The Future of Corporate Intelligence – Part 2: From Threat to Opportunity

Why the smartest businesses are treating intelligence as a strategic asset, and how to unlock its value

Too often, corporate intelligence teams are seen as a ‘nice to have’, an addition to a security team if the budget is available. And security itself is frequently viewed as a cost to the business,  a necessary line item to avoid loss of life, litigation, or disruption, but not something that drives value or innovation.

That’s changing. As the discipline of corporate intelligence matures, the most effective programmes are evolving far beyond this reactive posture. Today’s leading intelligence teams are providing essential insight on emerging threats and acting as strategic partners to business leaders, enabling faster, smarter decisions in an unpredictable world.

For executives navigating unsteady markets, geopolitical tensions, and technological disruption, the value of a high-performing intelligence function is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Business Is Operating in a World of Constant Flux

Today’s business environment is defined by complexity and volatility. Leaders must contend with:

• Nations they trade with suddenly becoming adversaries

• Regulatory changes disrupting entire supply chains overnight

• Traditional risks persisting while new threats from political instability, climate disruption or activist movements emerging at pace

At the same time, disruption creates opportunity. The companies that succeed will be those with the timing, risk appetite, and insight to act confidently when others hesitate.

Executives are hungry for the kind of foresight that gives them an edge. But too often, corporate intelligence functions are underutilised, structured for incident response or to tick a threat assessment box, rather than for proactive, decision-enabling insight.

Intelligence as a Business Growth Engine

Executives already lean heavily on economic, legal, and market advisors to guide strategic decisions. But corporate intelligence teams, when properly positioned and resourced, can offer insight of equal value.

A well-connected intelligence function can:

• Provide strategic foresight on geopolitical dynamics that might impact operations (e.g. a looming leadership transition in a critical market)

• Advise on likely succession structure in a government or ruling family where your company has significant interests, allowing you to start building the right relationships now

• Anticipate disruption to global supply chains by analysing the evolving security threats impacting existing ones, and make recommendations for new, more reliable routes. 

• Alert a company quickly if market conditions in a country change, allowing the business to move rapidly to take advantage.

When intelligence teams understand both the external landscape and the internal priorities of senior leaders, they become a critical bridge between the outside world and the boardroom.

What It Looks Like in Practice

Imagine a business decides to pursue a major and complex deal in a new country. Because they have kept their intelligence team close, and kept them updated about their strategy and plans, the team have already established relationships with knowledgeable contacts in the country. The team is able to advise senior leaders on the key relationships they need to build in government and industry, the known concerns and priorities of these individuals, and any known barriers that will need to be overcome (e.g. community resistance or opposition party pressure). The company can now move confidently, avoid costly mistakes and increase their chances of a successful deal.

Or consider the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some companies had explored the possibility, built contingency plans, and were able to act quickly and thoughtfully when the invasion happened. Others were left scrambling. 

Well-positioned intelligence teams reduce the cost of being blindsided, and increase the upside of being prepared.

Why Intelligence Professionals Should Embrace This Shift

Many intelligence professionals are motivated by a desire to protect people, uphold values, and do meaningful work. Profit may not be what gets them out of bed in the morning, but if you’re working in a corporate environment, profitability is part of your mission.

When intelligence teams are focused only on tactical threats, their impact is limited. But when they connect their work to strategic business outcomes, they gain:

• Greater access to senior leaders

• Increased visibility and influence

• More stable funding and resourcing

• Better alignment with company priorities

This shift helps intelligence teams do more of what they care about, keeping people and assets safe, by ensuring their work is seen as essential, not expendable.

What Executives Can Do to Support Intelligence Value Creation

If you’re a business leader looking to harness more value from your intelligence programme, here’s what makes the biggest difference:

• Share information: The more your intelligence team knows about your priorities, timelines, and concerns, the better they can support you.

• Bring them in early: Early visibility gives intelligence professionals time to collect and assess, rather than rushing to catch up.

• Set realistic expectations: Not every question has an immediate answer. Trust your intelligence team to tell you what’s knowable, and what isn’t.

• Position them close to leadership: Reduce the number of layers between the intelligence function and the decision-makers they support.

• Invest appropriately: High-quality intelligence costs money, whether it’s skilled analysts, trusted sources, or tech platforms. And like most things, you really do get what you pay for.

What Intelligence Teams Can Do to Deliver Strategic Value

Executives already read the FT and monitor their industries closely, so it’s clearly not enough to echo what is in the headlines but on a company branded report template. To add value, intelligence teams need to:

• Go beyond the obvious: Offer insights executives wouldn’t get elsewhere, and layer context, implications, and outlook.

• Be timely: Some insights need to land in minutes. Others may take weeks. Know the difference, and deliver accordingly.

• Be proactive: If you know your business is exploring new markets or partnerships, surface relevant intelligence even before you’re asked.

Understand the company: Learn as much as you can about the company’s structure, priorities and operations. Identify the meetings you need to be in, and get yourself invited. Attend company results calls, read company updates and be curious. 

Relationships are key: Continually build new relationships and maintain old ones across the company and externally with well placed contacts and vendors. 

Final Thoughts: Intelligence as a Strategic Partner

The future of corporate intelligence lies in its ability to help businesses navigate uncertainty with confidence, foresight, and agility.

To get there, executives must treat intelligence as a strategic partner. And intelligence teams must rise to meet that opportunity, connecting their insight to business impact and positioning themselves not just as risk mitigators, but as enablers of smart, bold, informed growth.