook · taxonomy
Standards
Triple-S since 1994 · atomic nuggets
Headless Research
Takeaways
01
Research becomes infrastructure
02
Researchers design the data model
03
No semantic layer, no democratization
Questions?
03
Slides & links
busch-labs.at/events
