Brandwatch has announced a significant upgrade to its platform, introducing new AI features and expanded data coverage aimed at helping marketers understand trends faster and make stronger decisions. The update centers around Iris AI, the intelligence layer woven throughout the Brandwatch system. Iris now interprets larger data sets, responds to questions conversationally, and supports deeper analysis across an even broader range of digital signals.
The company describes this wave of innovation as a shift in how marketing and communications teams work with data. Instead of long manual searches, complicated dashboards, or guesswork, Brandwatch is pushing for quicker interpretation, clearer summaries, and smoother workflows across teams that depend on accurate insight.
Iris AI Takes a Bigger Role Across Brandwatch
Iris AI has long served as Brandwatch’s intelligence engine. With this update, it receives a sharper set of tools and a more conversational interface. The goal is simple: give marketers a way to ask questions the same way they would ask a colleague and receive answers grounded in data, not assumptions.
Ask Iris: AI Assistant for Instant Answers
The new Ask Iris feature lets users type natural-language questions and receive direct responses. No queries. No custom dashboards. Iris searches and analyzes data automatically, builds charts, and provides summaries that highlight the points that matter. Users can continue the conversation, refine the question, or pull in more context without needing extra steps.
AI Query Writer for Boolean Searches
Building Boolean queries has often slowed analysts down. The AI Query Writer now generates complete queries from the ground up. It suggests keywords, hashtags, and subreddits based on the topic at hand, helping teams reduce trial-and-error work.
AI Dashboards for Faster Clarity
Data dashboards can become overwhelming without context. Iris can now summarize dashboard findings in plain language. These summaries explain what the numbers mean and point out shifts worth paying attention to. It removes the friction involved in translating charts into decisions.
Broader Data Sources Strengthen the Insights
Brandwatch’s data foundation has long been one of the largest in its category. The updated platform widens that base further. Marketers now gain access to data signals from Threads, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Trajaan search data, and more than 70,000 trending podcasts. Each podcast also includes transcript analysis, giving teams full visibility into spoken discussions tied to their brand or market.
The platform’s social media management features now include influencer summaries, translated content powered by Iris, and AI-driven industry benchmarks. These additions give users a stronger view of how their content and competitors stack up in real time.
What’s Coming in 2026
Brandwatch is already outlining its 2026 roadmap. Future plans include more APAC data sources, new integrations for customers who want to bring their own datasets into Brandwatch, and deeper analysis of video and image content. A new mobile app experience is also planned, which points to a growing focus on insight access from anywhere.
Jim Daxner, Cision’s Chief Product Officer, described Iris as a digital partner for marketing teams. His point underscores a growing trend across the industry: teams want AI that explains what is happening, provides context, and supports decisions without overwhelming them with noise. Brandwatch is betting that transparent models, clear summaries, and broad data coverage can deliver exactly that.
This update reflects a market where speed matters and teams cannot afford to wait for long research cycles. Marketers want clear signals, faster analysis, and tools that can help them respond to cultural moments before they fade. Iris AI seems positioned to give them that edge, especially as digital signals multiply across new platforms.
The latest release reinforces Brandwatch’s role as a central intelligence hub for marketing and communication teams. With wider data coverage, more automation, and smarter analysis tools, the platform helps users turn constant digital noise into meaningful patterns. It also gives teams the structure they need to act with confidence, even as consumer conversations shift by the hour.
As 2026 approaches, Brandwatch appears committed to building AI that works alongside humans instead of replacing them. The updates announced today show that direction clearly. The platform continues to expand, and marketers gain more ways to read signals, interpret change, and act quickly—with clarity guiding every step.