The new foresight toolkit: future-proofing modern strategy work

Strategic planning has always been challenging. But today, the pace and complexity of change make it tougher than ever. Annual planning cycles that rely on past data feel increasingly out of sync with reality. To stay competitive, we need to do more than react: we need to anticipate, sense shifts as they happen, and adapt together when the change happens.

That’s where foresight comes in. And just like the world around us, the way we do foresight must also evolve. It’s not only about what we analyze, but how we work with it.

Why the old toolkit feels too slow

When I started in this field, I leaned heavily on the “classics”: scanning articles manually, interviewing experts, running carefully structured workshops.

Those methods gave us deep insights – and they still do! But in a world where signals emerge daily and disruptions unfold in weeks, they simply might not be enough anymore. They risk being too slow or too siloed when done in a traditional way.

Too often, insights stay locked in strategy decks or innovation teams, never making it into product roadmaps or investment decisions. That’s a missed opportunity.

Foresight should be present in the flow of work, shaping conversations in strategy, innovation, and even design.

What a modern foresight toolkit looks like

For me, a future-ready foresight practice is not about replacing people with technology. It’s about giving people better ways to see, share, experience and make sense of change together.

That might mean:

• AI-supported scanning that takes care of the heavy lifting, leaving us time for sense-making.
• Living trend radars that evolve with new signals, not static reports updated once a year.
• Living scenarios that are revisited often, not just once in a strategy cycle.
• Shared platforms where different teams can co-create insights instead of working in silos.
• Feedback loops that connect foresight directly into real decisions.

Making foresight part of everyday work

Upgrading the toolkit isn’t just about tools. It’s about culture.

Leaders need to value futures thinking as part of strategy, and teams need the encouragement to explore uncertainty, challenge assumptions, and share weak signals.

That requires building rhythms where foresight is a natural part of conversations, not an occasional exercise on the side.

In my experience, when foresight is embedded like this, organizations stop just reacting to change. They start shaping opportunities together.

Where FIBRES fits in

At FIBRES, our goal has always been to make this shift easier. We’ve built a platform to support continuous, collaborative foresight: automating scanning, co-creating trend radars, and keeping insights connected to strategy.

Just as importantly, FIBRES integrates easily with the other platforms organizations already use for innovation and strategic planning, so foresight doesn’t sit in isolation but feeds directly into ongoing work.

But more importantly, we want to help teams feel confident working with uncertainty so foresight doesn’t stay in reports, but becomes a living part of decision-making.

We enable change and the future to become more tangible; something people can see, explore, and act on together.

Building futures-ready strategy starts now

The tools we use shape the strategies we create. As demands on foresight evolve, so must the way we work with it. Organizations that embrace a modern foresight toolkit are better equipped to navigate uncertainty, act early, and create long-term value.

So here’s my question: What would a modern foresight workflow look like in your organization?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.