On Monday, November 18th, 2024, the FBI Association of Intelligence Analysts (AIA) was represented by members Nikki Rutman, Sarah Saenz, and Sierra Stanczyk at the inaugural I3 Summit in Tysons, VA - a first of its kind conference aimed to bring intelligence professionals together under the I3 banner–Intelligence. Innovation. Imagination.–to talk about the future of the profession. The AIA presented alongside a stellar lineup of intelligence professionals from government and industry and was able to network and connect with a diverse group of attendees to extend the network and message of the AIA.
We previously published a blog covering our presentation at a high level, and below we provide takeaways from the day. If you have not seen the agenda, please take a look at this esteemed group of speakers and follow their work - their presentations were informative, inspirational, and important for our field to hear!
Takeaway 1: AI, AI, AI
We are at a pivotal point as artificial intelligence is reshaping so much of the world around us–regardless of whether we want to admit it. As Intelligence Analysts, we are in a unique position to integrate and interact with these tools for positive outcomes. We heard great insights into how we can use AI at the analyst level, impactful use cases, and helpful guidance for prompt engineering and overcoming limitations of the technology. We also heard about how AI can help with the knowledge management and the production process, such as report reviewing and editing, as well as its role in battling misinformation and disinformation.
Takeaway 2: The Importance of Messaging
We need to ensure we are properly balancing the time we spend on research and analysis with crafting an impactful message for our stakeholders. We also need to view ourselves as Intelligence Translators and guide our consumers to make the most of our intelligence, often taking on the stewardship role for change management and communication. Sometimes the most powerful intelligence products are not lengthy, but rather convey bold assessments clearly and concisely and empower stakeholders to make informed decisions with confidence.
Takeaway 3: Intelligence in Alignment
Intelligence is key to alignment strategies and efforts across organizations, and we can lean into this by aligning horizontally (and not just vertically) and leading from the enterprise perspective. Intelligence has also expanded in terms of its reach into varying subject matters and business operations, so it may be worth considering your entire organization as an intelligence organization–with different information and insights coming from leadership, human resources, financial operations, and other aspects of the business. It’s also important to view intelligence as a matrix within organizations and not as individual pods of activity. This also extends to how we as intelligence professionals can use our networks across organizations.
Takeaway 4: Community Is Everything
The I3 Summit was a much needed gathering of intelligence leaders, practitioners, and academics, and this community is thriving and powerful. We heard from so many attendees that this community is special and powerful, and we all want more reasons to find each other and come together to advance the profession and support our organizations.
Takeaway 5: We Need to Keep Talking
The I3 Summit was very much a catalyst for new conversations, as well as new participants engaging in ongoing discussions about the intelligence profession. We definitely need to keep talking and keep this momentum going, and we look forward to doing our part to carry this forward as we wait for the next I3 Summit!
Comments