# Dragonfly Thinking > AI-native strategic intelligence firm Dragonfly Thinking is an AI-native strategic intelligence firm. We were not a consulting firm that adopted AI; we were built from the ground up around how to do serious strategic analysis with AI agents. We use AI for augmentation over automation: improving the quality of strategic thinking, not just making existing work faster. Who we serve: leaders and strategists making high-stakes decisions under uncertainty — institutional investors (sovereign funds, super funds, asset managers), government strategic offices, and corporate C-suites and professional firms in complex, volatile sectors. ## What we sell We sell strategic intelligence three ways: we produce it for you (commissioned intelligence), we build the capability with you and transfer it (workflows and methodology partnerships), and we train your people to run it (courses, pilots, and sprints). - Commission — we do the work: Commissioned Intelligence Brief (board- and government-grade multi-lens analysis of a named strategic question, delivered in weeks); Intelligence Monitoring Retainer (standing daily or weekly briefings on your strategic domains); Strategic Sprint (a live question run through Dragonfly workflows with your team embedded). - Build — we build it with you, then it's yours: Workflow Build & Transfer (a purpose-built analytical workflow with playbook and handover); Co-Innovation Partnership (a multi-year partnership starting from day-one access to the full methodology, with a perpetual snapshot licence after Year 3; at most four partnerships run at a time). - Learn — we train your people: Courses (AI Foundations, AI Fluency, and AI for Leadership — open enrolment and group delivery); AI-Native Team Sprint (one team, one month, coach-led, fluency measured before and after); Leadership Pilot (8–10 senior leaders with founder-led bookends). Course and sprint fees credit toward a partnership within 12 months. - Dragonfly Investing — the investment vertical, led by Sue Brake: Portfolio Robustness, Independent Direct Asset Assessment, and Belief Navigator, for sovereign wealth funds, pension and superannuation funds, and long-horizon asset owners (https://dragonflythinking.com/investing). ## The methodology - A working agentic system: an orchestrator, 13 specialist agents (actors, drivers, systems dynamics, scenarios, interventions, challenge testing, synthesis, strategic writing, visualisation, and others), a layer of reviewer agents, and 70+ analytical skills encoding expert tradecraft — composed into named workflows. - All of it exists as readable, modifiable text files — transparent, auditable, and extensible by the client's own team under licence. - Model-agnostic and harness-portable: runs on leading local agent environments and frontier models. Local-first; government and regulated clients deploy against models on sovereign infrastructure. Dragonfly hosts no client data. ## Leadership - Anthea Roberts — Founder, Director & CEO. Built Dragonfly's analytical methodology. Ranked the world's leading international law scholar by League of Scholars (2019). Author of Six Faces of Globalization (a Financial Times and Fortune Best Book of 2021). Has taught at ANU, Harvard, Columbia, and LSE. - Miranda Forsyth — Co-Founder; Advisory Board. Interdisciplinary professor at the Australian National University. Leads Dragonfly Learning's executive education approach. - Sue Brake — Chair of the Advisory Board. One of the pioneering practitioners of the Total Portfolio Approach to investing. Former Chief Investment Officer of Australia's A$300 billion Future Fund. Leads Dragonfly Investing. ## Proof points - Winner of Australia's inaugural AI Sprint - Exhibited at the World Government Summit 'Edge of Government', Dubai (2025) - Senior leadership workshop at Harvard Law School - A multi-year methodology partnership with a sovereign government - Pilots across Australian federal government, including the APS AI CoLab — where one pilot participant reported roughly 3× analytical depth and a 50–60% time reduction ## Insights Essays on AI, strategy, and cognition — 30 pieces, newest first. Full text at each link; the RSS feed is at https://dragonflythinking.com/feed.xml. - [Diamond-Complete: The Shape of Work That Compounds with AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/diamond-complete-the-shape-of-work): Anthea Roberts, Sue Brake, 11 June 2026. Anthea Roberts and Sue Brake on why the shape of your expertise — not your job title — predicts whether AI compounds your value or erodes it, and why the 'diamond-complete' professional is the one shape that compounds. - [Who Are You Going to Call?](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/who-are-you-going-to-call): Miranda Forsyth, 26 May 2026. Miranda Forsyth on what AI changes when 'computer says no' no longer means picking up the phone — the quiet maintenance of relationships that happened around small technical questions, and how to keep it now. - [AI, Complex Decision-Making and the Future of the Legal Profession: Introducing a New Harvard Series](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/ai-legal-profession-series): Anthea Roberts, 13 May 2026. Launching a Harvard Law School research project with David Wilkins on how AI is structurally reconfiguring the legal profession — four essays and an interactive topic network now live. - [Learned Agency vs Learned