NSI
NSI is a Boston-based professional services firm delivering human behavior analytics and decision-support research to US military, intelligence community, and select commercial clients, anchored by its Joint Staff-sponsored Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What NSI does
NSI Inc. is a Boston-headquartered professional services firm specializing in human behavior analytics for national security, government, and commercial clients. Its core service portfolio comprises analytic methodologies such as barrier analysis, decision analysis, business analytics, workforce analytics, discourse analysis, complex system analysis, stability modeling, and a Virtual Think Tank (ViTTa) capability that mobilizes global subject-matter experts for crisis analysis. The firm packages these methodologies into two portfolios — a National Security Portfolio serving military and intelligence clients and a Human Capital/Data Science Portfolio serving commercial enterprises — and codifies outputs in proprietary analytic models (e.g., the West Africa Exploitable Conditions Model with 157 nodes and 1,067 edges) and an extensive publications archive.
The company's signature asset is the Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program, established in 2000 under Joint Staff sponsorship, which provides research-based technological products (analytic models, reports, and software components) to Combatant Commands and US government departments on adversary decision making, strategic deterrence, influence operations, and regional stability. NSI engages clients through direct enterprise sales anchored in long-standing relationships with CENTCOM, AFRICOM, EUCOM, SOCOM, USSTRATCOM, TRADOC, and DHS, supplemented by commercial work in gaming, digital entertainment, business intelligence, and customer service.
NSI monetizes services via contract-based engagements with negotiated pricing (no publicly disclosed rate cards). Revenue is generated primarily through government task orders and subcontracts, with complementary commercial analytics work, and supported by thought-leadership channels including the SMA Speaker Series, NSI Podcast, and SMA Publications archive. The firm is privately held, has 11-50 employees per firmographic data, and operates from 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1400, Boston, MA.
NSI firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NSI
- Legal name
- NSI Inc.
- Website
- https://nsiteam.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- NSI is a Boston-based professional services firm delivering human behavior analytics and decision-support research to US military, intelligence community, and select commercial clients, anchored by its Joint Staff-sponsored Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NSI industry classification
Industry- Product category
- National Security Analytics
- NAICS
- Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), National Security (928110), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking (BPAHALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Intelligence (Strategic, Tactical & Technical) (BPAIAHAD), Strategy & IT Advisory (BPAEAAAA)
Keywords
Where NSI is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
NSI business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Government Analytics Contracts: NSI generates revenue through providing specialized research and analytics services to government agencies including DoD, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, and intelligence community. Services include mission-focused solutions, specialized research-based technological products including analytic models, reports, and software components for complex decision-making problems in national security.
- Commercial Analytics Services: Revenue from providing analytic services to commercial organizations in succession planning, organizational effectiveness, gaming, digital entertainment, business intelligence, and customer service sectors.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
NSI product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NSI delivers multidisciplinary social and decision science analytics as contract-based professional services for U.S. government defense/intelligence agencies and select commercial clients. Core offerings are organized as a National Security Portfolio and a Human Capital/Data Science Portfolio, supported by twelve analytic services (AI Workflows, Complex System Analysis, Decision Analysis, Barrier Analysis, Business Analytics, Workforce Analytics, Human Behavior Analytics, Stability Model Analysis, Virtual Think Tank, and Discourse Analysis), delivered as specialized research-based technological products including analytic models, reports, and software components.
Product overview
NSI is a multidisciplinary, data-driven analytics firm specializing in human behavior analytics for national security and organizational effectiveness. The company operates as a platform of specialized research-based products and services including: two core portfolio offerings (National Security Portfolio and Human Capital/Data Science Portfolio), twelve analytic services (AI Workflows, Complex System Analysis, Decision Analysis, Barrier Analysis, Business Analytics, Workforce Analytics, Human Behavior Analytics, Stability Model Analysis/StaM, Virtual Think Tank/ViTTa, and Discourse Analysis), the Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) Program for defense planning support, publications (SMA Publications and NSI Publications), podcasts, and analytic models such as the West Africa Exploitable Conditions Model (WAECM). NSI's solutions comprise specialized, research-based technological products including analytic models, reports, and software components.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA): A program providing 'hard problem' planning and decision support to Combatant Commands, Services, and other US government departments and agencies. Established in 2000 and sponsored by the Joint Staff.
- NSI Podcast
Products and services
- National Security Portfolio Mission-focused analytics solutions for military and intelligence community clients, comprising specialized research-based technological products including analytic models, reports, and software components to address complex decision-making problems spanning strategic and operational imperatives in the national security space.
- Human Capital/Data Science Portfolio Range of analytic services for government and commercial organizations covering succession planning, organizational effectiveness, gaming, digital entertainment, business intelligence, and customer service sectors.
- Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) Program Multidisciplinary research program providing hard problem planning and decision support to U.S. Combatant Commands, Services, and government departments; bridges the gap between the academic research community and operators/planners across campaign support, strategic deterrence, great power competition, influence operations, adversary decision making, countering violent extremism, fragile state dynamics, and warfighter capability gaps.
- AI Workflows Service that combines AI tools and technologies with NSI's human analytic expertise to deliver more comprehensive, efficient, and rapid analysis and workflows.
- Complex System Analysis Provides insights into complex operating environments by leveraging conceptual and computational modeling tools to analyze non-linear, integrated, and interconnected systems.
- Decision Analysis Provides explicit assessments and comparisons of complex trade-offs, options, and priorities across multiple decision criteria including cost, feasibility, impact, and risk.
- Barrier Analysis Applies proven techniques in business management and organizational psychology to identify and prevent organizational "fear" barriers from paralyzing and stymieing clients' organizations.
