I considered traditional qualitative analysis software as well as using general-purpose AI tools.
Traditional QDA software can be very powerful, but the setup and manual coding process can take considerable time, especially when you're dealing with a large number of transcripts.
General AI tools are convenient, but I preferred DataLumio because it provides a workflow specifically designed around qualitative research—themes, quotes, sentiment, document comparisons, and structured reports.
For me, the biggest advantage was being able to get from raw transcripts to an organized starting point much faster.