Qualitative research interviews that actually probe. At survey scale. On WhatsApp.
An AI interviewer that listens for what wasn't said, catches contradictions, and follows the thread — then codes every response into themes while fieldwork is still running. 200 interviews in 6 languages. Fielded by Friday, reports by Monday.
What made you switch from your old plan?
10:12Got it — was there a moment you nearly backed out?
10:13honestly yes, cancellation fee scared me 😅 but friend said it got waived
10:14 ✓✓When you called support, what did you ask for first?
10:14[ why whatsapp ]
Why WhatsApp for qualitative research?
2 billion people use it daily. No app to install, no link to click, no signup wall. In Tier 2 and Tier 3 India — where web surveys fail and panel coverage thins out — WhatsApp is the one channel that reliably reaches voice-first respondents on low bandwidth. Voice notes capture how people actually talk. Richer than text, faster than a phone call, natural enough that respondents forget they're in a study.
[ what makes us different ]
What makes Alchemic interviews different
Plenty of tools put a chatbot on WhatsApp. Here's what they don't do.
An AI that actually moderates
Chatbots ask, log, move on. Alchemic listens. It catches a shallow “it’s fine” and asks why. Notices a contradiction from two minutes ago and surfaces it. Hears what you didn’t say and follows the thread. Then codes every response into themes while the next interview is already running.
Read a sample transcript →Voice notes, not just text
Respondents type, record voice notes, or mix both. Alchemic handles all three the same way — transcribes, probes, codes. You get the depth of a phone interview at survey scale. For low-literacy and Tier 2/3 segments, this is the difference between usable sample and silence.
Native probing in 57 global languages
From Hindi and Tamil to Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin and Portuguese — the AI probes natively in each, picks up code-mixing, hesitation, and regional idioms. Switch languages mid-interview. The AI keeps up.
Live reports and alerts, not raw transcripts
Every response is auto-coded into themes as it lands. Dashboard updates in real time. Set Slack or email alerts when a theme spikes, sentiment drops, or a quota fills. Theme → respondents → verbatim → voice note. One click each.
Knows your industry. Knows your business.
Generic AI asks generic questions. Alchemic’s interviewer is briefed on your category, brand, and product context — so it probes like an insider, catches category-specific contradictions, and stays on-brief.
Ops on autopilot
Quality flagging, incentive payouts, quota management, screener logic, dropout detection — all automated. No analyst burning half their week on QC. No panel ops team chasing payouts. No spreadsheet tracking quotas. The study runs itself so your team focuses on insight, not admin.
[ see it in action ]
What an Alchemic interview looks like
10-minute interview with a quick-commerce user (anonymized). Voice and text, code-mixed Hindi-English. Watch what the AI catches in real time.
Hi! Quick check before we start — when did you last order from Blinkit?
10:12maybe 3 weeks back? idk exactly
10:19 ✓✓Got it. Before that, how often were you ordering — couple times a week, daily, more?
11:26Daily tbh. Sometimes twise. Now barely at all
11:33 ✓✓Sharp usage drop detected. AI probing the inflection point.
That’s a big change — daily to almost nothing. Was there a specific moment, or did it just quietly stop?
12:40Contradiction: earlier said ‘idk exactly’ about timing, but now gives detailed reasoning. Suggests disengagement, not forgetting.
Was it availability in general, or specific items that weren’t reliable?
13:54Specific only. Like Amul toned milk 1L and Britannia bread. Sounds silly but those 2 items I need every single day 😅
13:01 ✓✓High-value signal: two SKUs driving the category switch. Not price, not speed — assortment reliability on staples.
Not silly at all — that’s exactly the kind of thing that matters. If Blinkit fixed stock on those two items reliably, would you come back?
14:08Probably yes honestly. The app is better tbh. Zepto UI is little confusing sometimes
14:15 ✓✓Push vs pull reversal: switched because of Blinkit stockouts, not Zepto preference. High re-engagement potential.
