Advanced Research and Concepts (ARC) is my independent research and product strategy practice. I work with growth-stage companies and enterprises on the hardest questions in product development, from early research and concept definition through roadmap development and go-to-market strategy. I also help industrial operators, such as manufacturers, distribution centers, shipyards and terminals, improve their processes and put AI to work.
No. ThinkArc, Inc. is an unrelated AI company based in Alabama. The names are similar, but I have no connection to it.
I do. I lead every engagement myself, so the person you talk to is the person doing the work.
I work with leadership and product teams facing high-stakes product and strategy decisions who want research before they commit. That includes private equity firms and their portfolio companies, growth-stage startups, large corporations, small businesses, and industrial operators such as manufacturers, distribution centers, shipyards and terminals. I'm most useful when the problem is ambiguous, high-stakes, or poorly framed.
Ask who actually does the work, how fit gets assessed before kickoff, and whether they'll turn down a problem that isn't a fit. My answers: I do the work, I assess fit before we start, and I'll tell you if a problem isn't right for me.
Engagements are project-based, fractional, or embedded. Typical ranges run from a focused four-week research sprint to a multi-month strategy and roadmap effort. Email me a short note about what you're building or shipping and the help you need. I assess fit before any engagement begins, and I take on a limited number of clients at a time. For industrial operators, the first step is a 30-minute call, then a fixed-fee diagnostic and a pilot.
I provide research-led strategy across three areas: Research & Intelligence (competitive landscape, market sizing, user research), Strategy & Direction (concept development, foresight, roadmaps, workshops, AI capability building), and Go-to-Market & Execution (GTM strategy, product-led growth, UX/UI & workflow design, customer success, product positioning).
It's how I approach every research and strategy engagement. The ARC Method brings together three disciplines to do that work: human-centered design to understand the people you're solving for, systems thinking to understand the ecosystem they live within, and strategic foresight to test your strategy against a world that keeps changing faster than most plans can accommodate.
Hire when the decision is high-stakes or time-bound, assumptions are untested, or you need an independent research-led point of view before committing to build or launch. Keep work in-house when the problem is evolutionary and internal continuity matters more than outside evidence.
I lead every engagement myself, and the work starts with research. The focus is reducing risk and building conviction before you build or launch. I'm selective, and if the fit or the problem is wrong, I say so before we start.
Project work is scoped to a clear question (for example a four-week research sprint or a multi-month roadmap) and ends when that question is answered. Fractional or embedded work places me inside the team’s cadence when the scope is clear and ongoing.
Often yes. The work is built for the gap between “we think we know” and evidence that survives board or market scrutiny. If assumptions are untested or the cost of being wrong is high, a research-led pass before development spend is the point of the engagement.
No. I also provide research-led management of products already shipping: KPIs and OKRs tied to outcomes, feature prioritization, and roadmap execution under Strategy & Direction. Early-stage clarity work still matters; in-market teams use the same evidence-backed approach once the product is live.
Through ARC, I've worked with thrv, an independent sponsor partnered with Luminate Capital, on two of its portfolio companies: AbsenceSoft and Thought Industries. Earlier, at Pilot44, I worked on projects for PowerHeal (a bioelectric bandage from Vomaris Innovations, developed with P&G Ventures), Kimberly-Clark, Sanofi, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Whirlpool. Before founding the practice, I did independent research and consulting for Convexity Scientific.
Yes. I help industrial operators with process improvement, AI tools that run on the systems they already have, software selection, AI training and workforce planning. Engagements start with a 30-minute call. The For industrial operators page describes the work and how it runs.
At Takeda, I managed contract manufacturers for drug product and for packaging and labeling, and worked with distribution centers and contract QC testing labs. I wrote batch records, ran manufacturing investigations and change controls, and worked on two drug launches. I hold a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from Takeda, with training in Kaizen, 5S and Kanban. Today I help industrial operators improve their processes and put AI to work.
Often you need less than vendors suggest. Many fixes are process changes, and most tools run on the systems you already have, such as your ERP, timekeeping, email and shared drives. When new software is the right answer, I help you choose it.
No. I'm a consultant. When new software is the right answer, I write the requirements, compare the options and test the leading choice on a real job, and you buy it directly from the vendor. Every tool I build belongs to you.
NJMEP and DVIRC are the Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers for New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania, part of a national network backed by NIST. Through their staff and vetted partners, they cover lean, quality systems and ISO certification, safety, cybersecurity compliance and workforce training. My work sits alongside theirs: AI tools that run on the data you already collect, the reports and records around the work, and planning for how tasks change as new tools arrive. For ISO certification, OSHA training or CMMC readiness, they are the right first call.
You do: the tool, its instructions and its data. Your team can run it without me.
We agree during the diagnostic which data each tool reads, where it is stored, and which AI services it uses. Tools run in accounts your company controls.
I know regulated production and documented work from pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain management at Takeda. I also know how products get built and adopted. I've worked on product development for software, including AI tools for two software companies, and for consumer products at Pilot44 with PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé and Whirlpool. That work trained me to scope a tool, test early versions with the people who will use it and keep improving it until they rely on it. I learn the specifics of your operation the same way I start every project: by talking with your people, reading your records and spending time where the work happens.
It reads the reports, photos, schedules and records you already produce, drafts from them and checks them. A person reviews and approves the result. Part of my work is deciding where AI helps and where a simpler fix does the job.
If you're working on something ambitious, email me a short note about what you're building, shipping or running and the help you're looking for.
Email Brendan