Short Course: Strate­gic Intel­li­gence for Senior Executives

Please note that this is a paid course. Check this link to see more details.

Course overview

Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives delivers a unique learning experience by combining the expertise of King’s College London’s Department of War Studies and Emergent Risk International, a leading strategic risk intelligence company. Designed to meet the growing demand for strategic foresight and intelligence in business, this course equips senior leaders with the practical skills to navigate geopolitical complexity, manage risk, integrate intelligence into decision-making, position intelligence as a strategic business function and influence decision-making at board-level. Participants will leave with actionable insights, a strategic mindset, and a network of peers facing similar global challenges. Chief Security Officers and intelligence heads are encouraged to attend with C-suite executives to foster stronger collaboration.

Intelligence and Security leaders from the public, private and academic domains will lead this course, designed to engage senior executives with direct responsibility for or oversight over corporate intelligence functions, including global intelligence, corporate security, crisis management, strategy, risk management, compliance, treasury and government affairs teams. It’s also relevant for government intelligence professionals looking to transition into the private sector.

The external complexities facing companies are changing rapidly and executives are increasingly asked to understand and formulate strategies for managing risks that span several traditionally distinct spheres: economics, financial markets, geopolitics, security (physical and cyber), supply chains, regulation and compliance. In most cases, these spheres are highly interdependent and require intelligence that is by definition multidisciplinary. The global pandemic, supply chain crisis, and war in Ukraine with its associated sanctions and impacts on energy markets and economic growth, have all demonstrated that businesses need to build new types of resilience, anchored in good intelligence. Building and managing intelligence functions that can provide timely and actionable intelligence on the issues that will impact business success, is therefore becoming a priority.

At the same time, the practicalities of building effective intelligence functions that address wide-ranging concerns in a timely manner and provide consistent early warning for critical business processes and decisions, are not straightforward. What is the right-size intelligence team and set-up for a specific organisation? What should be done in-house and what could be outsourced? What methods and tools are available to make in-house activities as efficient as possible? And, how can the insights from intelligence functions be best communicated and integrated into decision-making across an organisation?

This course will equip corporate leaders with a better understanding of the principles of intelligence and the application of these in a private sector setting. The course will include a mix of theory and practice and provide a forum for exchanging ideas with peers as well as experts in applied risk intelligence for the private sector.

The course will adhere to the Chatham House Rule. Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of speakers, nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.

What does this course cover?

This course is intended to equip corporate leaders with a better understanding of the principles of intelligence and the application of these in a private sector setting.

The course is divided into four sections (or sessions) that address:

• Section 1: ‘Polycrisis’ and uncertainty - navigating complexity and exposure in a changing world order
• Section 2: Geopolitical analysis and intelligence as business enablers
• Section 3: Alternative futures - scenarios and foresight as a strategy tool
• Section 4: Economic warfare

A more detailed breakdown of each course section can be found at the foot of this page.

What will I achieve?

Upon completion of the course participants will be able to demonstrate:

• An appreciation of the way in which intelligence plays a critical role in business
• A critical engagement with the methodological issues associated with the application of intelligence within the wider context of corporate decision-making
• An ability to engage critically with the design and application of intelligence capability internally and with third party vendors
• How to ensure intelligence insights resonate at board level - helping you influence decision-making where it matters most

Format and networking

One-day in-person leadership course with networking breakfast, lunch, and evening drinks included.

Learn directly from senior leaders in intelligence, foreign policy, and business, bringing real-world experience from government, national security, and the private sector to help you apply strategic intelligence in practice.