Understanding The Evolution of Expert Networks

The traditional expert network model began in the late 1990s, connecting researchers to a pool of industry experts. What initially started as a time-consuming process has since grown tenfold due to rapid innovations in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).

Investment researchers are retiring traditional expert networks and incorporating powerful expert insights into their comprehensive research strategies. As industry applications for expert insights expand beyond its more traditional niches in investment and consulting, companies across a range of industries are leveraging the value of expert insights to refine their services and gain competitive advantages.

AlphaSense, a leading market intelligence platform, has evolved the way researchers access expert insights with an extensive expert transcript library and one-on-one call services. With the power of artificial intelligence and generative technology, users can now access Expert Insights in seconds.

In July 2024, AlphaSense and Tegus joined forces, disrupting the expert network landscape by bringing unparalleled access to even more insights and covering more industries and companies than ever before.

Below, we explore what traditional expert networks are and how industry experts have become more accessible through technological innovations.

Understanding Expert Networks

Expert networks are structured platforms that link clients — typically businesses and investment firms — with subject matter experts who possess specialized knowledge in particular fields for consultations. These experts provide insights, answer specific questions, and offer strategic advice based on their extensive experience and expertise.

Expert networks are essentially matchmaking services that pair clients with experts who possess the specific knowledge they seek. The goal is to provide access to insights not readily available through traditional research methods.

Expert networks are used in a wide range of scenarios but most commonly by investment firms seeking deeper knowledge about potential investments, as well as consulting firms looking to provide specialized expertise to clients.

A typical engagement might involve a financial firm seeking insights into a new market. The firm would submit a detailed request, and the expert network would identify an industry veteran with relevant experience. The expert would then provide a comprehensive overview of the market, potential risks, and opportunities, helping the firm make an informed investment decision.

Additionally, there are several types of expert networks. Traditional expert networks involve direct consultations, where clients engage with experts via phone calls or meetings. On the other hand, digital expert networks utilize online platforms to connect clients with experts through virtual consultations, webinars, and digital content libraries. Some networks also specialize in niche areas, offering highly targeted expertise in specific industries or disciplines.

Related Reading: Top Expert Network Companies to Support Your Business Goals

How do Expert Networks Work?

The process of connecting clients with experts typically involves several steps. First, a client submits a request outlining their specific needs and questions. The expert network then matches the client with suitable experts based on their experience and availability. This matchmaking process is often facilitated by advanced algorithms and databases that streamline the identification of the most relevant experts.

The diagram below explains the typical flow of communication between expert networks and their clients:

Technology also plays a crucial role in the functioning of expert networks. Digital platforms enable efficient scheduling, communication, and documentation of engagements. Clients can easily book consultations, conduct virtual meetings, and access expert profiles and reviews through user-friendly interfaces.

Costs can vary widely depending on the network and the nature of the consultation. Fees may be charged per hour, per consultation, or as part of a subscription model. High-demand experts or specialized knowledge areas might command premium rates.

Subscription-based models are ideal for firms that frequently use expert networks, as they allow businesses to pay for a set number of requests within a specific time period. In contrast, transaction-based models operate on a pay-per-use basis; however, this approach is becoming less common as companies increasingly recognize the need to integrate expert insights more deeply into their business strategies.

Applications of Expert Networks

Expert networks are widely used in the investment and financial sectors. Hedge funds, private equity firms, and asset managers rely on these networks to gain deep insights into industries, companies, and market trends. Expert consultations can provide critical information that influences investment strategies and portfolio management.

In consulting and corporate strategy, expert networks offer valuable perspectives that enhance strategic planning and decision-making. Consultants use these networks to access industry-specific knowledge, ensuring their recommendations are grounded in the latest market developments and best practices.

Smaller enterprises and startups benefit from expert networks by gaining access to high-level expertise that might otherwise be out of reach. These businesses can leverage expert advice to optimize operations, innovate, and scale effectively.

