How to build your automated intelligence in 5 simple steps

“If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read it, you are misinformed”. Denzel Washington on fake news.

Generative AI and LLMs like ChatGPT are revolutionising how we search and analyse information. But, be aware of hallucinations.

What’s more, real-time data feeds are becoming more accessible.?

As the volume of information we consume increases, removing the noise and bias to turn data into action becomes crucial.

Let's take the example of monitoring technology innovation to bring advancements to new products.

• Conventional innovation scouting relies on periodic updates and static data, which could result in missed opportunities or delayed responses to key technology and strategic shifts.
• Using real-time automated intelligence, you can respond faster to changing market demands to innovate and capitalise on emerging opportunities.

That’s why, now is the best time to start building your automated intelligence.

Here is how you can do it in 5 simple steps.

1. Decide what you want to track
2. Think ahead about how to organise the information you collect
3. Set up real-time data feeds
4. Build your Knowledge Database
5. Set up methodologies to turn data into action

1) Decide what you want to track

• Define your universe of scope, taxonomies, players or markets.
• Consider a balance between volume (miss nothing) and noise (irrelevant)

My tip: follow a multi-channel approach, e.g., different social media depending on the depth of information you need and a good mix of industry media vs. content creators.

2) Think ahead about how to organise the information you collect

You can build workflow automation with Zapier or Airtable and other no-code tools to automatically extract data from your email and organise them into the desired format.

If you are tracking data from different sources, e.g., forecasts or sales, consider using VBA to consolidate data from workbooks in Excel.

3) Set up real-time data feeds

Use Google Alerts to get notified as things unfold. Or set up a weekly summary.

Another alternative is to use prompts in ChatGPT.

Follow industry newsletters, media or experts on Linkedin.

For even better results, select a data provider that offers news APIs.

4) Build your Knowledge Database and chat with the data

Don’t forget to integrate your data into the mix to increase personalisation.

Create a Knowledge Database containing industry reports, video/audio and other sources in Perplexity. Use prompts to dig deeper and analyse the information.

The advantage of using Generative AI on your data is that it learns from "controlled sources" and can provide more relevant better results.

5) Set up methodologies to turn data into action

That’s probably the hardest part because I don’t think there is one solution fits all. But it’s also the most rewarding since you can make data-driven decisions.

• Strategy and competitor intelligence teams can forecast sales, revenues or market adoption with scenario-building and predictive analytics frameworks.
• Innovation or investment teams scout for opportunities with high market potential and technology readiness.

That’s a wrap!

Five steps to build automated intelligence using no-code and mostly free tools.?

PS: If you are struggling with the speed, efficiency and scalability of your innovation scouting or strategic intelligence check this tool.

See you next time!

Georgios