If you were building a social intelligence function from scratch today, what would you do differently?

Most social intelligence functions weren't designed from a blank sheet of paper. They evolved, a monitoring need became a listening programme. A platform gained users, new stakeholders arrived, new data sources were added, and the remit expanded. But the environment those functions now operate in looks very different. Social is only one part of a much larger evidence landscape, AI is changing how intelligence is produced and accessed, and teams are increasingly being asked to connect their work to decisions beyond communications and marketing.

So we asked practitioners a deliberately hypothetical question: If you were building a social intelligence function from scratch today, what would you do differently?

The answers are interesting because building the technology capability isn't necessarily where they would begin.

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BRIAN FRIED
Manager of Social Community and Engagement, Lowe’s Home Improvement

“I’d prioritise internal buy-in and education.”

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I’d prioritise internal buy-in and education. Before heavily investing in tools and technology, make sure the business understands what social intelligence can do, how teams can use it, and where it can inform decisions. Building that foundation early creates shared ownership, makes future investment conversations easier, and ensures the business is maximising the program’s value early.

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MORGAN JAMES
Sr. Director, Intelligence & Insights, Corporate Communications, Comcast

“Social media is one source, not the source.”

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In my experience, the goal has always been understanding holistic perception and audience motivation, then structuring that unstructured data into actionable KPIs. That's narrative intelligence. Social media is one source, not the source.

I'd build the flexibility to integrate social, news, forums, customer conversations, surveys, and AI answer engine prompts/responses, then ladder those insights directly to business outcomes, answering the questions leaders actually need answered.

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NATÁLIA LEÃO
Global Digital & Social Intelligence Product Owner, Nestlé

“Make social intelligence part of how decisions get made.”

Senior buy-in, first. Social Intelligence needs to become part of the standard, the core ways of working, even the company's key training paths. That's how everyone comes to understand it's not a nice-to-have, but a key part of how decisions get made. Then productise the capability for different audiences and speak each team's language - that's how it actually gets used, not just accessed

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