Market research and competitive intelligence are other areas where expert networks shine. Companies can engage experts to conduct in-depth analyses of market conditions, competitor activities, and emerging trends. This intelligence supports strategic positioning and helps businesses stay ahead of the competition.

Accessing Subject Matter Experts

Industry experts typically work directly with companies across a wide range of industries. Therefore, experts typically represent an equally wide range of experience, backgrounds, and areas of expertise. Experts are generally executive-level professionals in their fields who have extensive experience with the research topic, company, or industry at hand.

To join an expert network as a subject matter expert, individuals must demonstrate significant experience and expertise in their field. This involves submitting a detailed profile and undergoing a vetting process. Some networks may also require references or proof of professional achievements.

Experts can come from various backgrounds, including academia, industry, and consulting. They offer expertise in everything from market trends and competitive landscapes to technical details and strategic advice. This access to specialized knowledge helps clients make informed decisions, mitigate risks, and identify opportunities.

Leveraging Expert Calls for Qualitative Research

Expert calls are the most common way firms access expert insights. In a survey conducted by Guidepoint, respondents overwhelmingly indicated that expert calls are their preferred method of research — with more than 75% stating they use calls frequently.

Expert calls are typically about 30-60 minutes long and are conducted by a research analyst with the right background and knowledge to ask the right questions and work with the expert to get the information the client needs. They are typically recorded and transcribed so the end client can access the insights directly whenever they want.

Expert transcript libraries, like AlphaSense, have become a reliable source of expert insights for firms and companies needing access to industry expertise, especially during times of extreme market volatility. AlphaSense offers a centralized, searchable database with hundreds of thousands of transcripts and recordings of expert calls. Users can use customized search terms like expert name, company name, industry, topic, and more to find multiple expert insight calls, all relevant to their current needs. Ultimately, researchers can access call recordings and transcripts on-demand.

Many firms access expert networks for insights about specific projects and scenarios their company is handling, and in those cases, they would want to connect with an expert directly. However, expert call transcript libraries are becoming a hugely valuable resource in cases where firms seek more general insights and want to become more familiar with a particular company or industry over time.

For example, a private equity firm looking for target companies in the clothing retail industry may spend time in an expert call transcript library, reading as many calls as possible to familiarize themselves with trends, important players, and potential opportunities to pursue.

Similarly, a startup looking to enter a new market might use an expert network to connect with a seasoned market analyst. The analyst’s insights could help the startup refine its strategy, avoid common pitfalls, and achieve a successful market entry.

We know that firms seek out expert networks to access knowledge they don’t have internally, but what are the specific ways they leverage those insights? It mainly depends on the industry, but here are some common ways:

• Due Diligence – Incorporating expert insight sources into due diligence processes to gain a better understanding of potential investments, deals, or other opportunities
• Client Services – Obtaining specialized knowledge and expertise that is not present in-house to provide optimal services to clients
• Private Market Research – Working to understand a private market or particular private company better
• Compliance – Navigating the rules and regulations of a highly technical or regulated industry to ensure compliance standards are met

One of the primary benefits of using expert networks is getting access to specialized knowledge and expertise not readily available through traditional research. Businesses can tap into the wisdom of industry veterans, academic scholars, and technical specialists who offer critical insights.

Time and cost efficiency are also significant advantages. Instead of investing substantial resources in internal research or lengthy consultations, companies can quickly obtain the information they need through expert networks. This streamlined approach reduces overhead costs and accelerates decision-making processes.

Additional benefits include flexibility and scalability. Expert networks cater to a wide range of needs, from one-time consultations to ongoing advisory roles. This adaptability makes them suitable for both large corporations and small to medium-sized enterprises.

The Evolution of the Expert Network Industry

The expert network industry has grown significantly since its inception in the early 2000s. Initially, these networks were small and focused primarily on providing insights to hedge funds and private equity firms. As the demand for expert knowledge increased, so did the scope and scale of the networks.

