CI 303 – Structured Intelligence Analysis Techniques

WHEN:  March 6, 2026 Virtual
FACULTY: HALLENBECK
CREDITS: 0.7 CEU CREDIT
SUMMARY: This course introduces students to a class of structured analytic techniques (SATs) that enhance disciplined and objective intelligence analysis. Drawing from both business and intelligence community sources, the course integrates Generative AI (GenAI) as a core component, offering students a cutting-edge approach to competitive intelligence (CI). By combining traditional frameworks with AI-enhanced methodologies, students will expand their analytic toolkits to address complex challenges in dynamic environments.

Instructor (Heather) was fantastic – very knowledgeable and personable. She brought amazing first-hand
industry knowledge & real life application. Great course. – GENESYS

kevin curren

Heather Hallenbeck

Heather Hallenbeck serves as the Executive in Residence and Director of Experiential Learning in the School of Management at Marist College, where she brings hands-on learning experiences to the business curriculum and new student-run businesses.

Heather’s career in high-tech and consumer electronics includes leadership roles at Kodak, Bose, and Genesys, marked by strategic initiatives that have launched disruptive product categories and established new businesses. She has demonstrated the ability to navigate and lead in evolving markets through her diverse global journey.

At Genesys, Heather centralized the competitive intelligence function, delivering strategic actionable insights that positioned the company as an industry leader in the fast-paced experience as a service software cloud industry.

At Bose, she established and managed the Global Insights team, transforming it into an internal consulting group that significantly reduced market uncertainty. Heather developed competitive intelligence capabilities and conducted structured analytic modeling to provide decision-relevant insights. Her strategic planning and scenario analysis supported business direction changes and innovative growth, contributing to Bose’s successful diversification.

During her tenure at Kodak, Heather led product portfolio management for disruptive inkjet printing and digital camera products. She conducted competitive market analysis, developing strategic plans for new product introductions and market positioning. Her efforts drove strategic competitive advantage, making a significant impact on the company’s digital growth.

Heather holds an MBA in Marketing, Competitive, and Organizational Strategy from the University of Rochester, a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and is a Master of Competitive Intelligence (ACI) alumna. Her areas of focus include Business Strategy, Strategic Planning, Competitive Intelligence, Market & Consumer Insights, and Team Building. Heather’s ability to synthesize complex insights into actionable business initiatives has made her a respected leader in competitive intelligence, known for fostering collaboration and innovation across organizations.

In this course, you will develop a toolkit of structured analytic techniques (SATs) that have been selected by ACI faculty as highly relevant and valuable frameworks for competitive intelligence analysis. These techniques are designed to complement traditional business methods (such as Porter’s Five Forces and Value Chain Analysis) and equip analysts with strategies to manage, organize, and evaluate data in a structured and unbiased manner. The SATs also enhance critical thinking skills and improve the impact and quality of intelligence findings, insights, and recommendations. Leveraging the power of Generative AI (GenAI) as a core tool for competitive intelligence (CI), this course will further integrate AI-driven insights into the SATs framework, enhancing the rigor, efficiency, and creativity of the analysis process.

Using a combination of lecture, case studies, and exercises, students will have the opportunity to learn and work with this class of analytic techniques in a practical, collaborative, and challenging class environment.

You will learn:

  • Novel structured analytic techniques to improve critical thinking skills.
  • How to select the right SAT for your intelligence projects and problems, incorporating AI capabilities to enhance analytic processes.
  • How to deploy SATs such as the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses, Key Assumptions Check, and Devil’s Advocacy in fast-paced, practical exercises.
  • How to use SATs and GenAI to bolster the credibility, creativity, and accuracy of your intelligence analysis.

This course bridges traditional and cutting-edge approaches, providing you with a forward-looking toolkit to address the evolving challenges of competitive intelligence.

Here we list the key questions that this seminar addresses. If you can answer “yes” to three or more of the 10 questions posed for this course, it will meet your needs.

Do you need to:

  1. Learn how to create measurable impact around your analysis?
  2. Better assess the credibility of your intelligence?
  3. Understand how to properly conceptualize intelligence problems independent of your customers?
  4. Identify the right questions to ask to support answers conducive to decision-making?
  5. Know how to generate a solid hypothesis and understand its importance to intelligence analysis?
  6. Understand the importance of critical thinking and how to apply it to the analysis process?
  7. Recognize cognitive bias and understand how it can affect your analysis?
  8. Learn how structured analytic techniques (SATs), like Analysis of Competing Hypotheses and Key Assumptions Checks, can increase the effectiveness & efficiency of intelligence?
  9. Know how to construct an analytic framework to conduct an intelligence assessment using various SATs?
  10. Learn how to become a credible objective devil’s advocate?
  11. Understand how to integrate Generative AI (GenAI) tools into your intelligence process to enhance analysis?
  12. Learn how to use AI-driven insights to refine hypotheses, identify blind spots, and stress-test strategic approaches?

All ACI programs teach students how to overcome the most challenging competitive intelligence issues. The following are sample lessons taught in this course:

Critical Thinking

The industry your business has been leading for years is undergoing change; the company is facing significant external forces. There are multiple factors disrupting the business that everyone is generally aware of, but management needs to identify the biggest issues and understand how to address them to find a way forward.

  1. Is there a clear understanding of the question that needs to be answered?
  2. Is the team focused on the right issues?
  3. How can you help your stakeholders objectively consider multiple viewpoints and think independently of their expectations?
  4. Can you effectively challenge stakeholders’ beliefs (play devil’s advocate) to help them see other possible outcomes?
  5. How can GenAI tools be used to generate diverse perspectives and alternative scenarios for consideration?
  6. Can you leverage AI to quickly identify patterns and trends in complex data sets to sharpen the focus on critical issues?

Understanding Bias

A key business category is suddenly seeing significant growth. The company wants to ensure it maximizes this opportunity and maintains its competitive advantage but is basing many of its decisions on what has worked in the past and what it assumes about the present without fully understanding the current climate and assessing likely futures. You must help them move quickly while testing their assumptions with the right data and insights.

  1. How do you provide an understanding of the unconscious bias that’s happening in your company?
  2. How do you identify stakeholder bias and effectively respond to it?
  3. Can you run alongside the development process once it’s underway to help guide decision-making for an optimal outcome?
  4. Can you recognize your own biases?
  5. How can GenAI be applied to identify and mitigate bias in the data or analysis process?
  6. Can AI tools help simulate alternative futures or test assumptions against dynamic market scenarios?

Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs)

Your company is considering expanding into an undefined market but is unsure of how the market will evolve and who its competitors are. While the team responsible for creating the new business believes it knows enough to successfully enter the space, they are looking to identify who else might enter this market and understand the ways in which it might develop over time.

  1. How can you determine which structured analytic technique would be best suited to helping the team understand the market it’s entering?
  2. How can you help the business assess a new market and guide them in understanding their competitors?
  3. Have the decision-makers thoroughly explored the question from all angles?
  4. Does the team have enough information to make informed decisions, or does it need more?
  5. Do you know the assumptions under which the team is operating and whether it has considered multiple outcomes?
  6. How can GenAI assist in mapping the competitive landscape or projecting future market dynamics?
  7. Can AI-driven models identify gaps in intelligence and suggest additional areas for research or analysis?
  8. How can GenAI complement aspects of SATs like the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses or Key Assumptions Check, increasing speed and accuracy?
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