Registration for the ICI Conference 2026 is officially open – and this year’s edition goes far beyond a traditional event. It’s a full Learning Journey designed to build real capability, sharpen strategic insight, and deliver measurable impact inside your organization.
Understand stakeholders before you meet them. Identify country risks before they become problems. Toufik Achoui demonstrates how intelligence methods can be applied concretely in daily business operations..
Design your own learning journey by combining workshops, certificate programs, and a lifelong learning community. Whether you're building foundational knowledge or deepening your expertise, our flexible structure supports your goals.
Strategic Automation: Transforming Competitive Intelligence in the Era of AI
The AI industry is currently experiencing what experts call an "AI Summer"—a peak of rapid development and global interest. However, history teaches us that every summer is followed by an "AI Winter," where only the most practical tools survive. For Competitive Intelligence professionals, this is the critical moment to transition from using AI as a novelty to building it into a reliable analytical foundation.
From December 12 to 14, Rainer Michaeli, Director of the Institute for Competitive Intelligence, delivered an intensive lecture on Strategic Competitive Intelligence at the University of Bucharest. The course was part of the international MBA program Master in Business Intelligence and marked Michaeli’s fourth lecture within the program. He has been involved since its launch in 2022 as a member of the initial faculty.
Wishing you health, happiness, and continued success in 2026!
Many CI and MI professionals know the disappointment: You feed an AI tool like ChatGPT with a transcript or analysis report and receive a superficial, uninformative summary. The joint webinar hosted by dcif and ICI demonstrated how to avoid this generic output and transform AI into a precision tool for intelligence work.
The AI Act is often framed as a legal hurdle, but for CI professionals it can be a forcing function to become better analysts. AI-literate staff are expected not only to operate tools, but to understand their limits, biases, and potential harms – exactly the mindset good CI already requires.
In this webinar, we explore how publicly available information can be used to understand markets, competitors, and customer sentiment in a structured and reliable way.
We cover the fundamentals of OSINT, why it matters for businesses, which source types provide meaningful insights, and how AI can support the research process.
Many prospective participants share a common concern:
“The program looks impressive – but can I really manage it alongside my full-time job and personal commitments?”
The answer is yes. ICI’s certificate programs are specifically designed for working professionals who want to deepen their expertise without putting their careers on hold.
