When I talk to other business leaders, it's clear: We are all trying to make informed decisions in what has become an entangled and unpredictable world.
That is where I believe geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) can help. At its most basic, GEOINT is about linking data to location. It helps us answer simple yet powerful questions like: Where are my customers? Where are threats? Where should we invest next? The answers can mean the difference between success and obsolescence.
As a leader in this space, providing AI and location intelligence to help leaders make decisions, I've seen the ways GEOINT can impact every corner of daily life, from the packages on your doorstep to the hospitals in your community to the schools our kids attend.
By learning how innovators within government organizations and various industries utilize geospatial intelligence to help navigate uncertainty, I believe business leaders can gain a competitive edge.
Collaboration Matters Most
Governments around the globe are setting the stage. Directives like the United Nations framework, the UN-GGIM IGIF, are helping nations share and harmonize geospatial information. And when governments make it happen, businesses profit too.
The national digital maps and planning tools from countries like the U.S., Europe, Singapore, UAE and Saudi Arabia, don't just help policymakers, but give businesses the information to alleviate community well-being, project delays and emergency planning. They can also help access emerging markets and services where they are needed most.
But beyond government, the best results happen when governments, industry and academia all work together as a geospatial thematic network. On the global stage, along with UN-GGIM, platforms like NSGIC, GeoGov and the World Geospatial Forum show how collaboration can help drive new initiatives and knowledge-sharing across borders.
Take port authorities, for example. Around the world, they’re using GEOINT to track emissions as a part of environmental monitoring. On the surface, that’s about compliance. But for the businesses depending on those ports’ logistics, shipping and even retail—it means greater transparency, efficiency and trust.
That’s the pattern we’re seeing everywhere: What begins as a government requirement soon becomes an industry standard. Early movers are the ones who benefit.
A Simple Road Map For Leaders
I’ve found it useful to think of GEOINT adoption as a journey. You want to first start with awareness: "We know the data exists, but it’s scattered." Then, through integration, start connecting the dots.
The third step is intelligence, where you begin to predict and optimize in real time. The last step is transformation, weaving tools like GEOINT into your strategy, ESG and growth.
This maturity path can help any executive benchmark where they are today and where they need to go.
Ways GEOINT Can Create Real Business Value
The last step in the journey is where it gets serious. GEOINT is already positively impacting businesses and communities in significant ways. In logistics and supply chains, it helps get the right product to the right customer, at the right time, with less waste.
For example, with insurance and risk management, it can help you become more aware of where the real risks lie, from flood-prone areas to fire zones, and thus better insure your customers.
GEOINT within retail and financial services can help customize customer engagement and guide investment decisions. Retailers use location data to target promotions locally, while banks map population and economic trends to plan new branches or digital services—directly driving customer growth and revenue.
Beyond that, it has applications across various industries, including real estate, healthcare, education, public safety and sustainability. For example, in public health, the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 dashboard became one of the most reliable ways to track the disease, guiding governments, hospitals and companies throughout the pandemic. When it comes to disaster response, California firefighters are using predictive geospatial models to track fire spread and direct evacuations.
We can also see how it is helping in autonomous mobility, with Waymo's California self-driving cars using high-definition maps and real-time location data to navigate safely through urban roads.
These use cases prove how advanced technology combined with vision, collaboration and execution allows geospatial intelligence to drive real change. Overall, it's about tracking demographic growth and mapping areas to target services or open new branches, clinics, schools or even housing.
Technology Is Moving Fast, But People Make It Work
Yes, the tech is exciting. Lidar, satellites, digital twins, AI: It sounds futuristic. But here’s the truth: Without leaders willing to invest, partners willing to collaborate and people trained to use it, even the best technology can sit unused.
Because geospatial intelligence is no longer the sole purview of national security organizations. It's entering the boardroom. And for leaders, three things are most critical:
1. Treat location data as foundational infrastructure. Treat it like finance, IT or any other area that makes you resilient.
2. Build alliances. Government, startups, academia—partnership constrains risk and maximizes value.
3. Link GEOINT to purpose. Use it to expand your business and make the communities you serve more resilient.
Because in the end, GEOINT isn't about maps. It's about the individuals we serve, the workers we manage and the communities we want to see thrive.
The future won't wait. Leaders who take control of geospatial intelligence today can stay ahead and help build a more equitable and sustainable future.