AI can process data. RI moves strategy forward.
Four months and thirty briefs into Lucky Start, one lesson stands out: there is no time for delay and no tolerance for shallow thinking. Strategy often arrives when the deadline is close, yet quality and precision remain non-negotiable. Teams need work they can act on straight away, with the confidence it will hold under future scrutiny from the board, investors, clients or the media.
AI is increasingly part of this picture. It can surface research, summarise documents and produce first drafts in seconds. What it cannot do is provide true direction. Speed and volume still need judgement to become strategy. The gap is turning information into decisions people can trust and put into play immediately. That gap is exactly why I built The RI System™.
RI stands for Rapid Instinct. The notion of this - my intuitive, human answer to AI - was part of Lucky Start’s foundation. The RI System™, however, is new, built entirely in response to client demand and now fundamental to my practice. It is a modular approach that combines twenty-five years of strategic experience with market awareness and evidence-led instinct. It is designed to deliver strategies that are fast, thorough and credible, and built for the realities of today’s market.
The modules are shaped by real work. At times it is pinpointing a single change in a brief that unlocks everything else. At others it is reframing a creative route so it speaks the language of the audience. Sometimes it is finding the opportunity hidden in behaviours that already drive growth. Whatever the route, the aim is to keep momentum high without losing the depth that makes decisions hold.
How it works
The RI System™ adapts to the demands of each project, drawing on the stages that will move it from challenge to action:
Intake and orientation to create a shared understanding of the challenge, goals and constraints.
Cultural and market context to identify shifts and timing cues worth acting on.
Audience insight to uncover the drivers behind decisions.
Strategic framing to set the guiding policy and define trade-offs.
Creative direction and naming to develop culturally fluent, commercially viable names and stories.
Embedding and activation to equip teams to deliver and sustain the work.
What it delivers
Because it flexes to the challenge, The RI System™ can produce:
Positioning and messaging foundations in days, through targeted sprints.
Brand stories that secure investment and define a clear growth path.
Names that are original, culturally safe and launch-ready.
Cultural moment maps that identify the right time to act.
Brand strategies that withstand scrutiny and adapt in live use.
AI gives you information. RI turns that information into strategy that is fast, thorough and ready to use.
It is built for the pace and pressures of the market today, and it is how I move strategy forward.
