Principal, Competitive Futures · Strategic intelligence analyst · Stowe, Vermont

Eric Garland

Eric Garland, strategic intelligence analyst and principal of Competitive Futures

Eric Garland is an American strategic intelligence analyst, author, and keynote speaker. He founded Competitive Futures in 2002 and has practiced strategic intelligence and foresight since 1997, advising Fortune-scale corporations and national governments on competitive strategy, geopolitical risk, and long-horizon scenario planning. He is a Fellow of the Council of Competitive Intelligence. In May 2022 the Russian Federation sanctioned him by name for his open-source analysis of Russian intelligence operations against the United States.

Practice

Garland’s work applies the open-source intelligence tradecraft and classical foresight methods that predate the digital age to decisions that cannot be reversed cheaply: market entry, capital allocation, exposure to state action, succession. His engagements are fixed-scope and written to be defensible under scrutiny. The deliverable is the analysis itself, sourced independently, with the evidence tiered honestly and the conditions under which the conclusion would be wrong stated in the document.

He trained in strategic foresight under Joseph F. Coates, the futurist who advised the Pentagon and the United States Congress, drafting Coates’s work for years from 1999 onward. The analytical lens he now publishes under the name Systemics treats courts, prosecutors, and sanctions bodies as the primary instruments of geopolitical competition, with military assets in a supporting role.

The record

  • 1995 — Begins his career in Paris doing commercial research for America’s oldest Chamber of Commerce.
  • 1997 — Begins practicing strategic intelligence and foresight.
  • 1999 — Begins training under futurist Joseph F. Coates.
  • 2002 — Founds Competitive Futures.
  • 2006 — Begins training senior executives in competitive intelligence and strategic foresight.
  • 2007 — Publishes Future, Inc.: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What’s Next (AMACOM).
  • 2011 — Publishes How to Predict the Future…and WIN! (Wallingford).
  • April 2012 — Publishes “Peak Intel: How So-Called Strategic Intelligence Actually Makes Us Dumber” in The Atlantic. Remains active in the intelligence field.
  • 11 December 2016 — Publishes a 127-post open-source analysis concluding that Russian intelligence services were running an operation against the American electorate. The U.S. Intelligence Community published its unclassified assessment reaching the same conclusion on 6 January 2017. The New York Times later named the thread among the 25 most important tweets in the platform’s history.
  • 2017 — Refocuses the firm to include counterintelligence and geopolitical analysis.
  • 2018 — Made a Fellow of the Council of Competitive Intelligence.
  • 21 May 2022 — The Russian Federation sanctions Garland by name, on a list that also includes the President of the United States, the Attorney General, and three directors of the Central Intelligence Agency.
  • March 2026 — Launches Game Theory Today, a video channel on strategic intelligence and geopolitics, on TikTok and YouTube.

Books

  • Future, Inc.: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What’s Next. New York: AMACOM, 2007.
  • How to Predict the Future…and WIN! Wallingford, 2011.

Speaking and executive education

Garland has delivered keynotes and executive education on four continents, including to the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit, the National Council of Monaco, and the Government of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Current keynotes:

  • The Chaos Advantage — how leaders win in uncertain times.
  • The Future of Geopolitics — what business and government will actually look like in the decade ahead.
  • Custom strategic intelligence briefing — built to the client’s own industry and situation.

He also teaches an advanced strategic analysis course for executives and analysts under the Competitive Futures brand. Speaking and training inquiries go through the contact page.

Clients and media

Client engagements have included IBM, General Motors, Siemens, 3M, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Cummins, Toshiba, and the national governments of France and Monaco. He has been quoted or profiled by the BBC, Politico, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times, and appeared on Al Jazeera’s The Stream.

Education and languages

Garland holds a B.S. in International Business from the University of Vermont and an M.A. in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He is natively bilingual in English and French, and conversational in Italian and Spanish. A multi-generational Vermonter, he lives and works in Stowe.

Current work

Quick facts

  • Role: Principal, Competitive Futures (founded 2002)
  • Discipline: Strategic intelligence and foresight, practiced since 1997
  • Recognition: Fellow, Council of Competitive Intelligence; sanctioned by the Russian Federation, May 2022
  • Books: Future, Inc. (2007); How to Predict the Future…and WIN! (2011)
  • Education: University of Vermont (B.S.); George Washington University, Elliott School (M.A.)
  • Languages: English, French; Italian and Spanish
  • Based in: Stowe, Vermont, United States

Request a consultation or a speaking date.