About

Strategic intelligence and independent advice for people responsible for consequential decisions.

I am a strategic intelligence advisor, independent researcher and international keynote speaker, with a background in conflict reporting, human intelligence and influence operations.

I studied political science and international relations at Sciences Po Bordeaux before working as a journalist in Israel and the West Bank. Reporting taught me to investigate competing accounts, assess sources and examine the distance between public narratives and events on the ground.

I then spent five years in private intelligence, working in human intelligence collection and influence operations for business and government clients. This experience shaped my understanding of how information is obtained, how influence works and how decisions are made under pressure.

I founded OC Strategic Advisory in 2024. My clients operate across healthcare, critical minerals, technology—including Silicon Valley—and the intelligence, security and defense sectors. I work directly with decision-makers on questions involving power, influence, reputation and strategic risk.

Alongside my advisory work, I founded The Grey Zone, an independent publication examining strategic competition, influence and the conditions through which people perceive and interpret events. It brings my research to an international readership.

I am regularly invited to deliver keynotes and contribute to conferences and specialist discussions on intelligence, influence and decision-making. Organizations across business and security also seek my perspective for private briefings and workshops.

Oriane Cohen, Founder

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My work starts with the situation: what is happening, who is involved, what they want and what limits their choices.

I examine the information available, question the assumptions behind it and identify what still needs to be established. The aim is to give you a sound basis for deciding how to act.

Contact with reality is central to this work. An explanation can be coherent and still be wrong. I test it against observable behavior, practical constraints and consequences. When the evidence changes, the assessment must change with it.

Research, operational experience and direct engagement with decision-makers inform one another. Each exposes gaps the others can miss.

How I work

Working principles

Independent judgment

I give you my assessment, including when it challenges your preferred course of action. I distinguish evidence from interpretation and make uncertainty explicit.

Confidentiality

Sensitive information requires care in how it is collected, discussed and shared. Discretion is part of the working relationship from the outset.

Responsibility

I am clear about the scope of my work, the limits of the evidence and what I can reasonably contribute. Recommendations must account for the people who will carry them out and those who will bear their consequences.

What They Say

Get in touch

For advisory engagements, speaking invitations or research inquiries:

info[at]ocstrategic[dot]com

Response within 48 hours.

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