The Strategy Page: The Market Intel Agents Are Here Edition

At a glance:

1. Problems to Solve

2. The Rise of Agents and Automation

3. Why Agents Are Emerging Now

4. The Next Frontier: Retrieval-Augmented Generation Technology

5. Knowledge Bases: The Death of SOPs?

6. Book Recommendation: Competing in the Age of AI

7. Recommended Podcast: Driving SMB Solutions with AI

We appreciate that you rely on The Strategy Page for thought-provoking content. Today, we will share more on how AI and agents are reshaping strategy and the way we work…and how companies can access real-time information about their markets. We will also share more about our transformative new product: MarkeTrendsAI.

See MarkeTrendsAI / See the explainer video

Problems to Solve

We built this technology to solve chronic problems facing private companies:

• They don’t have reliable data about their competitors’ and customers’ movements.

• Team members from CFOs to marketers and sales organizations are all viewing different data sources. There is no single source of truth for market data.

• They do not have a reliable way to predict demand.

AI technologies—more specifically, agents—can solve these problems.

The Rise of Agents and Automation

We’re in the early innings of a new era where AI agents are transforming how companies work. Unlike traditional tools that rely on manual input and static dashboards, agents are autonomous and adaptive. They continuously scan the environment, interpret data, and deliver insights without constant human prompting.

In the simplest terms, an agent is an autonomous AI system designed to act on your behalf. It’s not just a tool you point at a task; it’s more like a digital colleague—one that can observe, analyze, and even initiate actions in response to changes in its environment.

Traditional software waits for you to tell it what to do. Agents don’t. They’re goal-driven and context-aware:

• They monitor data sources continuously (markets, competitors, supply chains).

• They process information in real time, detecting trends and anomalies.

• They deliver insights proactively—before you even know to ask.

Think of an agent as a strategist who works 24/7, tirelessly scanning the horizon for signals your business can’t afford to miss. Instead of you chasing insights, they deliver them to you—already contextualized and prioritized. For private companies without an in-house strategy team, this is transformative.

Why Agents Are Emerging Now

Why didn’t we have agents ten years ago? Two reasons:

1. Data overload – Businesses today are drowning in data from countless sources. Manual monitoring isn’t scalable.

2. AI breakthroughs – Advances in natural language processing and machine learning have made it possible for agents to interpret complex data and communicate findings clearly.

Today’s agents analyze and inform. Tomorrow’s agents will plan and execute, coordinating marketing campaigns, adjusting pricing models, even flagging operational risks automatically.

For private companies, adopting agents isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about building a decision advantage in a world where the gap between leading and lagging companies keeps widening.

The Next Frontier: Retrieval-Augmented Generation Technology

Imagine asking your company’s AI assistant: “What’s our Q2 margin in Europe?” Instead of waiting days for finance to send over a report or spelunking through SAP yourself, it replies instantly by pulling the freshest data from across your systems. No hunting. No spreadsheets. Just answers.

That’s the promise of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)—a mouthful of a term that basically means AI that’s smart enough to look things up in real time. Unlike traditional AI models which can only draw on what they were trained, RAG taps into your live systems (ERP, CRM, even dusty old SharePoint folders) to find what it needs when it needs it.

Could this be how companies access their data in the future? It’s starting to look that way. For too long, enterprise data has been locked in silos—finance in one system, HR in another, operations in something else. RAG acts like a multilingual tour guide, navigating those systems and delivering what you’re looking for in plain English.

Of course, it’s not magic. Companies will need clean, well-organized data and robust security to make this work. But the payoff? Teams spend less time digging for information and more time acting on it. As OpenAI’s Sam Altman put it, “The future of AI isn’t knowing everything—it’s knowing where to find it.”

Knowledge Bases: The Death of SOPs?

If you’ve ever tried to follow a standard operating procedure (SOP) from a 43-page PDF buried deep in SharePoint, you know the pain. It’s like trying to find a single screw in aisle 6 at Home Depot.

That’s why modern knowledge bases are quietly replacing them. Tools like Notion, Confluence, and Guru let companies build living, breathing repositories of “how we do things here.” Instead of static documents, you get dynamic, searchable content that evolves with the business.

For employees, especially younger digital-natives, this isn’t just more convenient. It’s table stakes. They don’t want to slog through a manual; they want to ask, “How do I recalibrate the CNC machine?”and get an instant step-by-step guide or video walkthrough.

Will knowledge bases replace SOPs and work instructions altogether? Not overnight. But they’ll certainly absorb them, embedding process know-how right into workflows. It’s less about creating documents no one reads and more about serving up answers when people need them.

Companies that lean into this shift won’t just streamline operations—they’ll empower their people to self-serve, solve problems faster, and stay aligned in a world where change is the only constant.

Book Recommendation: Competing in the Age of AI

Recommended Podcast: Driving SMB Solutions with AI - Matt Madrigal of Google

Today’s guest is Matt Madrigal, Vice President and General Manager of Merchant Shopping at Google. Matt returns to the program today to talk about data-based solutions for SMB retail challenges surrounding product imagery and translating brick-and-mortar customer experiences to the digital world.

Listen to the episode

The Strategy Experts

Marc Emmer is President and Chief Strategist & Facilitator at Optimize Inc. He is an author, speaker and consultant recognized as a thought leader throughout North America as an expert in strategic planning.

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