Introduction and Welcome

Rainer Michaeli, Managing Director of the Institute for Competitive Intelligence (ICI), welcomes viewers to a fireside chat with Toufik Achoui. The goal of this session is to introduce Toufik Achoui and discuss his two upcoming workshops at the ICI Competitive Intelligence Journey 2026.

Career Path in CI/MI

Toufik Achoui expresses his honor at being a speaker at the ICI conference. He emphasizes that he has already completed several ICI trainings and was particularly impressed by their structured, well-thought-out module concept. Compared to other providers in the OSINT and intelligence field, he highlights ICI's integrated, holistic approach, where modules build upon each other rather than standing in isolation. This differentiation and value proposition of ICI convinced him sustainably.

Achoui regularly participates in ICI's quarterly seminars and is particularly looking forward to the ICI Competitive Intelligence Journey, which starts on April 20, 2026 and reaches its peak in June.

Originally from Algeria, Toufik Achoui left the country at the age of five and grew up in the United States and other countries. For over a decade, he has been living and working in Malaysia, where he works for an oil and gas company. His professional career spans different industries – from IT and consulting to the energy sector, where he covered gas business, business development, risk management, and petrochemicals. He covers the entire integrated value chain of the energy and petroleum business.

A decisive turning point in Achoui's career was his entry into the intelligence field. While he was responsible for business development in the promising energy hubs of Africa and the Middle East, he recognized the necessity to dive deeper into the intelligence sphere. His first training in Human Intelligence (HUMINT) fundamentally transformed his perspective. He describes this experience as a revelation that opened up new dimensions beyond everyday practical work – the "invisible" part of strategic planning that many organizations neglect or overlook.

Motivated by these insights, Achoui completed numerous additional intelligence courses and deepened his knowledge through his own research on the internet and from open sources. He found his passion particularly in the field of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). A training with Arthur Weiss at ICI gave him valuable insights into how OSINT can be used for stakeholder profiling and stakeholder intelligence.

Based on this expertise, he established the first intelligence unit in his organization. Originally intended to support a single business area, demand quickly spread throughout the company, with other departments and even the executive level utilizing the intelligence reports.

CI Landscape in Southeast Asia

When asked whether intelligence practices are already widespread in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Achoui responds with nuance. The majority of organized intelligence activities are concentrated in Singapore, where primarily Western, especially US companies, have stationed their own intelligence officers. In other Southeast Asian countries, intelligence is largely absent. There, corresponding tasks are handled in fragmented fashion across departments such as business development, marketing, or corporate communication, without structured intelligence departments existing.

An exception is China, which has highly developed and sophisticated business intelligence and competitive intelligence systems. These are supported by the government, as many large companies are state-linked and benefit from government agencies.

Achoui sees a significant untapped market in Asia for the intelligence community, particularly from Europe. Given the increasing competitive intensity and business volume in the region, there is considerable potential for European providers.

Workshop: Harnessing OSINT for HUMINT

Achoui emphasizes that the content of his workshops is based on practical, operational experience – from real business situations, not from academic theory. He has developed his own methodology over more than a decade that combines OSINT and HUMINT.

The first workshop focuses on stakeholder profiling and influence strategies. Regardless of whether one works in marketing, communication, sales, or other departments: everyone must interact with stakeholders. Profiling stakeholders, understanding their motivations, and developing effective influence strategies are fundamental to any business interaction.

Achoui's approach is based on best practices from over ten years of experience at different stakeholder levels: from community and consumer levels through business-to-business to government and authority contacts as well as intergovernmental relationships. The goal is to thoroughly understand and analyze the other party before the first meeting, and to develop strategies and tactical plans based on that. The workshop teaches a practical, applicable methodology that can serve as a foundation for any strategic planning.

Workshop: Country Risk Intelligence 101

The second workshop addresses Country Risk Intelligence. In his professional role, Achoui was responsible for country risk assessment and conducted due diligence reviews for new markets. He analyzed at least 15 elements of country risk before investment decisions were made.

In today's times – characterized by daily changes in global dynamics – understanding country risks is more important than ever. The workshop demonstrates how organizations or individuals can develop a dashboard to monitor country risks and identify dynamics that could influence business decisions or parameters.

Achoui points out that major consulting firms such as Boston Consulting Group, EY, and Goldman Sachs have established their own political risk departments in recent years – a clear signal of the growing importance of this topic. Small and medium-sized enterprises often cannot afford expensive consulting services. The workshop offers a cost-effective alternative: participants learn to independently conduct basic risk scanning and due diligence procedures before making simple business decisions.

VUCA Environment and Significance

Rainer Michaeli agrees that country risk management has gained importance. While the world was more stable and predictable 15 to 20 years ago, companies today operate in a VUCA environment (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity). These volatile framework conditions present a major challenge for many companies.

Invitation to the Conference/Journey

Michaeli thanks Toufik Achoui for the interesting introduction and invites interested parties to find more information on the ICI website. Potential participants can contact ICI at any time with questions; all inquiries will be answered promptly.