Dear Decision Maker, Ray White is back on the Grey Dynamics Podcast, and this time we're talking about something. I'm genuinely excited about: the Human Intelligence Fundamentals course he's created for us. Look, I've read a lot of HUMINT material over the years. I’ve done the courses; talked to the practitioners; worked with some of the best in the business. But what Ray has put together here is different. It's not some academic theory-fest that puts you to sleep, and it's definitely not the...
20 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, The most valuable currency in business isn't money. It's access. Six months ago, a client was struggling to break into the African infrastructure market. Two years of cold emails. Dozens of failed pitches. Zero progress. One introduction changed everything. Not to a consultant. Not to a middleman. Directly to the person who controlled $200M in project approvals. That's the power of elite networks. Here's what most people get wrong about networking: They collect contacts....
27 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, Western intelligence gets it wrong more often than it admits. Not because the analysts aren't smart. They are. But because they're looking at the world through one lens. I spent years in Western intelligence circles before building networks across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The difference in perspective is staggering. A European intelligence firm once hired us to assess political risk in a West African country. Their report predicted stability based on: GDP growth...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, Most executives see crisis and freeze. Smart money sees crisis and moves. The difference? Intelligence. When COVID hit in early 2020, everyone was paralyzed by uncertainty. Markets crashed. Boardrooms went silent. But one client asked us a different question: "What opportunities are others too scared to see?" Our ground truth assessment revealed something remarkable. While Western companies were pulling back from Africa, Chinese and Indian firms were quietly accelerating...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, The intelligence world’s dirty secret? The most valuable insights come often from the smallest teams. I’ve briefed both sides. Government agencies with thousand-person staffs and independent units of five people working out of hotel rooms. Guess which ones consistently deliver game-changing intelligence? Here’s what I learned watching a three-person team outmaneuver a 100-person intelligence division: 1. Speed kills bureaucracy. While the big team was forming committees...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, Many executives think intelligence is about collecting data. They're wrong. Real intelligence is about building relationships. After nearly two decades in this business, I've learned that the most valuable insights come from people, not online data. The art isn't in what you ask…It's in who trusts you enough to answer. Last week, a client needed ground truth on regulatory changes in a West African country (would they privatise its mining industry or not?). Open source...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Decision Maker, The Human Element: Why Sources Matter More Than DataEveryone's obsessed with data. AI this, analytics that.But after 15 years in intelligence, here's what I've learned: The best insights come from conversations, not calculations.Last week, a Fortune 500 client asked us to assess market entry risks in an East African country. Their internal data showed green lights across the board: 1. Growth projections ✅ 2. Demographic trends ✅ 3. Regulatory compliance ✅ Scores all...
2 months ago • 1 min read
The Intelligence You Can't Google Just Got Better Decision Maker, While everyone else is arguing about headlines, you've been getting the ground truth. But here's what's changing, and why you should care. The Problem With "Intelligence" Today Every day, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data get created. Executives drown in noise. Analysts chase shadows. Decision-makers guess. Meanwhile, the real threats, the ones that destroy careers, sink companies, and topple governments – move in silence. The...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Decision Maker, While your risk assessment teams debate quarterly projections, the real threats to your operations are evolving in real-time across three critical domains that most corporate intelligence briefings completely miss. The first is leadership transition risk. This week's appointment of Major General Mohammad Pakpour as Iran's new IRGC chief isn't just a personnel change. it's a strategic shift that will reshape Middle Eastern energy security and defence procurement patterns...
3 months ago • 1 min read