Helplessness](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/learned-agency-vs-learned-helplessness): Anthea Roberts, Miranda Forsyth, 5 May 2026. Why most people default to passivity around computers, and how AI creates the contingency experience needed to build learning agency. A reflection from Anthea Roberts and Miranda Forsyth on co-founding Dragonfly Thinking without a tech background. - [Learning Agency: Two Processes, Not Just One](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/learning-agency): Anthea Roberts, 28 April 2026. Learning agency is what separates those who use AI to cognitively offload from those who use it to learn. Anthea Roberts unpacks how non-technical builders like Zevi Arnovitz and Lazar Jovanovic run two processes simultaneously — production and development — to build real expertise in the AI era. - [The Extended Mind: Why "Did You Do It or Did the AI?" Is the Wrong Question](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/the-extended-mind): Anthea Roberts, 16 April 2026. Why the attribution question about AI-assisted work is the wrong one. Drawing on the extended mind thesis, Anthea Roberts argues that cognition has never been a solo performance — and AI is the latest tool in a long history of thinking with bodies, spaces, and relationships. - [Tools vs Technique: The Capability Gap](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/tools-vs-technique-the-capability-gap): Anthea Roberts, 16 March 2026. The real AI adoption gap isn't about tools — it's about technique. Why human and organisational capability, not technology, determines who captures value from AI. - [0 to 1, 1 to 10, 10 to 100: Three Ways of Working with AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/0-to-1-1-to-10-10-to-100-three-ways-of-working-with-ai): Anthea Roberts, 13 January 2026. Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code, recently described his ["fairly vanilla"... - [Chasing Freedom: Species Mismatch in Room 203](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/chasing-freedom-species-mismatch-in-room-203): Anthea Roberts, 22 July 2025. Third grade. Sitting in rows while failing to learn fractions, I felt my mind rebelling against invisible walls. By eighth grade, my geography teacher found the words I couldn't: "Having you in... - [Strange Attractors: When ADHD Minds Meet AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/strange-attractors-when-adhd-minds-meet-ai): Anthea Roberts, 9 July 2025. Three browser tabs open, each housing a different AI model. A fourth window holds my notes. This is how I think now—in conversation with silicon minds that never tire of my tangential questions,... - [Moving from Scenarios to Strategy: Introducing the “Escher Prompt.”](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/moving-from-scenarios-to-strategy-introducing-the-escher-prompt): Dr Huw McKay, 26 June 2025. For decades, an elite group of large organizations have embraced scenario thinking to enhance traditional forecasting and strategic planning. Leading multinational companies like Shell, Cisco, and... - [The Devil's Advocate: What Happens When Dissent Becomes Digital](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/the-devils-advocate-what-happens-when-dissent-becomes-digital): Anthea Roberts, 24 June 2025. The executive was passionate about transformation. - [AI, Postmodernist Narcissus](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/ai-postmodernist-narcissus): Linda Phompak, 18 June 2025. If you google my name, you’ll likely find a published debate of me arguing passionately against artificial intelligence, framed as friendly, but fiercely ideological. Passionate, sceptical, and... - [The Living Library: LLMs at the Intersection of Individual and Collective Knowledge](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/the-living-library-llms-at-the-intersection-of-individual-and-collective-knowledge): Anthea Roberts, 11 June 2025. Picture yourself walking into a vast library unlike any that has existed before—a library where the books rearrange themselves as you move through the stacks, where volumes open to different pages... - [Riding the 100-Foot Wave: Adaptability in the Age of AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/riding-the-100-foot-wave-adaptability-in-the-age-of-ai): Anthea Roberts, 15 May 2025. "Big wave surfing," my husband said, referencing HBO's 100 Foot Wave. I had just wondered aloud about what my next career act might be after my unexpected pivot into making AI tools. My brother,... - [The Bell Curve Shifts: How AI Personalization Creates Invisible Echo Chambers](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/the-bell-curve-shifts-how-ai-personalization-creates-invisible-echo-chamber): Anthea Roberts, 1 May 2025. In the ever-shifting landscape of our digital ecosystem, I've been developing mental models to help make sense of emergent patterns in AI systems. These aren't polished academic theories but... - [Dragonfly Thinking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/dragonfly-thinking-at-the-world-governments-summit-in-dubai): Dragonfly Thinking, 17 February 2025. Dragonfly Thinking was featured at the Edge of Government exhibition during the World Governments Summit 2025 in Dubai from February 11 to 13. This global event brought together policymakers,... - [A Recipe for Thought:Why Structured Frameworks and Generative AI Are the Future of