Research‑led strategy for hard problems.

Advanced Research and Concepts is Brendan Raftery's independent research and strategy practice. It helps product teams make high-stakes decisions with research before they commit, and helps industrial operators find where the hours go and put their data to work.

Two ways I work

For product teams

Research and strategy for high-stakes product decisions, from early concepts to products already in market.

  • Research & Intelligence
  • Strategy & Direction
  • Go-to-Market & Execution
See services for product teams

For industrial operators

Process improvement, AI tools and training that cut the hours lost to reports, rekeying and handoffs.

  • Process Improvement
  • AI Tools & Software
  • Training & Workforce Planning
See services for industrial operators

How I Work

I run a focused, senior-level practice. I lead every engagement myself, so the person you talk to is the person doing the work.

Every engagement starts with research. For product teams, that means interviews with users and buyers, evidence from the market, and a clear read on the decision in front of you. For industrial operators, it means interviews with the people who do the work, a review of your records and data, and time on site.

Product work runs as a project, a fractional role or an embedded engagement, from a four-week research sprint to a multi-month strategy and roadmap effort, including research-led product leadership inside your team's cadence for products already shipping. Operations work starts with a 30-minute call, then a fixed-fee diagnostic and a pilot on one crew, line or dock, measured before and after.

Before any engagement begins, I make sure the fit is right for both sides. I want to understand the problem well enough to have a point of view before we start, and I'll tell you if it falls outside what I do well.

Philosophy

Answers have never been easier to find. That makes questions more important than ever.

We live in a world of information abundance. With the rise of large language models, finding an answer to almost any question has never taken less effort. But the ease of getting answers has outpaced the discipline of knowing which questions to ask. That gap is where strategy most often goes wrong. Most teams ask too few questions and focus on the wrong ones. A product team builds the feature the loudest customer asked for. An operation buys software for a problem that lives in a handoff. Teams rarely ask about the context around the problem: the stakeholders, the constraints, and the forces that shape the opportunity.

Asking better questions means confronting what you know, what you suspect, and what you haven't thought to ask yet. It means going deep and wide at the same time and staying honest about where the evidence runs out. For a product team, that means testing assumptions with users and buyers before they harden into strategy. For an operation, it means seeing how the work actually moves, and what the records say about it, before changing anything.

The ARC Method brings together three disciplines to do that work: human-centered design to understand the people you're solving for, systems thinking to understand the ecosystem they live within, and strategic foresight to test your strategy against a world that keeps changing faster than most plans can accommodate.

Change is accelerating. AI, the speed of information, and unpredictable markets all push it faster. The teams that handle it well are honest about what they don't know before they start planning. Research that once took months now takes days, and I use the time saved to think more deeply than was ever practical before. Teams that do the same will have a real advantage.

Selected Work

I work with a small number of clients at a time.

Through my practice

thrv

Active

As of 2026, 48 Claude skills built and adopted across product, customer success, marketing, and sales at Thought Industries.

Product strategy advisory for thrv, an independent sponsor partnered with Luminate Capital. In 2025, I was product lead on a full product rebuild at AbsenceSoft. In 2026, I embedded with Thought Industries to identify and prioritize adjacent market opportunities.

Before the practice

Takeda

Manufacturing and supply chain management: I managed contract manufacturers for drug product and for packaging and labeling, and worked with distribution centers and contract QC testing labs. I wrote batch records, ran manufacturing investigations and change controls, and worked on the launches of NINLARO and ENTYVIO. I earned a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt there.

Pilot44

Earlier work at Pilot44: research, strategy, and concept development for PepsiCo, Sanofi, Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé, and Whirlpool, including early-stage product research for PowerHeal, a bioelectric bandage from Vomaris Innovations, developed with P&G Ventures.

Convexity Scientific

I conducted original research on behavior change in people with moderate asthma. Convexity Scientific purchased that research to anchor their product and UX strategy. I stayed on as a consultant after the purchase, leading workshops and helping shape key product and experience decisions as the company built out its offering.

About

ARC is my practice. I help product teams make high-stakes decisions with research before they commit, from early research and concept definition through roadmap development and go-to-market strategy. I help industrial operators cut the hours lost to reports, rekeying and handoffs, through process improvement, AI tools and training.

I work with industrial operators such as manufacturers, distribution centers, shipyards and terminals, as well as private equity firms and their portfolio companies, growth-stage startups, large corporations and small businesses. Most of my depth is in healthcare and life sciences, and my career started in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

More about me

Let's Talk

If you're working on something ambitious, email me a short note about what you're building, shipping or running and the help you're looking for.

Email Brendan