White Papers
One question each, argued in depth, with the method and the limits stated. Written for the leader who has to decide, and each comes with an open PDF.
Latest
How answer engines change the way enterprise buyers find suppliers
Where the shortlist now forms, what a supplier controls and what a leader should decide.
Amit Govil · October 22, 2026
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About the white papers
What does a white paper do that a report does not?
A research report explains why a problem keeps happening. A white paper takes a decision that is already in front of a leader and argues how to make it. It states the question, sets out the options and what each one commits you to, and gives a method for choosing that a reader can apply to their own case. Like a report it rests on documents we opened and read. It also ends in a recommendation about how to decide, and says what would change that recommendation.
The two questions on the shelf
Build, buy or agent is a paper on deciding how AI work gets done. It says the route follows the task and not the fashion. It asks how variable the work is, how much a wrong result costs and how quickly someone notices, who must own the outcome, what the task touches and how often it changes, then shows what each route commits you to over time.
Answer engines and enterprise buyers looks at the other side of the table. Part of the shortlist now forms within an answer that lists suppliers with their sources, in a conversation the supplier never sees. The paper sets out what a supplier controls, what it does not, and which first decisions belong to leadership.
A white paper has done its job when a reader can use its criteria in a meeting without us in the room.
How a paper gets used
Taking the build, buy or agent question into a review
A product owner proposes automating a back-office task. The sponsor asks whether it should be built, bought or given to an agent, and the room divides along habit: engineering prefers to build, procurement prefers a product, and someone has read about agents.
- Name the task, not the technology. The group writes down one task, who does it and what it touches.
- Score the task against the paper's properties. How variable is it, what does a wrong result cost, how soon is it caught, who must own it, how often will it change? The answers point toward a route before any vendor is named.
- Write down what the route commits you to. Upkeep, dependence on a supplier, review duties and the day the owner moves on, each with a person beside it.
- Record the decision and what would reopen it. The sponsor signs a short note with the reasons, so the question does not return at the next planning round.
Where it endsThe review closes on a route chosen for stated reasons, with an owner for the commitments it creates. The paper's method has been used on one task, which is how a team learns to use it on the next.
How an argument is checked before it goes out
The question comes first, phrased as a leader would actually face it. The regulations and vendor guidance a paper cites are opened and read for the passage relied on, and the sources section records when. Delivery experience appears as pattern and never as a case. A person checks each claim against its source, and a limits section says what the paper cannot show.
Where to go once you have read one
Each paper has a tool beside it. The build, buy or agent decision tool applies the first paper's questions to a single task, the build-versus-buy business case spreadsheet puts the running costs of each route side by side, and the AI search visibility assessment gives a first read on the second paper's subject.
If the argument describes a choice you are about to make, AI Strategy advisory works it through with the leader who owns the decision. The mechanisms behind both papers are traced further in the research reports, and shorter observations sit in the Field Report.
What do readers ask before choosing a white paper?
Which white paper fits the decision in front of me?
Choose by the decision. The build, buy or agent paper suits a leader deciding how a piece of AI work gets done. The answer engines paper suits a leader asking how enterprise buyers now find suppliers and what to decide first. Each paper states its question at the start.
Will a white paper tell me what to choose?
It tells you how to decide. A paper states the question, sets out the options and what each commits you to, and gives a method you can apply to your own case. It ends in a recommendation about how to decide, and says what would change it.
Can my team use a paper's criteria without you in the room?
Yes, and that is the test of a good paper. A team can name the task, score it against the paper's properties, write down what the chosen route commits them to, and record the decision with what would reopen it. The method has then been used on a real case.
Is there a PDF I can circulate?
Yes. Each white paper comes with an open PDF, and no email address is needed. The page states the method and limits, and the sources section records the date each cited document was read, so a colleague can judge how far to trust the argument.
Which decision is waiting for an argument?
If a white paper describes a choice you are about to make, we can work through it with the person who owns the answer.