TL;DR
Bhavik’s journey into competitive intelligence started with technical roles in IT and automation, eventually leading to a high-level CI role with significant creative freedom at SS&C Blue Prism.
Over three years, he transformed CI from supporting sales to a central hub influencing marketing, product strategy, and beyond. Key to his success were networking, storytelling, and collaboration. His approach—start small, build trust, and expand—offers actionable lessons for CI professionals seeking to scale their impact.
When people ask how I got into competitive intelligence (CI), I think back to how each step in my career prepared me for this role.
I started with an IT degree and ran a small printing and exhibition business early on and then was lucky enough to move from support roles to development.
But I’ve always been the kind of person who asks, What else? What more can I do to make an impact?
So, I’m here to share my journey into CI and why I believe this particular industry is so exciting. I hope you can learn from my experience, from starting small to successfully scaling a competitive program.
The journey to competitive intelligence
I’ve always looked for better ways of doing things. It’s my primary motivation.
And that mindset led me through several different paths.
In 2014, I ended up in robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) while managing projects for Next, a retail company. One of my responsibilities along with introducing new technology for Next Directory was maintaining a huge catalog of macros, and I remember thinking, This feels outdated—there’s got to be a better way to do this.
And that's when I came across a company called Thoughtonomy (now known as SS&C Blue Prism Cloud) and my role kind of evolved.
Beyond just deploying this tool, I championed it across departments. I’d go to teams like finance, for example, and say, Look, this tool can help you. Here’s what it can do. I sort of became the internal salesman, promoting its value and helping others see how it could solve their problems.
Then, over time, I moved from being a lead developer to leading the Center of Excellence, where I managed the automation platform and worked on making a bigger impact across the business.
From there, I transitioned into consultancy roles, working with some of the biggest brands to implement automation strategies. I gained a deep understanding of the competitive landscape and the different tools available in the market.
Later, I had the opportunity to build an automation and AI practice from scratch, which expanded my skills to include managing global teams and building vendor relationships.
Then, when the CI role at SS&C Blue Prism came up, I felt excited. At the time, the role was broad, meaning I had a lot of creative freedom but still focused primarily on doing primary/secondary research and creating battle cards for sales.
But I knew CI could do more.
Lawrence Chapman
I focused on building trust with senior stakeholders, showing them how CI could drive impact—not just for sales, but across marketing, product, and strategy. It took time, but over three years, we’ve transformed CI into a central hub that influences decisions across the business.
Expanding CI’s impact across the business
One of the challenges in CI is that you can create as much intelligence as you like, but if people aren’t using it—or contributing back—it doesn’t have the impact it should.
CI has to be collaborative.
Lawrence Chapman
Every department has its own expertise, and they know their landscape better than anyone else. That’s why communication is so important, even if it feels repetitive at times.
It’s not just about pushing information out; it’s about building a two-way relationship.
When I started, CI was mostly about creating battlecards for sales. But I wanted to do more. Once we got feedback and refined the battle cards, I looked for the next area to expand into. Marketing was the logical choice. We started with simple ideas, like identifying competitor product launch patterns and timing our messaging to get ahead of them. It worked, and we kept building from there.
From marketing, we moved to product. Initially, we were just sharing intelligence about competitors’ launches and features. Over time, we built trust, and that turned into influencing the product roadmap. We started identifying market gaps and shaping where the company should go over the next few years.
It’s always about starting small, proving value, and then expanding. Once I felt 50% happy with the progress we’d made in one area, I’d move to the next. It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you keep showing value, you’ll eventually get buy-in across the business.
Skills needed in CI
If I think back on what led to my success in CI, I could point to some of the skills and experiences that helped me establish CI as a respected and trusted part of the business.
I’ll start with one of the most important skills in CI: networking.
Networking is certainly about building stronger relationships, sure, but it’s also about continuously learning from others.
You never know when someone in your network will share something valuable. A lot of people I’ve worked with in the past have gone on to become senior leaders or CEOs, and those connections are invaluable for learning and collaboration.
In the context of CI, for example, networking is great if you need to learn about specific markets or industries. Your analysts or vendors can help you piece together a larger puzzle, even with the smallest insight.
Storytelling is another key skill.
CI is about taking small pieces of information—maybe a comment about a competitor or something you’ve read—and building a bigger picture. You need to create a narrative that resonates.
Personally, I use a three-point check: I test my ideas with three people from my network to see if they make sense. If they don’t, I adjust, test again, and keep refining until it works.
Technical knowledge also plays a big role, especially in a field like software. It’s about understanding the differences between products and what those differences mean for customers. From there, you create a story about how to position your business effectively.
Clear communication and prioritization are also critical. CI can’t tackle everything, so you need to decide what’s important and set expectations. For example, we use tools like battlecards for quick conversations with prospects, but deeper insights require more focus.
Ultimately, CI is about collaboration.
You can’t do everything alone. CI thrives on teamwork—working with others to identify and solve problems. It’s also about making an impact beyond your team.
Building a CI Engine
So, as mentioned before, CI can’t be done alone. If you want to establish a robust CI program, you need to put in the work.
Something that I always tell my leadership is that I treat the business as if it’s my own business.
The goal isn’t just for CI to do well—it’s for the entire organization to move forward.
And today, CI at SS&C Blue Prism is a central hub for insights. It’s not just about us pushing out intelligence anymore—stakeholders come to us to validate their ideas and share what they’re hearing.
It’s become a two-way engine that constantly refines itself.
What’s exciting now is that we’ve moved from reporting what’s happening to predicting what will happen. We can anticipate competitor moves six months to a year in advance, and when those predictions come true, it reinforces the trust stakeholders have in us.
The next challenge is scaling.
We’ve built a strong foundation, but now it’s about expanding the team and embedding CI further across the business. That means finding people who are not just skilled but also hungry to make an impact.
CI is always evolving, and success depends on staying adaptable, thinking strategically, and working collaboratively to drive the business forward.
Key takeaways for aspiring CI professionals
I know we’ve covered quite a bit.
And if you’re thinking about a career in CI, then let me share a few key lessons that have helped me:
- Start small, prove value, and expand. When I began in CI, it was about creating battle cards for sales. By refining those with feedback and delivering results, I was able to expand CI’s role into areas like marketing and product. Incremental wins build trust and open doors to bigger opportunities.
- I can’t overstate how important relationships have been in my career. Your network often provides unique insights and opportunities that can help you see the bigger picture and refine your strategies.
- Test and refine your insights. I always validate intelligence before presenting it. My “three-point check”—testing insights with three different personas—has been invaluable in ensuring the message resonates.
- CI isn’t something you can do in a silo, so be as collaborative as possible. Building a two-way feedback loop with stakeholders ensures they contribute to and benefit from the intelligence you’re creating.
- Communicate effectively. It’s not enough to generate intelligence—you need to make sure it’s clear, actionable, and aligns with business goals.
- Treat CI as a strategic business function. I’ve always approached CI with the mindset that it’s my own business. It’s not just about helping one team or department; it’s about driving impact across the entire organization.
And, finally, CI is a dynamic space—it’s always changing. You need to stay flexible, adjust quickly, and align your approach with the evolving needs of the business.
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Alex Walton
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