A game-changing framework
But the answer to getting it right isn’t a crystal ball, it’s a very precise framework for navigating short- and mid-term uncertainty with confidence and turning volatility into a strategic advantage rather than regarding it as an unclear, but ever-present danger.
This is why we created our Strategic Foresight Intelligence Briefing (SF:IB). It’s a quarterly analysis built for C-suite leaders and senior managers who need to make high-stakes decisions in a low-visibility world. This isn’t another off-the-shelf trend report. It is a tailored, client-specific intelligence briefing designed to connect emerging signals to your specific sector and business challenges.
So, how does it work? With our analysts, AI and our intelligence partnership offer, we anchor our intelligence in a simple but powerful temporal framework: NOW/NEXT/FUTURE – where we unpack the drivers, trends, threats, challenges and disruptor case studies that are set to affect your business over the short, medium and long term. This structure is designed to help you separate the signal from the noise and translate complex foresight into an actionable, easy-to-follow roadmap.
From Chaos to Clarity:
The NOW (0–6 Months)
This is about acting on high-confidence trends that are already shaping your market. Consider the consumer value re-alignment crisis many brands in the US have gone through when diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes were downplayed in the wake of the current White House’s pronouncements on diversity and inclusion.
In line with a number of brands which chose this route – presumably to align with the pillars of brand MAGA – Target’s foot traffic dropped 9.5% year on year in February 2025 – the first full month following its DEI programme roll-back, according to retail analytics firm Placer.ai, demonstrating how quickly consumer sentiment can hit the bottom line after decisions are taken that they are not at all happy with.
Effectively, this seemingly marginal decision by then CEO Brian Cornell led to his early retirement, customer boycotts and a $13bn evaporation in market value. But despite his ‘blindness’, the signals of dissent were clearly visible – especially among Target employees and the highly diverse customer base, who challenged his decision on company forums and social media itself.
But sometimes these signals get lost in the noise of hubris. This is why, in the NOW part of our SF:IB, we help you identify those unpalatable signals and those more immediate shifts –whether in consumer values, workforce attitudes or wider cultural thinking – to protect and grow your business without your own biases getting in the way.
From Uncertainty to Innovation:
The NEXT (6–18 Months)
This is where we help you build tomorrow’s competitive edge. The NEXT is about investing in emerging market positions and disruptive innovations – but doing it with more nuanced and long-term considerations.
Consider the AI workforce transformation. In 2025, employers cited AI as the reason for about 55,000 job cuts in the US, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, for instance, revealed that the company reduced its support headcount from 9,000 to about 5,000 employees by using AI agents.
Here’s what he had to say: ‘I was able to rebalance my headcount on my support – I’ve reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000, because I need less heads.’ Here’s what he wasn’t saying: ‘I haven’t considered the optics on this, the impact on morale, the unintended consequences of my statement on a brand that includes trust, equality and sustainability as part of its core values.’
In the NEXT, we identify those disruptive opportunities, helping you invest smartly in areas like AI integration and supply chain resilience – but crucially, our strategic intelligence sections of all SF:IBs remind you to ask the right questions and consider the impact of your decisions on your team, the market and your wider community when you make them.
Preparedness isn’t just about being right, it’s about understanding and mapping the consequences of being wrong.
From Intelligence to Implications:
The FUTURE (18+ Months)
And finally, the FUTURE part of our SF:IB is all about understanding and preserving strategic optionality.
The World Trade Organization, for example, projected that US–China merchandise trade could decline by 80% in 2025 under current tariff conditions – and without recent tech exemptions, this could have exceeded 90%.
Meanwhile, a widely cited Oxford University study estimates that 47% of US employment is potentially automatable within a decade or two. But instead of betting on a single outcome, our briefings – once we get to know you and your needs more strategically and intimately – will help you to monitor key scenarios and build flexibility into your long-term strategy. This horizon ensures you’re prepared for major structural shifts without over-committing to a single, uncertain outcome.
Each quarter, your leadership team receives the following: a data-rich PDF report detailing the latest market shifts and their implications; an interactive presentation; and a Q&A session with our analysts to workshop ideas and stress-test your strategy.
In a world where leaders are besieged by unprecedented volatility, our Strategic Foresight Intelligence Briefing gives you a clear, structured and actionable way forward. It’s your framework for making better decisions, faster – with the confidence that you’re not just reacting to the present, but also actively shaping your future.
Ready to move from reactive to proactive? Let’s start by assessing where you stand. Get in touch, and we can book you in for one of our short, sharp, pre-risk assessment audits.