“Amul toned milk 1L and Britannia bread… those 2 items I need every single day”
18 mentions“I switched to Zepto for groceries… more consistent availability”
14 mentions“Probably yes honestly. The app is better tbh”
9 mentions“Zepto UI is little confusing sometimes”
6 mentionstrusted by insight teams across India
“Alchemic’s interviews go far deeper than any survey we have ever run and I love being able to pull up user stories for every insight.”
— Mayank Banerjee, Founder of Even Health
[ how it works ]
Brief to insight in four steps
Design your study
Discussion guide, screener, quotas — set them up in the Alchemic builder. Brief to field in under an hour.
No link. Just WhatsApp.
Respondents get a WhatsApp message. No landing page, no app install, no link to distrust. They reply and the interview starts. Recruit from your panel, CRM, or direct outreach.
AI interviews at scale
Hundreds of simultaneous interviews. Each one adapted to the respondent’s answers — probing shallow replies, catching contradictions, staying on-brief.
Reports, themes & alerts
Themes build as responses come in. Every claim links to verbatim. Pivot by demographics, sentiment, or quota cell. Get alerted when something shifts. Export as PDF, PPTX, or raw data.
[ use cases ]
Where WhatsApp interviews work best
Tier 2/3 and vernacular reach
Cities and small towns where web surveys fail and panels thin out. WhatsApp works on low bandwidth, with voice-first respondents, in 57 global languages.
Concept testing with visuals
Send images, videos, or prototypes inline. The AI asks why each concept feels premium, cheap, or generic — then codes verbatim into themes by concept.
Post-launch and churn diagnostics
Why did users sign up but never activate? Why did premium subscribers cancel? A 5-minute WhatsApp interview surfaces the root cause in days, not weeks.
CX and post-purchase feedback
Trigger an interview right after purchase, delivery, or service interaction. Capture feedback while it’s fresh — with the depth of a real conversation.
[ why not cati? ]
Why teams switch from CATI to WhatsApp Interviews
| Traditional CATI | WhatsApp Interviews | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per complete | Interviewer + dialler rates | A fraction of CATI |
| Time to field | Weeks of scheduling | Days — often a weekend |
| Depth of probing | Bound by moderator skill | Probes hesitation, contradiction, voice notes consistently |
| Tier 2/3 reach | Declining response rates | Works where panels thin |
| Languages | One language per agent | 57 global languages, native |
| Respondent candor | Live pressure, social bias | Async — more candid answers |
| Insights over time | Each project starts cold | Knowledge base compounds — each study builds on the last |
Need voice — for compliance, voice-only segments, or real-time consent? Try Alchemic AI Phone Research — same AI, same insights, voice channel.
[ analytics & reporting ]
What you get from the data
Running interviews is half the job. Turning 200 conversations into a decision your team acts on by Monday is the other half. This is what ships with every study.
Live reports
Auto-extracted themes, sentiment over time, quotes you can tag and pivot. Cut by geography, segment, or time window. Updates as interviews complete.
Alerts
Slack, email, or webhook. Get pinged when a theme spikes, sentiment drops, a critical quote appears, or a quota fills. You don’t monitor fieldwork — fieldwork monitors you.
Drill-down
Theme → respondent → quote → voice note. One click each. Every claim traced to exact words, in the respondent’s own voice.
Cross-cuts
Pivot by segment, time, theme, or sentiment. Urban vs Tier 2. Promoters vs detractors. Week 1 vs week 4. All live.
Export & integrate
CSV, PDF, PPTX, Snowflake, BigQuery. Push to Slack, Notion, or your CRM via webhooks or Zapier. Reports land in the tool you already use.
[ the qualitative edge ]
Your insights compound.
Every study runs against a knowledge base that grows with each wave — past research, themes, brand context, respondent patterns. The AI doesn't reset between studies. Each round gets sharper than the last.
CATI starts cold every wave. One-off survey tools forget everything. Alchemic remembers — so your third study is smarter than your first.
Need a richer, moderated experience beyond WhatsApp? See Alchemic AI Moderated Interviews →