Method
How we work
A recommendation is only as good as the weakest figure in it, so every piece of work we produce goes through the same four steps: gather, model, challenge and recommend. AI does the part a machine does faster, which is most of the reading and all of the arithmetic. A person makes every judgement the conclusion rests on, and signs it.
Four steps, and who does what in each
Each step splits what AI does from what a human always does.
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01
Gather
We start from primary documents: FCC orders and licence data, SEC filings, auction results and standards contributions. Trade press goes in marked as reported, and it is never upgraded to fact because two outlets repeated it.
AI does
Fetches, parses and cross-indexes at a scale a person cannot. Flags where two sources disagree.
A human always
Chooses the sources, and checks every figure against the original document before it is used.
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02
Model
We show the arithmetic, in one unit, with its basis stated, so that a reader can redo it. A per-market figure is never averaged into a national one without saying so, because that is how most spectrum numbers go wrong.
AI does
Builds and runs the model, and tests it against edge cases.
A human always
Sets the assumptions, and owns the number that goes in front of your board.
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03
Challenge
We attack every conclusion before you see it, and we write the counter-case down rather than implying it. If we cannot state the strongest argument against our own recommendation, we do not yet understand it.
AI does
Red-teams the argument and hunts for the contradicting source.
A human always
Decides what survives, and signs their name to it.
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04
Recommend
You get one recommendation, its counter-case, and what would have to be true to change it, with the dated indicators that will show which way things are moving, so you can follow them without us.
AI does
Nothing at this step.
A human always
Writes it.
Every claim carries its class
Each figure and claim is marked with one of four classes, so a reader can see what kind of evidence stands behind it before deciding how much weight to put on it.
Filed
A company’s own filing or a regulator’s order.
Calculated
Our arithmetic on filed figures.
Reported
Trade press, attributed and unverified.
Judgement
Our reading of the evidence.
The correction promise If we get a figure wrong, we correct it in the piece that carried it.
What a person decides
AI lets a small team work from the whole public record rather than a sample of it. The judgement is ours, and so is the signature.
- Choosing which sources count
- Setting the assumptions in a model you will act on
- Deciding what the evidence means
- Signing a recommendation
Start with a diagnosis
Tell us what you are trying to decide. We reply in writing within two working days, with how we would approach it, what it would take and what it would cost.