8 January 2025: We are pleased to announce the appointment of Colin Robertson as Business Unit Director for Roke Intelligence. Bringing decades of experience in the engineering and cyber space, spanning both defence and commercial sectors, Colin is set to enhance the company’s intelligence capabilities and strategic relationships.
Conflicts such as those in the Red Sea and between Russia and Ukraine have proven that geopolitical instability is now the norm, and comprehensive, real-time intelligence has emerged as a critical tool for organisations operating in at-risk areas to ensure their assets are safe, and to provide the resilience they need to thrive. This paradigm shift is not just about responding to risks but anticipating and mitigating them before they manifest, offering the confidence to make critical, informed decisions in complex situations.
Roke Intelligence’s mission is to redefine global standards in commercially outsourced professional intelligence. Working with clients in the maritime insurance, shipping, commodities, and defence sectors the team are simplifying and providing analysis on complex data ensuring near real-time asset tracking and situational awareness are enabled on a global scale – whilst building in crucial human expertise.
Colin has a proven track record in developing and promoting cutting-edge intelligence solutions that meet the evolving demands of organisations and businesses. His expertise includes data intelligence, avionics engineering, and scaling businesses. Cultivated through over 30 years’ experience in defence and security organisations such as the UK Ministry of Defence, Detica, prior and after its acquisition by BAE Systems and integration to its Applied Intelligence business unit, and Northrop Grumman, Colin joins at a pivotal time for Roke.
The appointment underscores Roke’s commitment to investing in top-tier talent to drive its Intelligence Team ever further towards a brighter future and deliver exceptional value to its clients.
As part of a strong partnership with decades of experience, Roke’s clients gain access to a comprehensive suite of open-source and proprietary intelligence capabilities, empowering them with a robust toolkit for faster and more accurate decision-making. Roke blends this technology with human expertise and operational insight to support decision-making in challenging environments, helping to protect people and the assets they depend on.
Said Colin:
“I’m excited to join Roke in what is really an interesting and challenging time for the world, and especially the sectors the company operates in. The whole data and intelligence sphere is experiencing rapid technological advancements and heightened challenges due to existing conflicts in Europe and those that are yet to take place across the world.”
"Whether it’s using our intelligence tools to help identify those evading sanctions, or to protect assets – whatever they may be – my goal is to use my experience to expand on our innovative offerings, strengthen our partnerships with existing and prospective clients and keep Roke Intelligence’s qualities of agility and focus as we increase in size.”
“I want to showcase Roke as the world-leader it is in empowering our customers to effect change through understanding the data-driven intelligence that our tools can gather and lay out for them. Roke Intelligence has this startup quality to it that really excites me, and I can’t wait to see what we will achieve.”
Paul MacGregor, Roke's Managing Director commented:
“Colin brings great expertise, a wealth of experience, and a fresh perspective to our team. His leadership for Roke Intelligence will be instrumental as we continue to advance our data and intelligence solutions and deepen our customer engagements – continuing to build more and more trust along the way. I’m really looking forward to working closely with Colin more as time goes on so we can develop new avenues to explore for our technology, our team, and our customers.”
Colin's predictions for the OSINT and Data Industry in 2025
The rise of open-source intelligence (OSINT) integration
Governments, as well as commercial organisations, will increasingly blend open-source intelligence with traditional closed intelligence. This shift will enable more cost-effective insights, allowing more tightly controlled resources to focus on critical, high-value data. As OSINT grows in credibility and volume, it will become central to missions, risk mitigation, and seizing competitive opportunities.
Exponential data growth creates challenges and opportunities
The explosion of online services and data streams will continue, creating both opportunities for intelligence gathering and challenges in extracting meaningful insights. Organisations will require robust systems to process massive datasets efficiently, ensuring timely and actionable intelligence to navigate a volatile global landscape.
Real-time intelligence becomes essential across industries
Organisations in industries not traditionally reliant on real-time intelligence for protection of assets – such as finance, energy, data centres, and supply chain logistics—will adopt more dynamic OSINT capabilities to manage physical, human, and financial assets. This shift will help them respond to geopolitical instability, mitigate potential business risks, and identify new growth opportunities amidst constantly changing global conditions.
AI and Automation will drive intelligence efficiency
Faced with budget constraints and overwhelming data volumes, organisations will embrace AI and machine learning to automate data fusion, analysis, and insight generation. While human expertise will remain vital, analysts will increasingly focus on strategic decision-making aided by AI and ML rather than sifting through raw data, improving efficiency and value for money.
Related news, insights and innovations
Find out more about our cutting-edge expertise.
