Every source is real
Every person is identity and role verified. Every document is opened and read. Every figure is traced to its origin before it is used.
Evidence you
can trace.
Theory Intelligence answers hard business questions for people who have to decide. Due diligence, risk, policy, markets, competitors. Evidence we have verified ourselves: people, records and data. Every claim is traceable. A named researcher signs the recommendation.
Signal Brief from USD 7,500 in ten business days. Decision Study from USD 25,000 in four to six weeks. Intelligence Retainer from USD 6,000 a month. No vendor ties. No hidden AI.
Judgment you
can hold.
01 / Position
Why Theory exists
Reports with fabricated citations reached paying clients at the largest firms in the profession.Survey panels are a third bots. Synthetic respondents agree with each other too much.Decision makers still need evidence they can check and a person who will stand behind the answer.That is the whole business.
Source Global Research, 2026
70%
of 3,887 companies would not trust a report prepared with AI. Every Theory deliverable states exactly where AI was and was not used.
Kantar, 2025
30 to 40%
of online survey responses are compromised by bots, farms or inattentive respondents. We do not sell you survey panels. We verify every person we quote.
Inex One, 2026
$3B
spent on expert network calls in 2025, growing 12% a year. Businesses still pay for what people know and have not written down.
The Theory Standard
100%
of sources verified by a named researcher: every person checked, every document opened, every figure traced. If we cannot verify it, it does not appear.
02 / Services
Three ways to work with us
One method at three scales: a question in ten days, a decision in four to six weeks, or standing coverage month by month. Published prices, fixed scope, signed deliverable.
01→02→03→
Signal Brief
One question. Ten business days. A signed two-page answer built on evidence we have verified ourselves, with a provenance appendix.
Decision Study
One consequential decision. A full evidence base, a written report, a signed recommendation and a working session with your team.
Intelligence Retainer
Standing coverage of a market, a set of counterparties or a risk. A signed monthly briefing, a named researcher, and urgent questions answered in days.
03 / Method
The Theory Standard
Four rules we apply to every piece of work and publish so you can hold us to them.
01
02
Every claim is traceable
A provenance appendix connects each claim in the report to the person, document or dataset it came from.
03
AI use is disclosed
We say exactly where AI was used: transcription, coding, drafting. Never as the source of a fact.
04
A person signs it
The recommendation carries the name of the researcher who did the work. It is a position, not a summary.
04 / Research
Questions we answer
Thirteen kinds of question account for most of our work. Each is delivered as a Signal Brief, a Decision Study or a Retainer, with the evidence drawn from people, records and data as the question needs.
Decisions, risks and markets
01→02→03→04→05→06→07→08→
Due diligence
Commercial, customer, management, counterparty and reputational diligence with verified off-list sources.
Risk analysis
What could go wrong, how likely, how bad, and the indicators that would show it starting.
Third-party risk
Vendors, suppliers, distributors and partners assessed through the people who have dealt with them.
Geopolitical risk
Sanctions, trade policy, stability and conflict, assessed for your specific exposure with in-country sources.
Policy analysis
What a law, rule or programme will do to your market, when, and what to do about it. Research, not lobbying.
Industry analysis
Structure, economics, competitive dynamics and outlook, built from verified people inside the sector.
Alternative analysis
Key assumptions checks, competing hypotheses, red teams and pre-mortems by people with no stake in the plan.
Ad-hoc intelligence
One urgent question, answered in days with verified sources and a researcher's signature.
Customers and buyers
09→10→11→12→13→
Win-loss analysis
Why buyers chose you or a competitor, from verified buyers interviewed by someone with no stake in the answer.
Channel checks
Compliance-clean primary research with distributors, customers and former employees for investors.
Expert interview research
We recruit, verify, interview and synthesise. You read two pages and the provenance appendix.
Voice of customer research
In-depth interviews with verified B2B buyers and users, as an alternative to surveys and advisory boards.
Market entry research
Bottom-up demand, channel and competitive evidence from people in the market you want to enter.
05 / Industries
Where we work
Eleven sectors where verified human evidence changes outcomes. Other sectors on request.
Industries
Private equity
Commercial due diligence, value creation questions and exit preparation with verified operator and customer interviews.
Industries
Asset management and hedge funds
Compliance-clean channel checks and thesis work with verified customers, former employees and suppliers.
Industries
B2B software
Win-loss, pricing, category entry and competitive decisions grounded in real buyer conversations.
Industries
Fintech and payments
Merchant, treasurer and bank partner research for product, partnership and investment decisions.
Industries
Insurance
Distribution, product and claims decisions informed by brokers, underwriters and insureds who actually exist.
Industries
Healthcare
Market access, buyer and clinician research with verified credentials and consented, documented interviews.
Industries
Professional services
Client listening, pitch debriefs and practice investment research for law, accounting and consulting firms.
Industries
Manufacturing and industrials
Voice of customer, channel and acquisition research with plant managers, engineers and distributors.
Industries
Energy and infrastructure
Offtaker, developer, operator and former regulator interviews for transition and infrastructure decisions.
Industries
Consumer and retail
Verified shoppers and trade buyers in depth, as an alternative to compromised online panels.
Industries
Real estate and PropTech
Occupier, lender and operator evidence for investment, development and property technology decisions.
Industries
Other sectors
The method transfers to any market where a decision depends on what verified practitioners will say to an independent researcher.
06 / Approach
Small on purpose
A small firm with a fixed method, published prices and no reason to hide how the work is done. Theory has no commercial relationship with any technology vendor or AI lab, which is why our vendor evaluations are worth reading.
We use AI where it makes the work faster: scheduling, transcription, coding, first drafts. We never use it as a source. The fee is fixed, so the savings are yours as much as ours.
07 / Briefing
Recent writing
Sourced, dated, signed. Written for people who make decisions, and for the answer engines they ask.
2026-09-09→2026-09-08→2026-09-07→2026-09-06→
Can You Trust AI-Generated Consulting Reports? What the Evidence Says
Synthetic Respondents vs Real Respondents: What the Vendors' Own Research Shows
The Survey Data Quality Crisis: Why a Third of Online Responses Cannot Be Trusted
What Is Verified Primary Research? A Definition and a Standard
FAQ
Common questions
What does Theory Intelligence do?
Theory Intelligence is an independent research and advisory firm. You bring a business question or a decision. We gather evidence we have verified ourselves, from people, records and data, analyse it with methods we show you, and deliver a signed recommendation with a provenance appendix. Prices are published: a Signal Brief is USD 7,500 to 12,000 and a Decision Study is USD 25,000 to 75,000.
How is this different from an expert network or a consultancy?
An expert network sells you access to calls and leaves interpretation to you. A consultancy sells you a team and a framework. Theory gathers and verifies the evidence, people, records and data, analyses it and signs a recommendation for a fixed published price. See the full comparison.
Do you use AI?
Yes, for logistics, transcription, coding of interview notes and first drafts. Never as a source of a factual claim, and never without a written disclosure in the deliverable. This is part of The Theory Standard.
How fast can you start?
A Signal Brief usually starts within five business days of a signed order and is delivered ten business days later. Write to info@theoryintel.com with the question you need answered.
Have a question worth answering properly?
Send the question and the decision it feeds. We reply within one business day with a scope and a fixed price. Or write to info@theoryintel.com.
Start a brief