The Compete Clarity Podcast

Sometimes in competitive intelligence, your stakeholders don't want to hear difficult truths about the state of the industry, their business, or their products. But having the courage and the savvy to deliver bad news well can mean the difference between your CI program's success and its failure. Fouad Benyoub returns to the show one year on from his first appearance to discuss how being a contrarian has helped his career, and how adopting that same attitude could help yours, too. Key talking points: • How being a contrarian opens the door for both opportunities and scrutiny, and how to deal with that scrutiny to best benefit your career. • The difference between giving stakeholders what they want, and what they need, and how to strike just the right balance between the two. • The spoken and unspoken challenges facing CI pros today, and which you can face and fix.

Key talking points Episode summary In this episode of the Complete Clarity Podcast, Alex Walton chats with Ben Hoffman, Senior Manager of Competitive Intelligence at Adobe, exploring the transformative impact of AI on competitive intelligence (CI). Hoffman shares insights on how AI not only streamlines the immense task of data analysis but also serves as a vital tool for strategic planning, without overshadowing the irreplaceable value of human intuition and decision-making. They delve into the nuances of AI's application in CI, the importance of security in its deployment, and Adobe's forward-looking approach to leveraging AI for future innovations in competitive strategy.

No one goes to school for competitive intelligence. If you’ve hung out with other CI pros, you’ll know that, despite their diverse professional backgrounds, most end up saying the same thing: “Well, I kinda just fell into it.” But what if that’s not you? If you’ve got your sights set on CI, do you have to hope and pray you ‘fall into it’ too? Not according to today’s guest. Farhan Manjiyani is Senior Manager of Commercialization and Pricing at Grafana Labs, a tech company with over 1200 employees responsible for a lot of popular open source projects, including its namesake, the Grafana data visualization platform. Today we discuss: ...and much more. Grab this year's edition of the Competitive Intelligence Trends Report: https://pmmalliance.co/47XJabi

Back when the Competitive Intelligence Alliance first launched, one of the first topics we explored was Competitive Positioning. Now, a year later, we wanted to revisit the topic, and brought an expert on board to help: today’s guest, Fiona Finn. In a previous role at Unbounce, Fiona oversaw the platform’s repositioning from landing page builder, to conversion intelligence platform, while navigating two pricing changes in one and a half years. Now Director of Product Marketing at Jane App, Fiona joins us on the show to talk us through how competitive intelligence fits into the very important puzzle that is positioning. Expect to learn: …and much more Want to be a guest on the show? If you've more than five years of CI experience and nothing to sell, email contribute@competitiveintelligencealliance.io and we'll be in touch to discuss next steps.

Building a competitive program from scratch is a topic that’s been covered before. But what about rebuilding one? Coming into a business with the remnants of a failed CI program and turning that situation around is something that poses unique challenges. You’re walking into something where people are jaded, where their expectations of you and your program aren’t necessarily positive. David D’Aprile, VP of Global Product Marketing at Onapsis, joins us to share how he does it. Expect to learn: …and much more Want to be a guest on the show? If you've more than five years of CI experience and nothing to sell, email contribute@competitiveintelligencealliance.io and we'll be in touch to discuss next steps.

Jayde Phillips is Senior Strategy and Market Intelligence Manager at Egencia, part of American Express GBT (Global Business Travel). With eight solid years of experience in product marketing, CI and strategy behind her, Jayde is well-placed to lead the competitive intelligence function as a solo practitioner in a business with a headcount in the thousands. Jayde joins us on the show to chat insights, past wins, and best practices. Key talking points: Check out the CI-by-Industry eBook. Interested in being a guest on the show? Click here. Offer Competitive Intelligence Alliance your feedback and suggestions.

Work smarter. Not harder. We've all heard the phrase, but what does that actually involve? Clint Sprauve might have the answer. Clinton Sprauve is Director of Product Marketing at Delphix. A business offering solutions in data governance, including DevOps test data management (TDM), application recovery, and analytics. His is a small team, but Clint's approach is all about making the most of the limited resources he has, and making every minute invested in a project count Join us for the fifth and final episode in this CI-by-Industry mini-series to learn how Clint does more with less. Key talking points: 5 experts. 5 different industries. 5 case studies. Almost 50 years' combined experience. Uncover their tried and tested methods for success. Learn more about the CI-by-Industry eBook here.

