{"id":1670,"date":"2026-11-03T11:46:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T09:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cobelty.com\/?p=1670"},"modified":"2026-11-03T13:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T11:52:28","slug":"cobelty-launches-intelligence-reports-a-new-series-of-strategic-research-publications-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cobelty.com\/en\/cobelty-launches-intelligence-reports-a-new-series-of-strategic-research-publications-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Relevance cannot be taken for granted"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”full_width_content” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”none” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” constrain_group_1=”yes” left_padding_desktop=”14%” constrain_group_2=”yes” right_padding_desktop=”14%” top_padding_tablet=”10%” constrain_group_3=”yes” bottom_padding_tablet=”10%” left_padding_tablet=”6%” constrain_group_4=”yes” right_padding_tablet=”6%” top_padding_phone=”10%” constrain_group_5=”yes” bottom_padding_phone=”10%” left_padding_phone=”6%” constrain_group_6=”yes” right_padding_phone=”6%” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” row_position_desktop=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”50px” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]\u2190 newsroom<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” text_align=”left” row_position=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” pointer_events=”all”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]\n

Relevance cannot be taken for granted<\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” column_margin=”20px” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” bottom_padding=”5%” bottom_padding_tablet=”10%” bottom_padding_phone=”10%” text_align=”left” row_position=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” pointer_events=”all”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” font_color=”#053B4D” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”3\/12″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]November 3, 2026[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” font_color=”#053B4D” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”5\/12″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]By Ludovic Noblet, Cobelty founder[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”4\/12″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” text_align=”left” row_position=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” pointer_events=”all”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]Strategic relevance is not a permanent attribute of what organizations know, own or build. It is an evolving relationship that must be understood, challenged and managed.<\/p>\n

When strengths no longer guarantee relevance<\/h2>\n

Organizations invest considerable time and resources in building knowledge, developing technologies, protecting intellectual property, establishing partnerships and acquiring capabilities.<\/p>\n

These efforts create valuable assets. They also shape an organization’s dependencies, strategic options and freedom of action.<\/p>\n

Yet the existence of valuable assets does not guarantee their continuing strategic relevance.<\/p>\n

A technology can remain technically sound while the conditions for its adoption change. A patent portfolio can retain its legal protection while its strategic significance evolves. An established capability may become less useful as technological architectures and value chains are reorganized.<\/p>\n

The reverse is equally possible. Knowledge that once appeared peripheral may become essential when a new technological trajectory emerges.<\/p>\n

What changes is not necessarily the asset itself.<\/p>\n

It is the relationship between that asset and the conditions under which it can create value or enable action.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strategic relevance is therefore neither intrinsic nor permanently acquired.<\/p>\n

Relevance depends on conditions that keep changing<\/h3>\n

Emerging technological transformations rarely develop in isolation.<\/p>\n

Their viability depends on combinations of technologies, infrastructures, industrial capabilities, skills, interoperability, standards, regulatory frameworks and market conditions.<\/p>\n

These elements evolve at different speeds, and their interdependencies can change.<\/p>\n

Physical AI offers a useful illustration.<\/p>\n

Progress in artificial intelligence is expanding what systems may be able to perceive, interpret and decide. But translating these advances into reliable action in the physical world requires much more than increasingly capable models.<\/p>\n

Devices, networks, computing infrastructures and control systems must work together. Safety, trust, interoperability and operational requirements must be addressed.<\/p>\n

A technological breakthrough does not automatically make an application viable. Nor does an emerging market opportunity mean that every organization is ready to capture it.<\/p>\n

Strategic relevance depends not only on technological potential or economic attractiveness, but also on the conditions that make a transformation viable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of these conditions can change quickly. Others take years to establish.<\/p>\n

Understanding their evolution and interdependencies is essential to knowing what deserves attention, preparation or investment.<\/p>\n

More resources do not necessarily mean greater relevance<\/h3>\n

Organizations can accumulate substantial knowledge, intellectual property, partnerships and capabilities without necessarily improving their ability to respond to emerging change.<\/p>\n

Established assets can create competitive advantages, but also dependencies, obligations and costs. Investments can reinforce existing trajectories even as the conditions supporting them begin to change.<\/p>\n

This does not diminish the importance of long-term research, collaborative innovation or substantial investment. Many transformations depend on them.<\/p>\n

But the resources committed to innovation and the strategic relevance of what those resources produce are not the same thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The same applies to smaller, more agile organizations. Speed and flexibility do not guarantee that their choices will remain relevant or that the conditions for exploiting their capabilities will materialize.<\/p>\n

