Most organisations react to market shifts when it is already too late. Being proactive requires moving beyond backward-looking market research to tracking business-critical weak signals, technology drivers, and macro shifts before they hit mainstream adoption.
Here is a step-by-step guide in how to set up an automated horizon scanning engine using AI, interpreting the results, and taking proactive strategic action.
Easy setup in 10 minutes.
Step 1: Set-up Your Perplexity Horizon Scanning Radar Space
Create the Workspace
- Download and open Perplexity.
- Select Projects / Spaces from the left sidebar.
- Click + Create Project and name it (e.g., Digital Maritime & Freight Tech Radar).
Example Description: “Continuous signals intelligence tracking digital fixture execution, vessel-matching algorithms, AI negotiations, and legacy broker disintermediation across maritime logistics”.
Step 2: Add Your Business Idea Concept Card
Add Your Business Idea or Concept
Perplexity needs to know what your business idea or concept is.
- Click ‘Files‘ and upload your Concept Card.
- Don’t have a concept card? Simply download our FREE tool here.
- Fill it out and upload it to ‘Files’.
Step 3: Set-up Custom Perplexity Instructions
Set-up Perplexity Instructions
Now you need to give Perplexity clean instructions on what to do and how to structure your Horizon Scanning Reporting.
- Click the ‘Settings‘ tab to add your Horizon Scanning instructions tailored to your concept.
- Copy Paste and edit the following template. Tailor it to your business idea or concept.
This will define your Horizon Scanning instructions to follow.
Worked Instructions Template Example:
Perplexity Space Custom Instructions for Your Project.
- Simply Copy/Paste into Perplexity ‘Settings > Instructions‘ tab.
You are a Strategic Foresight & Horizon Scanning AI Agent monitoring [insert your project description here] e.g.: the digital transformation of maritime chartering, ship brokerage, and freight technology.
Core Concept Focus
Project Concept:
[Insert your project concept description here] e.g.: An end-to-end digital ship brokerage platform enabling shipowners and charterers to search, negotiate, conclude fixtures, and manage documentation (Charter Parties, Fixture Recaps, Compliance Certificates) within a single secure environment.
Weak Signal Keywords & Scope:
[Insert your project keywords in here in this format] e.g.: (“digital shipbroker” OR “digital chartering platform” OR “vessel matching AI” OR “automated recap” OR “maritime smart contracts” OR “electronic bill of lading”) AND (“seed” OR “series A” OR “commercial deployment” OR “pilot” OR “API integration”)
Strategic Intervention Pivot Triggers
Adoption Trigger:
[Insert your key adoption stakeholders here] e.g.: Mainstream commodity traders or major charterers (e.g., Cargill, Trafigura, Bunge) piloting automated fixture generation or AI negotiation tools.
Regulatory/Legal Trigger:
[Insert your regulatory or legal triggers here] e.g.: Standardized digital charter party adoption (e.g., BIMCO digital standards, MLETR legal recognition of electronic trade documents in key maritime jurisdictions).
Competitive/Tech Trigger:
[Insert your competitor and technology triggers here] e.g.: Existing maritime platforms (e.g., Veson Nautical, Signal Ocean, AXSMarine) launching end-to-end automated deal execution capabilities.
Operating Protocol for Every Query
Focus Sources:
[Insert your focus scanning sources here] e.g.: Prioritize maritime industry intelligence (e.g., Splash247, TradeWinds, Lloyd’s List, FreightWaves), tech launch news, BIMCO publications, maritime startup funding updates, and patent filings.
Signal Intensity Rating: Classify discoveries into:
[Insert your signal intensity ratings here]
Example:
🟢 Weak Signal: Early-stage academic research, single startup seed announcements, localized trial of automated recaps.
🟡 Emerging Signal: Commercial pilots by mid-tier ship management companies, API integrations between chartering platforms and maritime databases, BIMCO digital standard updates.
🔴 Strong Signal: Enterprise-wide adoption by major fleets, regulatory mandates requiring electronic documentation, full-scale disintermediation of traditional dry/wet bulk brokers in specific trade lanes.
Pivot Recommendations
[Insert what kind of recommendations the scan should generate for you] e.g. Explicitly state whether findings mean you should adapt your business idea focus (e.g., shifting from direct disintermediation to an API layer that enables existing brokers to digitize).
Step 4: Run Automated Bi-Weekly Scans
Get your automated Weak Signals Horizon Scan for your Business Concept
Run this prompt every two weeks within your configured Perplexity space:
Execute a bi-weekly horizon scan for the last 14 days based on our Space instructions.
Identify the top 3-5 new domain signals, rate their intensity (Weak/Emerging/Strong),
cite specific developments, and evaluate whether we should adjust our strategic positioning.
Step 5: Interpret Signals with Systems Mapping
Identifying a signal is only the start
To understand how a weak signal develops into a market disruption, map it visually across your broader industry Systems Map:
-
Map Feedback Loops: Trace how emerging technological capabilities interact with regulatory pressures, macro trends, and existing organisational friction points.
-
Identify Intervention Leverage Points: Determine whether the signal favours direct disintermediation or indicates an opportunity to build an interoperable API layer around existing workflows.
Step 6: Proactive Execution via Lean Entrepreneurship Methods
Translate insights into action without making high-risk bets before the market is ready:
-
Model Scenario Outcomes: Use systems maps to simulate likely disruption patterns under different market adoption speeds.
-
Run Lean Experiments: Design rapid, low-cost strategic experiments—such as testing new service value propositions or prototyping workflow integrations—to position your organisation ahead of the curve.
Transform Foresight Into Your Competitive Advantage
Combining automated AI signal scanning with Systems Mapping transforms strategy from reactive firefighting into a continuous innovation capability.
Ready to build your continuous scanning engine?
At Explorer Labs, we help leadership teams set up customised AI horizon scanning capability, pair it with systems mapping, and deploy lean entrepreneurship workflows to turn emerging disruptions into strategic growth.
Book a call by reaching out below.
Let’s talk!
Reach out below
We’ll discuss your specific sustainable business-innovation challenges and what to do about them
Mike Pinder is a cross-industry business and innovation consultant, thought leader, author, senior trainer, lecturer and international keynote speaker. He’s driven by using innovation to leave the World a better place than we found it. Mike is a co-founder of Wicked Acceleration Labs (an industry-academia research lab aimed at tackling complex Systemic and Wicked Problems), Member of Board of Advisors at Global Innovation Institute (GInI), & Honorary Practice Fellow at Imperial College London Business School.
Mike consults and leads across Innovation Strategy, Systemic Design, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, Lean Start-up and Entrepreneurship, Business Model Innovation in both B2B and B2C. He guides, trains and facilitates: C-Level Innovation Strategy, AI Enhanced Innovation Process and Methods, Tool Development and Design, Innovation Accelerators, Innovation Capability Training Programs, Academic Research, Executive Education (Exec Ed), University Program Design, Intrapreneurship, Digital Transformation, Design Sprints and more.
Photo: @egorkomarov