In the image below, you can see how the model has changed over time since the infancy years of the expert network in the 1950s:

Below, we explore the evolution of the expert network over the past few decades in greater detail:

1990s to Early 2000s: Formation and Growth

Before the rise of large expert networks in the late 1990s, one of the most effective ways to gain a competitive edge and identify investment opportunities was by leveraging personal connections, such as former MBA classmates and their contacts. This informal network allowed buy-side analysts, investors, and corporate researchers to tap into industry expertise, gaining insights into a company’s strategy and long-term vision.

At the time, phone books and Rolodexes were invaluable, storing a wealth of contact information. However, maintaining these informal networks required significant effort, as verifying experts’ backgrounds, accomplishments, and qualifications was both time-consuming and limited in scale. Recognizing the inefficiencies of this approach, the expert network industry emerged to streamline the client-to-expert connection, making access to specialized knowledge faster and more efficient.

Initially, expert networks were simple directories of experts. However, they have since evolved into sophisticated platforms that leverage technology to facilitate seamless connections and knowledge exchanges.

Firms like Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) pioneered the industry, primarily serving clients in financial services. These early networks focused on connecting investors with industry experts to provide insights that could influence investment decisions.

Mid-2000s to Early 2010s: Expansion and Diversification

During this period, the industry expanded beyond the financial sector. Companies across various industries recognized the value of expert networks for strategic decision-making. This diversification led to the inclusion of experts from a broader range of fields, including healthcare, technology, and consumer goods.

The industry saw rapid growth and diversification. New firms like AlphaSights, Coleman Research, and Inex One emerged, offering various models of expert access. Some specialized in specific industries (e.g., healthcare, tech) or catered to different client bases (e.g., startups, private equity). AI and machine learning began playing an early role in expert matching, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

However, regulatory scrutiny, particularly around insider trading concerns (e.g., expert networks being implicated in SEC investigations), led firms to implement stricter compliance measures, NDAs, and vetting processes.

2010s to Present: Technological Advancements and Regulation

The past decade has seen significant advancements in technology and several key trends that  have transformed the expert network industry.

Platforms have become more sophisticated, utilizing AI and machine learning to match clients with experts more effectively and enhance the precision of matches. AI also now aids in automating administrative tasks, streamlining the consultation process, and improving overall efficiency to make it easier for clients to find the most relevant experts.

Additionally, virtual consultations have become more prevalent, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it easier for clients to access expert insights from anywhere in the world. This shift has made expert networks more accessible and has expanded their reach globally. Additionally, incorporating digital whiteboards in video conferencing has facilitated more interactive and productive consultation with experts for clients. As expert networks have become more prominent, confidentiality and insider trading concerns have led to even stricter compliance standards. Today, reputable expert networks adhere to rigorous guidelines to ensure the integrity of their services.

The industry is poised for growth, with emerging markets in Asia and Africa offering new opportunities. As businesses in these regions seek to integrate global best practices and local insights, the demand for expert networks is expected to rise.

How AlphaSense Revolutionized the Expert Network Industry

While traditional expert networks may help connect business and investment researchers with industry experts, they are often time-consuming and costly before finally reaching critical insights. Technological innovations may make information more accessible than ever, but they cannot replace the value of high-level insights from human industry experts.

AlphaSense has an extensive universe of content, spanning the four key perspectives of research, as well as industry-leading automation and AI search capabilities. These features will enable investment researchers to better understand market sentiments, investment strategies, and financial forecasts, complementing the expert perspectives they already rely on.

Both the AlphaSense and Tegus platforms come with extensive libraries of high-quality research, as well as data and AI tools that allow users to extract the most value from the insights they find. The combined power of both AlphaSense and Tegus has revolutionized the expert network industry to provide industry-leading expert insights.