The challenge is not simply to produce more knowledge or develop more assets.<\/p>\n

It is to understand which knowledge, assets and capabilities matter, under which conditions, and for how long.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The relevance gap is a moving relationship<\/h3>\n

It may be tempting to assess strategic relevance as the distance between an organization’s current capabilities and a defined future objective.<\/p>\n

But emerging change makes that reference point uncertain.<\/p>\n

Technological trajectories evolve. Dependencies shift. New actors and opportunities emerge. Conditions of viability change.<\/p>\n

A capability that appears insufficient today may become valuable under another scenario. An investment aligned with current expectations may lose relevance if its surrounding ecosystem develops differently.<\/p>\n

The gap between what an organization knows, owns or can do and what it may need is itself evolving.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Managing this gap is therefore not simply a matter of closing it.<\/p>\n

Some capabilities should be developed or acquired. Others may be accessed through partnerships, transformed, preserved or abandoned. Certain gaps may be acceptable; others may threaten future freedom of action.<\/p>\n

What matters is understanding which gaps are strategically significant, how they may evolve and when they require a decision.<\/p>\n

Our decisions also reshape relevance<\/h3>\n

Organizations are not merely observers of technological change.<\/p>\n

Their decisions and actions influence their capabilities, dependencies and future options.<\/p>\n

Developing a technology may open opportunities while creating new commitments. Joining a partnership may provide access to critical knowledge while reshaping dependencies. Contributing to standardization may influence the conditions under which technologies become interoperable and markets develop.<\/p>\n

Conversely, abandoning a technological trajectory may release resources while closing options that could be difficult to recover.<\/p>\n

Actions do not simply change an organization’s position within a landscape. They can also change the conditions that determine what becomes relevant next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This creates a continuous interaction.<\/p>\n

This creates a continuous interaction.
Emerging change reshapes the relevance of existing knowledge and capabilities. Organizational decisions reshape the options available. Those decisions may also influence the wider environment in which future choices will be made.<\/p>\n

Strategic relevance must therefore be understood as something organizations both respond to and, to varying degrees, help shape.<\/p>\n

From assessing relevance to managing it<\/h3>\n

If relevance depends on changing conditions, interdependencies and decisions, assessing it at isolated moments is no longer sufficient.<\/p>\n

Organizations need to continuously examine how emerging transformations affect their knowledge, assets, capabilities and strategic options.<\/p>\n

They need to understand which conditions of viability are changing, which dependencies may constrain their freedom of action and which capabilities could become insufficient, underused or newly valuable.<\/p>\n

They must also determine what to preserve, develop, access, transform or abandon \u2014 and distinguish what can wait from what requires early preparation.<\/p>\n

This is where managing strategic relevance becomes an important dimension of decision intelligence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Its purpose is not to predict with certainty which technologies or capabilities will matter, nor to replace organizational judgment.<\/p>\n

It is to help organizations understand, question and manage the evolving relationships between emerging change and their own knowledge, assets, capabilities and decisions.<\/p>\n

Analysis can lead to paralysis. Intelligence enables decisiveness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But decisiveness does not mean deciding faster at any cost. It means making informed choices while meaningful options remain available.<\/p>\n

Relevance cannot be taken for granted<\/h3>\n

The first article in this series, Readiness is a moving target, explored why preparedness must evolve as conditions change.
The second, Preparing early doesn’t mean committing early, examined why preparing the conditions for action and deciding to commit follow different timelines.<\/p>\n

This third perspective brings those ideas together.<\/p>\n

Preparedness matters because strategic relevance evolves. Early preparation matters because some conditions of viability take time to establish. And decision intelligence matters because organizations must continually determine what remains relevant, what may become relevant and which choices preserve their ability to act.<\/p>\n

In increasingly complex and interconnected environments, no organization can assume that what it knows, owns or builds today will remain strategically relevant tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Nor can it assume that its own decisions will leave the surrounding landscape unchanged.<\/p>\n

Relevance cannot be taken for granted. It must be continuously understood, challenged and managed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is becoming an essential condition for preserving freedom of action in the face of emerging change.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][divider line_type=”Small Line” line_alignment=”default” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”accent-color” animate=”yes” custom_height=”0px” custom_height_tablet=”0px” custom_height_phone=”0px”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” text_align=”left” row_position=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” pointer_events=”all”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”30px” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” overflow=”visible” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]\n

Ludovic Noblet<\/h4>\n

Cobelty Founder[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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