- Business Analytics Provides critical insights into key business objectives enabling clients to get more out of their data, make smarter business decisions, and maximize their bottom line.
- Workforce Analytics Applies deep behavioral science quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to maximize the effectiveness of clients' work policies and practices while driving efficiency and mission effectiveness.
- Human Behavior Analytics Generalizes and explains human behavior complexity in political, economic, societal, cultural, and social contexts using multidisciplinary social science analytic methods.
- Stability Model Analysis (StaM) Systematically identifies short and long term economic, social, and political drivers of instability and buffers to stability using a methodologically-grounded analytic model.
- Virtual Think Tank (ViTTa) Provides rapid, customizable analyses on emergent crises by tapping into global expert networks, foreign voices, varied perspectives, and unconventional thinkers.
- Discourse Analysis Distills and quantifies leader speeches, population chatter, social media, and other digitized commentary into meaningful terms, themes, patterns, and sentiments.
- West Africa Exploitable Conditions Model (WAECM) Empirical, concept-based, system-of-systems model tailored to West Africa identifying 157 variables (nodes) and 1,067 linkages (edges) representing complex operational environment conditions and dynamics across economics, energy, environment and climate change, technology, communication, information, military and security, societal conditions, and governance.
Quantifiable outcome
- NSI supported DHS with automated manually intensive reports, resulting in a quantum leap in efficiency enabling the office to produce more city-level evaluations, faster, for less overall budget
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use NSI
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
NSI technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature5 records
NSI partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Joint Staff (US Department of Defense)coreStrategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA), established in 2000, is sponsored by the Joint Staff and provides hard problem planning and decision support to Combatant Commands, Services, and other US government departments. NSI hosts and manages the SMA program, bridging the gap between academic research community and operators/planners. SMA supports projects ranging from campaign support, strategic deterrence, great power competition, influence operations, adversary decision making, and warfighter capability gaps.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NSI competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RAND Corporation: RAND is a nonprofit research institute delivering social science, policy, and defense analytic support to DoD and federal agencies. It is directly comparable to NSI as both provide multidisciplinary social and decision science research to military and intelligence clients.
- Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA): IDA is a federally funded research and development center providing analytic support to DoD and the Joint Staff. It is closely comparable to NSI's SMA-style engagement model and shares the same sponsor base within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
- Applied Research Associates (ARA): ARA is an employee-owned defense research and engineering firm delivering technical and analytic solutions to DoD and intelligence customers. Comparable to NSI as a similarly-sized specialist defense research firm with multi-disciplinary analytic offerings.
- Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA): SPA is a defense analytics firm providing operational analysis, force planning, and decision support to Combatant Commands and defense agencies. Directly comparable to NSI's national security analytic practice in scope and customer set.
- Strategic Analysis, Inc. (SAi): SAi is an employee-owned defense and intelligence research firm providing analytic and engineering support to federal clients. Comparable to NSI in scale and focus on multi-disciplinary defense analysis for Combatant Commands and intelligence agencies.
- Battelle Memorial Institute: Battelle is a nonprofit applied science and research organization managing national security, biomedical, and energy programs for federal clients. Comparable to NSI as a research-focused organization delivering multi-disciplinary analytic and technical solutions to DoD and federal agencies.
Broad incumbents
- Booz Allen Hamilton: Booz Allen Hamilton is a major defense and intelligence consulting firm offering analytic, AI, and digital services across DoD and federal civilian agencies. Comparable to NSI's analytic offerings but as a much larger incumbent with broader portfolio and cleared workforce.
- SAIC: SAIC is a large defense and federal IT services integrator providing analytics, mission support, and AI-enabled solutions to DoD and intelligence customers. Comparable to NSI's defense analytic services but at significantly greater scale and contract breadth.
- Leidos: Leidos is a major defense technology integrator offering analytic, intelligence, and mission IT services across DoD, intelligence community, and federal civilian agencies. Overlaps with NSI's national security analytic work but at enterprise scale.
- CACI International: CACI is a large defense and intelligence services firm providing analytic, IT, and engineering support across DoD and IC. Comparable to NSI's defense analytic services but as a much larger integrator with cleared workforce and broader GTM.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
NSI social profiles
Digital presenceNSI compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
NSI financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NSI leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
NSI funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NSI M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NSI
What does NSI do?
NSI delivers multidisciplinary social and decision science analytics as contract-based professional services for U.S. government defense/intelligence agencies and select commercial clients. Core offerings are organized as a National Security Portfolio and a Human Capital/Data Science Portfolio, supported by twelve analytic services (AI Workflows, Complex System Analysis, Decision Analysis, Barrier Analysis, Business Analytics, Workforce Analytics, Human Behavior Analytics, Stability Model Analysis, Virtual Think Tank, and Discourse Analysis), delivered as specialized research-based technological products including analytic models, reports, and software components.
Is NSI a public or private company?
NSI is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was NSI founded?
NSI was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NSI based?
NSI is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does NSI make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Government Analytics Contracts are the primary driver. The others are commercial Analytics Services.
Who are NSI's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RAND Corporation, Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), Applied Research Associates (ARA), Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA), Strategic Analysis, Inc. (SAi) and Battelle Memorial Institute. Broad incumbents are Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, Leidos and CACI International.
Does NSI have an API?
No public API is recorded for NSI.
What industry is NSI in?
NSI's product category is National Security Analytics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHALAB, Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking, with a secondary code of BPAIAHAD, Intelligence (Strategic, Tactical & Technical). Its NAICS code is 54169 and its SIC code is 8742.