Can We Forecast CTI’s Future? Mapping with SATs

Can We Forecast Our Own Fate? Mapping the Future of the CTI Industry with SATs 🎙️ Josh Darby MacLellan, Staff Threat Intelligence Advisor, Feedly 📍 Presented at SANS CTI Summit 2026 CTI teams frequently forecast threats, but what if we forecast the future of CTI itself? Disruption from technology and geopolitics are increasing, CTI is not immune. Foresight SATs (Structured Analytic Techniques) provide insights into whether the CTI industry is heading for a boom, bust, or something completely different. More importantly, forecasting enables CTI analysts to prepare for our possible futures. In this session, I will provide a step-by-step walkthrough of how I used Foresight Technique SATs (including Key Drivers Generation, Key Uncertainties Finder, Multiple Scenarios Generation and others) to identify what is shaping the CTI industry, map possible futures, and assess which future is most likely emerging based on current indicators. So what if we can successfully forecast? The talk will then focus on the practical steps we can take as individual CTI analysts and as CTI teams to prepare for our industry’s future. This includes training pathways, skills development, career strategy, and other risk mitigations to future-proof ourselves on an individual and team-level. What value will attendees gain? Knowledge and guidance on multiple Foresight SATs A walkthrough of how forecasting can be used to answer a difficult question (what does the future of the CTI industry look like?) Tips on how we can best prepare for future disruptions in the CTI industry Recommendations on how we can strategize to future-proof our careers