Leading AI Technology

Traditional expert networks are often time-consuming and can slow down your research process. When conducting primary investment research, fast time-to-insight is critical to making efficient and informed investment decisions.

With over ten years of investment in AI technology, AlphaSense’s award-winning AI aggregates an entire content universe to provide instant insights at your fingertips and improve your time to decision.

AlphaSense cuts the time spent on research from hours to seconds by streamlining the process of finding and accessing relevant transcripts. This efficiency boost accelerates the research process and allows analysts to focus on more strategic decision-making, thereby enhancing overall productivity.

By leveraging the following AI-driven research tools in the AlphaSense platform, users can quickly traverse our extensive expert transcript library and gain instant insights:

• Smart Summaries – Empowers users to glean expert insights instantly with generative AI (genAI) summaries that capture the gist of any expert call transcript found within the extensive AlphaSense library in seconds.
• Smart Synonyms™ – Helps users to expand keyword and thematic searches to deliver the most relevant expert insights by including all synonyms, excluding irrelevant results, and filtering out the noise.
• Sentiment Analysis – Enables users to identify and quantify levels of emotion around specific topics within expert transcripts by using a boolean operator to search for mentions of a specific topic in a positive, negative, or neutral light.
• Generative Search – Allows users to ask live questions and get real-time answers they can trust with our AI-powered chatbot, purpose-built for market intelligence.
• Generative Grid – Empowers users to apply multiple genAI prompts at scale on numerous documents simultaneously to quickly provide organized answers to research questions all in an easy-to-read table format.
• Enterprise Intelligence – Enables businesses to secure searches, summaries, and follow-up questions across their proprietary internal data and a vast repository of 300M+ premium external documents.

Combining AlphaSense’s powerful AI search technology and user-friendly navigation lets you easily capture insights from thousands of on-demand transcripts and find the information you need faster, so you never waste time or money on irrelevant sources.

Expert Insights

Dive into our extensive library of over 185,000 transcripts with transcribed audio to access proprietary insights from former executives, customers, competitors, and channel participants across a range of industries. Leverage on-demand access to our premium insights on thousands of public and private companies to create strategies that lead to fresh insights on new products, market sizes, and sector occurrences.

Additionally, our Expert Call Services offering allows you to quickly connect with experts for customized interviews to fill in any research gaps in your investment strategies. Gain access to more than one million pre-qualified expert profiles spanning all industries across the globe with seasoned subject matter experts—such as thought leaders, former executives, customers, partners, and competitors.

Tegus

Tegus, a subsidiary of AlphaSense, has an extensive and fast-growing library of high-quality expert research, which includes coverage of 35,000+ public and private companies across TMT, consumer goods, energy, and life sciences sectors. Additionally, Tegus’ financial data offering, which includes financials, KPIs, and fully drivable models on more than 4,000 public companies, as well as its BamSEC self-serve solution to search and access securities filings, adds new and unique offerings to AlphaSense’s extensive product suite and datasets.

Gain instant access to over 4,000 global fundamental models and over 60 industry dashboards, all hand-built and sourced by sector-focused analysts. Unlike building your own models and comp sheets, using Tegus’s off-the-shelf models like Canalyst, dashboards, and data reduces your time spent on undifferentiated work, allowing you to compete on your ability to analyze the data, not aggregate it.

Transform how you work with public company data to simplify your quantitative investment research process. By streamlining access to SEC filings, earnings and event transcripts, financial documents, and more, BamSEC enables analysts to focus on what matters, save time, and do better work.

Uplevel Your Primary Investment Research with AlphaSense

Expert networks play a crucial role in providing businesses with access to specialized knowledge and insights. Leveraging the power of expert networks is a strategic imperative for businesses and investment professionals as market research continues to evolve.

Discover how AlphaSense combines the power of AI with granular insights from industry experts in our white paper, The Future of Primary Investment Research.

Ready to evolve your primary research with AlphaSense? Start your free trial today.