Direct answers

Theory Intelligence is an independent research and advisory firm that delivers verified human evidence and signed recommendations for high-stakes business decisions. It has no commercial ties to technology vendors or AI labs and publishes the price of every service. It is also known as Theory Intel, and its primary domain is theoryintelligence.com.

Yes. Theory Intel is the short form of Theory Intelligence. The domain theoryintel.com redirects to theoryintelligence.com.

Theory Intelligence was founded in 2019. Its method, verified sources and a signed recommendation with a provenance appendix, predates the generative AI wave and was built for the earlier problem of unverifiable panels and self-reported expert profiles.

Investors, executives and operators facing a decision where being wrong is expensive: acquisitions, market entries, pricing changes, vendor selections, product bets. Most work is in private equity, B2B software, insurance and healthcare.

Email info@theoryintel.com or use the form on the contact page, which addresses a message to the same inbox. A researcher replies within one business day.

Three formats of one method. The Signal Brief answers one question in 10 business days with typically 6 to 8 verified sources (USD 7,500 to 12,000). The Decision Study supports one major decision in 4 to 6 weeks with typically 15 to 30 verified sources, full document and data review and a working session (USD 25,000 to 75,000). The Intelligence Retainer keeps a market, counterparties or a risk under standing coverage with a signed monthly briefing (USD 6,000 to 15,000 a month, six-month minimum). Sources are people, records and data, all verified.

No. Interviews are one of three kinds of evidence, alongside records (filings, registries, court and enforcement records, contracts, press) and data. The mix depends on the question: what customers think is mostly people; a counterparty's record or a regulation's path is mostly documents and data. Most engagements use all three.

A fixed, published price with a fixed scope is the only honest way to sell research while AI is changing what it costs to produce. The client knows the price before starting, and efficiency gains are not hidden margin.

How hard the evidence is to get. Eight verified chief actuaries, or a private company's litigation record across three jurisdictions, cost more to assemble than eight verified software buyers. We quote a fixed figure after seeing the question.

Project work: 50 percent on order, 50 percent on delivery. Retainers: monthly in advance. Prices are in US dollars and exclude tax.

A Signal Brief usually starts within five business days of a signed order and is delivered ten business days later.

Research in which every human source has been identity and role checked, every document has been opened and read by a person, and every claim can be traced to one or the other.

Identity and current or former role are confirmed against public records and professional profiles, and where a claim rests heavily on one person, a reference is taken. The method is recorded per participant in the provenance appendix.

The section of every Theory deliverable that lists each interview (role, organisation type, verification method, date, duration, record location) and each document (citation, passage relied on, who checked it and when), so the client can trace any claim.

No. Online panels carry a 30 to 40 percent compromised-response rate according to Kantar, and synthetic respondents compress toward average answers and miss the tails. Theory runs verified interviews.

The researcher who ran the interviews and read the documents. The recommendation takes a position, states its confidence and names what would change it.

Yes, for scheduling, transcription, coding of interview notes, first drafts of routine sections and formatting. Never as the source of a factual claim, figure, quotation or citation, and never in place of a human respondent. Every deliverable includes a written disclosure of exactly where AI was used.

Because the disclosure tells you where it was used and the provenance appendix lets you check that every fact came from a verified source. The 2025 and 2026 failures at large firms were not caused by using AI. They were caused by no one checking.

Yes. Theory accepts no fees, commissions, referral payments or partnerships from technology vendors, AI labs or other parties whose products may be the subject of its research. Conflicts, if any arise, are disclosed in writing.

Four published rules applied to every deliverable: every source is real, every claim is traceable, AI use is disclosed, and a named person signs the recommendation. They are written so any client can paste them into any research brief.