Executive Council

What Executive Council does

Executive Council is a Seattle-based, privately held expert network firm founded in 1990 that connects institutional investors with enterprise technology executives for paid advisory engagements. The company operates a curated network of 3,000+ active C-level technology executives — including CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, and CMOs — collectively managing $2T+ in enterprise IT budgets, of which 1,200+ are enterprise CIOs and CISOs available for expert calls and custom surveys. Executive Council serves a dual-sided market: on the demand side, institutional investors (hedge funds, venture capital firms, buy-side and sell-side analysts) seeking investment-relevant intelligence on enterprise technology decisions; on the supply side, senior technology executives seeking to monetize their expertise through honoraria-bearing advisory engagements. The firm claims a proprietary compliance-focused process, customized per client, that addresses the regulatory requirements unique to institutional investors paying for expert insights.

The company's product surface comprises six offerings organized around three tiers of investor services: (1) Expert Network Services providing 1:1 access to executives from the 3,000+ network; (2) CIO Signals, a monthly intelligence report published the first week of each month aggregating vendor sentiment and strategic technology priorities from 40 enterprise CIOs; and (3) Investor Services delivered through three contract tiers — Profile Analysis (entry-level, general trends and vendor knowledge), Strategic Advisory (mid-tier with industry/technology/vendor expertise), and Elite Advisory (top tier, gated to Fortune 1000/500 companies with $100M+ annual IT budgets and minimum-spend requirements). Supporting sub-products include Custom Surveys and Proprietary Research for bespoke research deliverables.

The business model is relationship-driven, sales-led, and contract-based. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales for institutional clients with inside-sales response via website contact forms and Calendly-driven 30-minute introductory calls as the top-of-funnel qualification step. Revenue is generated through multi-year contract engagements across the three service tiers, with honoraria paid to advisor executives for their participation. Distribution is exclusively direct; no marketplace, retail, or self-serve channels are used. The company is led by three Vice Presidents — S. Keith Muma (Operations), Denise Bergen (Executive Relations), and Alexandra Navarro (Client Relations) — operating as an independent, management-owned entity with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent company ownership.

Name

Executive Council

Legal name

Executive Council

Website

https://executivecouncil.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Executive Council is a Seattle-based expert network firm, founded in 1990, that connects institutional investors (hedge funds, VC firms, buy-side and sell-side analysts) with a curated network of 3,000+ active C-level technology executives managing $2T+ in enterprise IT budgets for paid 1:1 advisory engagements and a monthly CIO Signals research report.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Expert Network Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategy Advisory (BPAHADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory (BPAHAFAC)

Keywords

• Expert network services
• Technology advisory research
• Institutional investor insights
• Enterprise IT intelligence
• CIO advisory calls

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Expert Network Services: Connecting institutional investors with enterprise CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, and CMOs for 1:1 advisory calls. Revenue derived from engagement fees for accessing top-tier technology executives who provide investment-relevant insights.
2. Custom Surveys and Research: Proprietary research services and custom surveys delivered to institutional investors seeking strategic technology insights beyond standard market data.
3. Advisor Services: Connecting C-level technology executives with investors; advisors receive honorarium for their participation and time.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Executive Council operates an expert network that connects institutional investors with active enterprise C-level technology executives (CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, CMOs) for 1:1 advisory engagements. Services include expert network calls, custom surveys, proprietary research, and the CIO Signals monthly intelligence report, all delivered through a proprietary compliance-focused matching process tailored to each client's research needs.

Product overview

Executive Council operates as an expert network platform connecting institutional investors with enterprise technology executives. The platform offers three interconnected services: (1) Expert Network Services providing 1:1 access to 3,000+ C-level technology executives, (2) CIO Signals as a monthly published report from 40 enterprise CIOs covering technology vendor sentiment and strategic priorities, and (3) Investor Services offering tiered advisory access (Profile Analysis, Strategic Advisory, Elite Advisory) with compliance-focused processes. These products work together to provide investors with human-derived intelligence on enterprise technology decisions to complement quantitative data analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Access to executives managing $2T+ enterprise IT budgets
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group): GLG is the largest expert network globally, connecting institutional investors with experts across industries. Directly comparable to Executive Council in core service (paid expert consultations for buy-side investors), though GLG operates at significantly larger scale across all sectors, whereas Executive Council specializes in technology executives.
• AlphaSights: AlphaSights provides on-demand expert network services to investment firms, offering curated 1:1 consultations with industry professionals. A direct peer to Executive Council in the expert network category, with comparable B2B advisory matching model though broader industry coverage.
• Guidepoint: Guidepoint operates one of the largest expert networks serving institutional investors, with a global network of advisors and a Q&A product (Guidepoint Insights). Directly comparable to Executive Council's expert matching and advisory engagement model.
• Coleman Research (Erebus): Coleman Research Group (now part of Erebus) is a direct expert network competitor connecting institutional investors with experts. Highly comparable business model and target customers to Executive Council.
• Atheneum Partners: Atheneum Partners is a global expert network and advisory firm serving investment clients with primary research through expert consultations. Directly comparable to Executive Council's core service offering, with similar target customers and engagement model.

Emerging players

• Tegus: Tegus (acquired by AlphaSense) provides expert interviews and primary research for institutional investors, with a strong technology and software sector focus. Partially overlapping with Executive Council's tech executive coverage and serves similar buy-side clients with comparable interview-based insights.
• NewtonX: NewtonX is a newer expert network using AI-driven expert sourcing for institutional and enterprise clients. Operates in the same expert network category as Executive Council, with a technology-forward approach to expert matching though broader industry coverage.
• Prosapient: Prosapient is a tech-enabled expert network serving institutional investors and consultancies with primary research. Comparable business model to Executive Council but with a software-platform emphasis and broader sector coverage.

Broad incumbents

• AlphaSense: AlphaSense is a broad market intelligence platform combining AI-powered document search with expert calls (post-Tegus acquisition). Comparable to Executive Council as a research provider for institutional investors, though it operates a much wider product portfolio.

Regional players

• Source Global Research: Source Global Research produces primary research and expert insights focused on the professional services and technology sectors. Comparable to Executive Council in serving research-driven investment decisions, but with a different emphasis on sector research rather than executive matching.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wwexeccouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/executive-council

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Executive Council