Thinking](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/a-recipe-for-thought-why-structured-frameworks-and-generative-ai-are-the-future-of-thinking): Anthea Roberts, Nick Lothian, Dimitri Glazkov, a.r. Routh, 11 February 2025. Picture this: a beautifully stocked kitchen—gleaming countertops, the finest ingredients, and state-of-the-art equipment lined up in perfect order. The only thing missing? A recipe. You’re not... - [The Chef and the Overeager Sous-Chef: Learning to Co-Create with LLMs](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/the-chef-and-the-overeager-sous-chef-learning-to-co-create-with-llms): Anthea Roberts, Nick Lothian, 18 November 2024. Picture yourself as a chef with an overeager sous-chef. You ask for a dish with a touch of thyme or a bit more lemon, and they whip it up in seconds—but there's always a twist. The thyme is... - [Am I Cheating? Writing with AI and the Question of Authenticity](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/am-i-cheating-writing-with-ai-and-the-question-of-authenticity): Anthea Roberts, Miranda Forsyth, 5 November 2024. Imagine sitting down to write an essay, your fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to summon words from your mind onto the blank screen. But instead, you prompt an AI to help draft it. Is that... - [Directors, Coaches, and Editors: The Human Role in the Age of AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/directors-coaches-and-editors-the-human-role-in-the-age-of-ai): Anthea Roberts, 22 October 2024. In our culture, we tend to glorify the performer—the actor on stage, the athlete on the field, the writer on the page. But behind every great performance is someone whose name you might never... - [Metacognition’s Law: Thinking About Thinking in the Age of AI](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/metacognitions-law-thinking-about-thinking-in-the-age-of-ai): Anthea Roberts, 14 October 2024. These days, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about how generative AI is reshaping the world of cognitive work. Mike Maples, a well respected venture capitalist, recently captured this [sea... - [Why I Founded a Start-Up (Despite Being a Technophobe)](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/why-i-founded-a-start-up-despite-being-a-technophobe): Anthea Roberts, 8 October 2024. Let me be honest: I was never a “tech person.” My kids can confirm this, having spent years helping me figure out the TV remote. But early last year, I stumbled upon something that captured my... - [Lessons from ‘Dragonfly Thinking’ – an AI co-creation experiment](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/lessons-from-dragonfly-thinking-an-ai-co-creation-experiment): Dragonfly Thinking, 25 September 2024. Despite their massive potential, AI-based improvements to policymaking are often hard to implement. But by embracing AI co-creation, it’s possible to move on from the bickering of optimists and... - [Dragonfly Thinking featured in Qantas Travel Insider](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/dragonfly-thinking-featured-in-qantas-travel-insider): Dragonfly Thinking, 2 August 2024. How This AI Start-up Uses ‘Dragonfly Thinking’ to Help You Make Smarter Decisions - [Dragonfly Thinking wins National AI Sprint](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/dragonfly-thinking-wins-national-ai-sprint): Dragonfly Thinking, 24 June 2024. We are delighted to announce that Dragonfly Thinking won the inaugural AI Sprint for Australia, winning a variety of prizes including $300,000 in R&D funding. - [Tackling Australia’s biggest challenges in the Australia’s AI Sprint program](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/tackling-australias-biggest-challenges-in-the-australias-ai-sprint-program): Dragonfly Thinking, 14 June 2024. Dragonfly Thinking is selected as one of the top 10 companies tackling Australia’s biggest challenges in the [Australia’s AI Sprint... - [Senior Leadership Workshop at Harvard on Dragonfly Thinking](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/senior-leadership-workshop-on-dragonfly-thinking): Dragonfly Thinking, 1 June 2024. Dragonfly Thinking: Institutional Strategies for Balancing Risks, Rewards, and Resiliency in a VUCA World - [Dragonfly Thinking graduates from the CSIRO’s ON Accelerate 8](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/dragonfly-thinking-graduates-from-the-csiros-on-accelerate-8): Dragonfly Thinking, 1 March 2024. CSIRO’s ON Accelerate is a structured accelerator program for research teams from Australian universities to validate and develop high potential innovative ventures. - [Dragonfly Thinking are Innovation Connect Grant Recipients](https://dragonflythinking.com/insights/dragonfly-thinking-are-innovation-connect-grant-recipients): Dragonfly Thinking, 1 February 2024. Through the Innovation Connect program, matched grant funds of up to $30,000 has been awarded to nine Canberra innovators to make their ideas become a reality. All of... ## Links - Website: https://dragonflythinking.com - Fact sheet (canonical): https://dragonflythinking.com/fact-sheet - What is compound vision (methodology explainer): https://dragonflythinking.com/compound-vision - The Method: https://dragonflythinking.com/method - Rate card: https://dragonflythinking.com/rates - Insights feed (RSS): https://dragonflythinking.com/feed.xml - Contact: hello@dragonflythinking.com · https://dragonflythinking.com/contact - Existing platform clients: app.dragonflythinking.com