Our mission is to provide comprehensive and actionable intelligence to businesses, government agencies, and private clients. With a team of experienced intelligence collectors and analysts, many with backgrounds in intelligence services, military, law enforcement, and academia, we are committed to delivering insights that drive informed decision-making.
The Art of Source Development in Corporate Intelligence
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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 intelligence showed nothing. Government databases were months behind. News reports were speculative at best. But a single phone call changed everything. A source I'd been cultivating for three years, someone who'd watched me deliver accurate analysis without compromising anyone's position. He shared what no database could: The regulatory framework would shift within 90 days, creating a brief window for market entry that would close for two years. This is source development. Not extraction. Not interrogation. Relationship building. You earn trust by:
The best corporate intelligence isn't bought… It's earned through years of consistent, ethical relationship building. Your spreadsheets tell you what happened yesterday. Your sources tell you what happens tomorrow. In your industry, who would trust you with their most valuable insights? Ground truth intelligence requires ground-level relationships. The companies winning in uncertain markets understand this. The ones losing are still waiting for their next data dump. Ahmed Hassan Want to Think Like an Intelligence Officer?Most people scroll. Professionals structure. |
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Our mission is to provide comprehensive and actionable intelligence to businesses, government agencies, and private clients. With a team of experienced intelligence collectors and analysts, many with backgrounds in intelligence services, military, law enforcement, and academia, we are committed to delivering insights that drive informed decision-making.
Dear Decision Maker, Most executives make complex decisions based on incomplete information. Then wonder why they're surprised by outcomes. After almost two decades advising leaders on high-stakes choices, I've noticed something consistent. The best decision-makers don't wait for perfect information. They use a framework to navigate uncertainty. I call it the Decision Advantage Matrix. It's simple. Four quadrants. Two questions. What do we know with certainty? What do we need to know to act?...
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...
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....