A primer about the rapidly expanding world of private sector intelligence
How do corporations identify geopolitical risks and security challenges before they arise? How can organizations navigate these problems once they do? As regional conflicts disrupt supply chains, online disinformation campaigns drive corporate reputational crises, and political instability threatens employees' lives, business leaders are increasingly turning to intelligence to navigate this volatile and complex world.
Private Sector Intelligence guides readers through this world—conducted by and for the private sector—while contrasting it with public sector intelligence. From Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits, many organizations develop their own intelligence teams, while others outsource their intelligence needs to private firms. Private sector intelligence professionals conduct the full range of intelligence cycle activities, from direction through dissemination, in addition to providing recommendations. This book also explains the ethical and legal guardrails for private sector intelligence and addresses the field's future in the age of artificial intelligence.
This book is a guide for students, scholars, and practitioners for understanding the world of private sector intelligence.
Reviews
"Geopolitical risk is coming for every industry. Private Sector Intelligence offers an invaluable guide for corporate executives and intelligence officials alike about how to build the intelligence capabilities to compete."—Amy Zegart, Stanford University
"This book takes intelligence studies in an important new direction, exploring intelligence in the corporate sector, and is essential reading for scholars and practitioners—both experts and those new to the field. Its impressive range of topics and depth of analysis make it an invaluable and authoritative addition to intelligence literature."—David Strachan-Morris, University of Leicester, UK
"Private Sector Intelligence reads like a modern OSS field guide for today's corporate environment. I wish I'd had it when leaving the CIA in 2018. It bridges government and corporate intelligence cultures, clarifies the transition, restores trust, and offers an essential roadmap for practitioners entering the private sector."—Darrell M. Blocker, former dean, CIA clandestine service training
"Usefully demystifies corporate geostrategic and security intelligence, emphasising its legal and ethical foundations. An invaluable guide for those thinking of entering the field of private sector intelligence that clarifies what will be asked of them in supporting corporate strategy and decision making. A major contribution to the field."—Sir David Omand, former UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator
About the Author
Maria Robson-Morrow, PhD, runs intelligence studies programming at Harvard University's Intelligence Project and teaches private sector intelligence at Johns Hopkins University. She previously worked as a private sector intelligence analyst.
Angela Miller Lewis, PhD, is a senior adviser at Sibylline and teaches at multiple universities; she also previously held intelligence and security executive roles at Fortune 500 companies and served in the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations.
Lewis Sage-Passant, PhD, teaches intelligence at Sciences Po Paris and leads the intelligence department of a major European company.
