The Evolving Profession of Competitive Intelligence -- Evidence from Online Job Posts

Over the past 40 years, the competitive intelligence (CI) field has evolved along with technology and market dynamics. Revisiting Dr. Craig Fleisher’s (2008) analysis of CI's legitimacy, this study explores the current and future state of the profession. Analyzing data from a comprehensive job postings dataset, the research uncovers significant growth in CI roles, with job postings nearly doubling from 2010 to 2020. Key insights reveal increased demand for data science and machine learning skills and highlight industries like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and tech as leading employers. Contrary to perceptions of a shrinking field, our findings show a steady increase in CI job opportunities and provide a detailed profile of ideal CI candidates as well as a landscape of the CI job market.