Research the Missing Link in Winning Work? Competitive Intelligence Explained with Salia Mogensen

Is research the missing link in winning work? In this episode of the Red Review, brought to you by Growth Ignition and Bidscript, Jeremy Brim is joined by Salia Mogensen, founder of Infrabee, a competitive intelligence consultancy that works with primes, tier ones and SMEs on bids, capture and growth strategy. They cover what competitive intelligence actually is, why so many bid teams and senior leaders skip it, where AI helps and where it doesn't, and how to do it ethically. In this episode: What competitive intelligence is, and why it is a system rather than a one off research project Why it is not corporate espionage, and where the ethical line sits Why senior people skip research, and the "we know our competitors really well" bias Why business plans built on last year's numbers plus 10% are a problem How AI can speed up data gathering and analysis, and why the "so what" needs a human How far ahead to look, from UK1 pipeline notices to rebids two years out How competitor battle cards and teaming analysis can change who you bid with Why many lost bids were lost for reasons known before submission The return on investment hypothesis: bidding, capture and key account management Where the money may be going in defence, education and other markets, and why to stop hobby bidding Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and introducing Salia Mogensen 0:54 Salia's background and Infrabee 2:25 Why do senior leaders skip research? 6:12 What is competitive intelligence? 8:11 What good research did for a business sale 10:44 Can AI do competitive intelligence? 12:48 Where is the ethical line? 14:17 How far ahead should you look? 16:23 Battle cards and teaming strategy 18:30 Answering specific questions at bid stage 19:47 The bias that makes managers skip research 20:17 Why do people lose bids they saw coming? 21:45 Capture, AI slop and the return on investment 27:55 Where is the money going to be? 32:12 Stop hobby bidding and focus on the right clients 34:55 Researchers, Lockheed Martin and position to win 36:33 Where to find Salia Mogensen Connect with Salia Mogensen on LinkedIn (Infrabee). Connect with Jeremy Brim on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeremybrim The Red Review is brought to you by Growth Ignition (growthignition.co.uk), in partnership with Bidscript, the bid management, bid writing and opportunity search platform. #CompetitiveIntelligence #Bidding #Capture #WorkWinning #BidStrategy #AIinBidding #Research