What is Corporate Intelligence?
Corporate intelligence is the disciplined collection, verification and analysis of information that materially affects a company's decisions: who to trust, where to invest, which counterparty is concealing a conflict, and where hidden assets, liabilities or threats actually sit. Done properly, it is the difference between a decision made on a PowerPoint and a decision made on the ground truth.
Private intelligence — the bespoke, client-funded counterpart to state intelligence — applies the same operational methodology to private interests: shareholders, boards, investors, family offices, law firms and high-net-worth individuals. At AY Strategy we operate this discipline at a level few firms in the world can match, because our senior practitioners were trained inside the institutions that wrote the playbook.
The AY Strategy Methodology: OSINT + HUMINT
Every engagement is built on the same two pillars that drive elite state intelligence: Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Human Intelligence (HUMINT). Neither alone is sufficient. Combined, they produce evidence that holds up in court, in front of a board, and in front of a regulator.
OSINT — The Public Record, Properly Read
- Corporate registries across 180+ jurisdictions, including opaque structures
- Litigation, insolvency, sanctions, PEP and adverse-media databases
- Beneficial ownership reconstruction through nominee and trust layers
- Digital footprint, leaked data and dark-web exposure analysis
- Cross-language source review (English, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, French and more)
HUMINT — Lawful Access to People Who Know
- Discreet source development with former employees, regulators and counterparties
- Structured elicitation interviews conducted by trained case officers
- In-country field work through a vetted global network of operators
- Cultural and linguistic fluency in every major operational theatre
- Strict legal and ethical guardrails — no pretexting against protected categories
Core Use Cases
1. Pre-Transaction Due Diligence
Investors and acquirers need to know who they are actually buying from. We map the real principals behind a target, their litigation and reputational history, undisclosed conflicts of interest, sanctions exposure, and the operational reality behind reported numbers — before capital is committed.
2. Asset Discovery & Recovery
When judgments go unenforced or fraud is suspected, we trace concealed assets across jurisdictions: real estate held through nominees, corporate shells, crypto wallets, yachts, aircraft, art and bank accounts. Our output is admissible, structured evidence that litigation counsel can act on immediately.
3. Litigation Support & Witness Development
We identify witnesses, locate documents, reconstruct chronologies and stress-test opposing narratives. Many of our engagements run in parallel with top-tier law firms in London, New York, Tel Aviv and Geneva.
4. Risk Mitigation & Threat Assessment
For founders, principals and boards under pressure, we conduct integrated risk reviews: hostile campaigns, activist short-sellers, insider threats, physical security exposure, and information operations targeting the principal or the company.
5. Counter-Intelligence & Internal Investigations
Leaks, sabotage, IP theft and procurement fraud are rarely solved by IT alone. We combine technical forensics with HUMINT to identify the human actor and close the vulnerability without a public incident.
Why Elite Intelligence Backgrounds Matter
The discipline of corporate intelligence was, in large part, exported from a small number of state services — Mossad, the IDF intelligence directorate, CIA, MI6 and a handful of allied agencies. Practitioners trained inside those institutions learn tradecraft that simply cannot be replicated by analysts hired off a CV: source handling under pressure, compartmentalised operations, counter-surveillance, and the ethical doctrine that separates intelligence from invasion.
Ariel Yehezkel built AY Strategy around that standard. Every senior operator on our roster carries an equivalent pedigree, and every engagement is partner-led. This is the operational edge clients are paying for — and the reason our work is used by some of the most demanding law firms, family offices and boards in the world.
Confidentiality & Legal Framework
All engagements are conducted under strict written confidentiality agreements and, where appropriate, under attorney-client privilege via instructing counsel. We operate within UK, EU, US and Israeli legal frameworks and decline any matter that cannot be conducted lawfully and ethically. Our reporting is structured to be evidentially robust and admissible in the relevant forum.
Engagement Process
- Confidential intake — a single secure conversation with Ariel Yehezkel or a designated partner.
- Scoping memo — written objectives, jurisdictions, legal constraints and success criteria.
- Operational plan — sequenced OSINT, HUMINT and field components with a fixed budget envelope.
- Execution — partner-led, compartmentalised, with weekly secure reporting.
- Final report — evidentially structured, court-ready where required, with actionable recommendations.
Contact
All inquiries are handled personally and in strict confidence. Reach the office of Ariel Yehezkel at contact@ay-strategy.com.