The research you have was written for a world that's gone.
Gartner gave you the landscape view eighteen months ago. McKinsey will sell you a six-week engagement and a slide deck full of frameworks. Your team is reading newsletters. Someone forwarded you a McKinsey-McKinsey-McKinsey LinkedIn post last week. None of it tells you what to do on Monday.
The question you are actually asking is smaller and sharper than any of that. Is our pricing model about to collapse? Has this competitor just done something we can't match? Where in this market does AI take twenty points of margin out, and how long do we have?
You need an answer. Not a landscape.
What you get
A short, decision-grade briefing. Written by one person. Opinionated. Sourced. Delivered as a PDF, read in twenty minutes, and acted on by Friday.
No frameworks for the sake of frameworks. No 2x2s. No "it depends." If the answer is don't do this, the briefing says don't do this, and tells you why.
Two Formats
Snapshot Brief — £5,000
Executive Report — £8,750
One question, answered in 48 hours. 5–7 pages of dense, decision-grade analysis — the kind of paper a senior leader reads on the train and acts on the next morning. The entry point, and the format most clients come back for.
Up to 12 pages. Broader in scope: market context, competitor moves, scenarios, and clear implications for the business. Delivered in 5 working days. Right when you need the full picture, not just a single answer.
Who is this for?
If you run strategy or innovation at a 50–500 person company, you need answers faster than your usual research process delivers and sharper than your team has time to produce. This is that.
If you run a boutique consultancy, you can white-label this and walk into client meetings with intelligence that punches three weight classes above your headcount.
If you're a partner at a professional services firm, you already know what's coming for your pricing model. You don't need another think-piece. You need a briefing that names the specific risk in your specific practice, and what to do about it before the next partner meeting.
Why does this work when other research does not?
Big research firms sell you their process. Six weeks, three workshops, a deck. By the time the deck lands, the decision has either been made without it or made worse because of it.
This is the opposite. One analyst. One question. Forty-eight hours. The briefing arrives while the decision is still live, written by someone whose job is to have a view — not to survey the landscape and leave the thinking to you.
You are not paying for breadth. You are paying for someone to read everything that matters on a specific question, form a defensible opinion, and put it on paper before the window closes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a strategic AI briefing?
Big research firms sell you their process. Six weeks, three workshops, a deck. By the time the deck lands, the decision has either been made without it or made worse because of it.
This is the opposite. One analyst. One question. Forty-eight hours. The briefing arrives while the decision is still live, written by someone whose job is to have a view — not to survey the landscape and leave the thinking to you.
You are not paying for breadth. You are paying for someone to read everything that matters on a specific question, form a defensible opinion, and put it on paper before the window closes.
How is this different from a McKinsey engagement or a Gartner report?
A McKinsey engagement takes six weeks and delivers a framework. A Gartner report tells you where the market was eighteen months ago. A briefing from halpern.co tells you what to say in the meeting on Thursday, based on what is happening right now.
How much does a briefing cost?
The Snapshot Brief starts at £5,000 and is delivered in 48 hours. The Executive Report is £8,750 and delivered in 5 working days. There is no retainer, no minimum commitment, and no upsell built into the process.
Who is this for?
Strategy and innovation leaders at 50–500 person companies who need answers faster than their usual research process delivers. Partners at professional services firms who need to name the specific risk in their specific practice before the next partner meeting. Boutique consultancies that want to walk into client meetings with intelligence that punches above their headcount.
How does the process work?
You send the question — by email or via the contact form. We agree scope in one short conversation. The briefing is delivered as a PDF within the agreed timeframe. If you want to go further afterwards, we talk about it then.
Can I see a sample?
Email louis@halpern.co for a full sample.
Where is Louis Halpern based?
London, UK. He works with clients across the UK and internationally.
What topics can a briefing cover?
Any question where AI is changing the competitive dynamics, the cost structure, the pricing model, or the workforce. Past briefings have covered audit pricing exposure, mid-tier competitive threats, AI adoption timelines in regulated sectors, and workforce displacement scenarios.