News, Events, and Perspectives — Q4 2024
Quarterly Newsletter for Aurora WDC, the Human Intelligence Company™
This is the first edition of an Aurora WDC newsletter designed to keep you up to date on our latest developments. You’re on our distribution list because we appreciated our prior interactions with you and thought you may be interested in staying in the loop.
Thanks for being a part of our community!
In this edition:
Arik and Derek Johnson are publishing a new book.
FirstLight is getting an AI makeover.
Aurora WDC launches a new website.
Did you know? Aurora WDC offers competitive simulations (aka “war games”).
Join Angela Forgues and Lauren Kenny at the New York at the Insights Association’s Corporate Researcher’s Conference from September 17-19th.
Register for this interactive, live event with Aurora WDC’s Austin Fleisher: Hands-On Comparison of GenAI Platforms for Intelligence Analysis.
ICYMI: Replay “How to Conduct Competitive Operational & Performance Benchmarking”.
How to balance your inner idealist with your inner pragmatist.
Arik and Derek Johnson are releasing their upcoming book, “The Missionary and the Mercenary,” chapter-by-chapter on Substack. This book explores the tension between these two seemingly conflicting mindsets and identifies opportunities to channel each perspective to make actionable decisions and adapt to uncertainty. Read and subscribe here.
FirstLight is Getting an AI Makeover
We have partnered with Microsoft for Azure AI for multiple reasons.
We, and many other businesses, trust Azure with data privacy and security. Microsoft’s Azure environment does not make your data (including training data, prompts, outputs, users, etc.) available to other customers, Microsoft, or 3rd parties.
Azure AI also does not use any client data for improving the Azure models.
Azure AI has access to OpenAI’s latest models, Perplexity, Facebook’s LLaMA, Mistral, among other models.
What does all that mean? We can have the best of all worlds – a trustworthy partner for data security and access to the best models available.
Each GenAI feature that we implement has the optimal combination of speed, price, and functionality. For tasks like article summaries, we use efficient models that manage high-volume processing while keeping costs low. For more complex functions, such as AI-powered Search that delivers cited, real-time insights based on your portal’s data, we deploy the most advanced models to ensure accuracy and depth. This approach ensures you're always equipped with the right tools for the job.
As we look toward the future of GenAI, and AI in general, we are:
Meticulously testing each new model and feature to see what value they can add,
Regularly talking to analysts to see how technology can amplify their value, and
Carefully considering how best to balance feasibility, viability, and desirability for each feature.
As the technology continues to develop, we aim to be a trusted partner for how best to take advantage of it.
And when technology can’t give you the right answer, we’ll help you to conduct primary research and competitive simulation exercises to make sure you’re able to make confident decisions.
Our Mission: To Help You Ask Better Questions
At Aurora WDC, we’ve built a reputation for providing leading intelligence software and research services, and now we’re taking another step to better align with how the world, and us as a company, has changed. We’re Aurora WDC, the Human Intelligence Company™. That means we’re focusing on how to amplify human analysts with technology and insights to multiply their efforts and work toward actions. Our new branding and website reflects these values and prepares us for the next generation of intelligence. Click here to check us out.
Did You Know? We Offer Competitive Simulations
Competitive simulations, also called wargames, are strategic simulation exercises that play a crucial role in helping companies prepare for potential challenges and disruptions. By simulating real-world scenarios, competitive simulations allow organizations to test their strategies, improve decision-making, and identify vulnerabilities in a controlled environment. This proactive approach fosters better risk management, enhances crisis response capabilities, and promotes team collaboration. Additionally, our competitive simulations can uncover innovative solutions and strategic opportunities, ultimately leading to a more resilient and agile organization.
Click here to book a confidential consultation to discuss how a competitive simulation might assist in your decision-making or strategy planning process.
Upcoming Events
Join us at the Corporate Researchers Conference!
Aurora WDC’s Director Angie Forgues and Designstein Lauren Kenny will be in New York at the Insights Association’s Corporate Researcher’s Conference from September 17-19th. Check out our booth, say ”Hi!”, and walk away with a free mug. We’ll be talking about human intelligence, research and analysis, and all things Aurora.
Hands-On Comparison of GenAI Platforms for Intelligence Analysis
Aurora’s Austin Fleisher will provide a hands-on workshop that goes over how generative AI works, privacy concerns, and comparing models and use cases for an analyst. Register for this live Zoom event here.
ICYMI
How to Conduct Competitive Operational & Performance Benchmarking
This session, presented by Aurora WDC's Lauren Kenny and Zonda's Todd Tomalak discussed new ways to expand your competitive set and who to benchmark against, indicators you should be benchmarking versus the metrics we assume are the best, and how you can use benchmarking data to build buy-in and compel action. One of the key takeaways was considering a mix of leading and lagging indicators to have a more comprehensive overview of market players.
Watch the replay here. (Simply click the “play” icon in the center of the video.)
Our Take
Putting the Human in Intelligence
At Aurora WDC, we see technology as a helpful tool to support human decision-making, not replace it.
We support human creativity and innovation by helping you ask the right questions, find hard-to-spot answers, and create unique advantages. While we are incorporating generative AI into our processes, we are using it to support our human analysts rather than the other way around. We will continue to conduct human-sourced intelligence and primary research because we know these insights won’t be replaced by technology and can’t be automated.
Our unfair advantage is that we can do it all: conduct in-depth, asymmetric research, build tailored intelligence and knowledge management platforms, and share our expertise with you through workshops and trainings.
Thanks for reading!