Ever wonder if your colleagues are too smart for their own good? When you’re a tech company like Akamai, with tech talent coming out of your ears, it’s easy to let your messaging creep into ever more technical territory. Eventually, of course, your prospects, and even your salespeople, struggle to understand what they’re buying and selling. That’s a challenge Mimi An took on and won. Mimi An is Director of Competitive Intelligence at Akamai, a tech business with a product line spanning CDNs (content delivery networks), cloud computing, and security. She joins us on the show today for the penultimate episode in our CI-by-Industry series to share how she solved this problem at Akamai, as well as how she scaled hers into the largest competitive intelligence team of any business represented on the show so far. Key talking points: • How to make a technical product line comprehensible to your salespeople (and their prospects). • How to build a business case for scaling your CI team (where to start, what to focus on, and how to earn your seat at the table). • Mimi's unique method for figuring out your priorities and critical goals, even if you're brand new to the business. 5 experts. 5 different industries. 5 case studies. Almost 50 years' combined experience. Uncover their tried and tested methods for success. Learn more about the CI-by-Industry eBook here.

In our third installment of the CI-by-Industry mini-series, Christopher Link joins us representing the Healthcare Technology industry. Christopher is Research & Insights Manager at Interlace Health. Interlace Health completely replaces paper with digital in healthcare, and was a pioneer of digital forms and e-signatures. On today's episode, Chris shares with us his process for gathering and delivering competitive intel as a team of one in the tech industry. Specifically, B2B Healthcare technology. He walks us through his approach to field intelligence, his favorite sources of intel, and how he fills the gaps in an industry with secretive competitors. Key talking points 5 experts. 5 different industries. 5 case studies. Almost 50 years' combined experience. Uncover their tried and tested methods for success. Learn more about the CI-by-Industry eBook here.

Mindy Regnell, Market & Competitive Intelligence at Postscript, joins us for a deep dive discussion of competitive intelligence in eCommerce. We discuss Mindy’s 15 years of experience in eCommerce and how it informs her work today. We also discuss why help documentation is Mindy’s favorite source of competitive intelligence, how to seize the opportunities that competitive shakeups provide, and why it’s important to consider the believability of your sources. Key talking points: • Mindy’s process for going from reams of raw data to concentrated insights. • Why competitive shakeups make great opportunities for the adequately prepared. • The entire process of how competitive intelligence works in the eCommerce industry. 5 experts. 5 different industries. 5 case studies. Almost 50 years' combined experience. Uncover their tried and tested methods for success. Learn more about the CI-by-Industry eBook here.

Nadav Moshes, Market & Competitive Intelligence Manager at Playtika joins us on the show today. Playtika is a producer and developer of a ton of mobile games. A lot of products means a lot of challenges, challenges Nadav has managed to overcome and then some. We discuss all aspects of the competitive intelligence process in mobile gaming, from data collection and analysis, to delivering that analysis to stakeholders. Key talking points: • Nadav's favored intelligence sources in an industry where competitor data is scarce. • The unique challenges of working with many stakeholders, and why it's crucial to get the right balance between “push” and “pull” when serving them. • What the “hamburger” approach is, and how to use it to transform the way you see working with stakeholders. 5 experts. 5 different industries. 5 case studies. Almost 50 years' combined experience. Uncover their tried and tested methods for success. Learn more about the CI-by-Industry eBook here.

Gal Toren is JFrog's competitive intelligence team lead. She has a background in academic and think tank research, and has spent the last eight years tackling competitive intelligence hands on. Across tech, from cybersecurity to devops, Gal has made her mark on CI and joins us on the show today to share her knowledge. Key talking points Read Gal Toren's article here.

Kait Smith is Product Marketing Manager at Intellum. Before taking on her current role, though, Kait covered almost every aspect of the competitive intelligence spectrum. She spent time as a sales development representative, social media marketer, and business strategist. As someone performing CI as just part of her role, time management and prioritization are even more critical to meeting her responsibilities effectively. Kait joins us today to share how she does it. Key talking points • How to make your competitive intelligence program less reactive. • Why sometimes strategically matching your competitors, instead of differentiating from them, is the right move. • The three things you absolutely must be doing if you want to perform CI as efficiently as possible.

Nishant John has over a decade of experience in competitive intelligence, including work in B2B SaaS and digital banking. His depth of experience really shines through on today's episode, which offers practical advice for CI pros with limited resources. Key talking points • How frequently to track industry data to successfully get ahead of new market trends. • When and how to keep stakeholders informed and up to date with industry developments. • How to walk the fine line between getting a hold of the data you need, and doing so ethically.

CI can be overwhelming for those starting out. What should be on your agenda from day one? And where are the hidden pitfalls you absolutely must avoid if you’re to succeed in CI? Fouad Benyoub joins us to share his insights. Key talking points:

Tell us if this sounds familiar… You've had your first few successes in CI, but are quickly learning new limitations given your lack of funding and resources. You're inundated with requests, but are struggling to identify the tasks and projects with the greatest business value. Mayur Palta joins us to offer his expert advice on how to turn CI's challenges to your advantage. Key talking points:

Patrick Wall is Head of Competitive Intelligence at Imperva, a leading provider of digital security and data protection services. A veteran of working with sales and other internal teams to take CI programs to the next level, Pat sat down with us to share his insights. Key talking points: