In this article
1. Choose the platform around the decision
Start with the work you need to do. Reviewing reports, researching a market and testing a budget require different capabilities. The following platforms illustrate what is available and where each may be useful.
Strategy and market entry: AlphaSense
AlphaSense combines AI search and analysis with company filings, broker research, news and expert interview transcripts. Depending on your subscription, it provides access to business information that may be unavailable through a general web search.
Before approving an expansion, you could use it to investigate whether competitors and industry experts report the demand that management expects. Ask for evidence that supports and challenges the growth forecast, with links to the original sources.
Annual reports and acquisition due diligence: Hebbia
Hebbia supports financial research and due diligence involving large collections of documents. Consider it when your team needs to examine reports and transaction material systematically.
For example, ask your team to compare revenue definitions, debt obligations and customer concentration across potential acquisition targets. Require supporting passages and explanations of any differences in reporting. Figures with similar labels may have different definitions, making a direct comparison misleading.
Competitive positioning: Similarweb
Similarweb provides AI-supported intelligence about digital activity, including website audiences and traffic channels. It can help you investigate competitors’ online performance and assess questions about market entry or marketing expenditure.
For example, examine whether competitors are attracting more visitors and which channels account for the change. This can identify trends worth investigating, but increased website traffic does not necessarily mean increased sales or profits.
Finding internal information: Glean
Glean helps staff find information across an organisation’s connected documents, messages and project systems in one search. Each person can only access information they already have permission to view.
Before committing further resources to a delayed initiative, an executive could use it to locate previous decisions, progress updates and discussions about unresolved problems. Its usefulness depends on which systems are connected and how well the organisation has documented its work.
Budgets and capital allocation: Workday Adaptive Planning
Workday Adaptive Planning supports financial modelling and AI-assisted scenario analysis using an organisation’s planning model.
For example, the finance team could examine how a six-month delay in a product launch would affect revenue, cash and staffing costs. The value is in showing how one change affects several parts of the plan. The conclusions still depend on the assumptions and relationships built into the model.
Board papers and executive communication: Claude
Claude supports document review and drafting. It can help compare versions of a paper, clarify a recommendation and identify questions for the author to address.
Before asking it to improve the writing, ask it to review the argument: Is the decision clear? What evidence supports the recommendation? Which alternatives were considered? What information is missing? Resolve those issues before polishing the text.
Some of these tools can support an individual task; others require an organisational subscription, connected systems and implementation work. Start with a recurring need and test whether the platform improves the information available to you enough to justify the cost and effort.
2. Give the tool a clear brief
Treat the prompt as a brief to an analyst. Explain the question, why it matters, which sources to use and what you want back. Specify the reporting period, relevant market and any other limits. Ask the tool to identify missing information rather than fill gaps with assumptions.
Using these two annual reports, prepare a comparison for the board of changes in debt, repayment dates and borrowing conditions. Cite the page supporting each finding. Explain any changes in definitions that affect the comparison, and list questions the finance team needs to resolve.
For a substantial task, begin by asking the tool to outline its approach. Check that it understands the question before requesting the full analysis. If the answer is too broad, refine the brief rather than repeatedly asking for “more detail”.
3. Check the evidence behind the answer
Ask for references alongside factual claims, then open the original material. Check that the source supports the claim, that dates and figures are correct and that the summary retains qualifications that could affect your decision.
Pay particular attention to the difference between a reported fact, someone’s opinion and a forecast. A company’s expectation of stronger demand is not evidence that sales have already increased. Likewise, several reports quoting the same industry estimate do not provide additional evidence for it.
For numerical comparisons, check definitions, units, currencies and reporting periods. These details can change the conclusion even when the figures have been copied correctly.
4. Test the tool on a familiar task
Before adopting a platform, give it a small task your team has already completed. Identify the findings it should capture and the errors that would matter—for example, missing a debt repayment date or confusing revenue growth with profit growth.
Compare its work with the checked analysis. Note what it missed, which claims lacked support and how long corrections took. Assess the total time needed to produce usable work, including review.
Keep the example for future checks. It can help you assess a new platform or determine whether an update has improved performance on work that matters to your team.
5. Make review part of the process
Assign responsibility for checking figures, resolving conflicting evidence and approving the final conclusions. Keep the brief, source references and significant corrections so another person can follow the analysis. Before uploading internal documents, confirm that the platform and its settings meet your organisation’s information policies.
AI tools can save time and make complex information easier to work with, but useful results depend on clear instructions and careful checking. As platforms evolve, focus on whether a tool suits your task, provides information you can verify and improves the quality of your work.
How Vercentra can help
Vercentra helps leaders and teams use AI effectively in research, analysis and reporting. Our support can be tailored to your organisation’s priorities, experience and the work you need to do.
- Practical training: Learn how to choose AI tools, write effective prompts and check their answers, using examples relevant to your work.
- Board and executive briefings: Understand what AI platforms can offer, where they fall short and what questions to ask when reviewing AI-assisted work.
- Tool evaluation workshops: Compare shortlisted platforms on the same task to assess accuracy, usefulness and the effort required to check and correct their work.
- Research process reviews: Identify where AI could improve existing processes and establish responsibilities for checking sources, figures and conclusions.
- Follow-up clinics: Bring examples from your own work, discuss difficulties and refine your approach as tools and requirements change.
Contact Vercentra to discuss a workshop, briefing or tailored support for your team.