market-landscape-scan

market-landscape-scan: AI Market Landscape Scanning Workflow

Skill Overview

market-landscape-scan (market landscape scanning) is an autonomous market intelligence workflow skill that uses 20–40 minutes to map out a market’s buyer segments, player landscape, funding and momentum dynamics, and whether market gaps are real. Every conclusion is labeled as a fact, inference, or assumption and accompanied by sources, providing a structured landscape view for market entry, product positioning, and in-depth competitive research.

Applicable Scenarios

Before entering or reassessing a market: First understand who is playing in the market—direct players, adjacent players that may enter, substitutes, and emerging entrants—instead of focusing only on the few names shown in an analyst quadrant.

When planning a new product line: Build a defensible view of market segments and substitutes so that business case discussions move from “I think” to a structured understanding of “who is buying and why they are not buying now.”

When supporting market sizing and competitive research: TAM / SAM / SOM estimates and competitive research both require a baseline landscape view. When executive teams repeatedly cite a particular quadrant, this view can also be used to show the differences between how buyers actually segment the market and how vendors describe it.

Core Features

Buyer-centric market segmentation: Divide the market into 3–5 segments based on buyers’ actual experiences, rather than copying vendor or analyst categories. Clearly identify where the two perspectives diverge—such disagreements are often where opportunities lie.

Player map (up to 12 players): Organize players into four categories—direct players, adjacent players that may enter, substitutes and non-consumption (“they are still using spreadsheets” also counts as competition, and is often the strongest competitor), and emerging entrants. Retain only the strongest signal for each player and include its URL to avoid information overload.

Gap and dead-zone testing: Every seemingly open market niche must answer the question, “Is this an opportunity or a dead zone?” Positive and negative evidence must be provided—for example, why previous entrants withdrew. Throughout the process, use a three-tier evidence labeling system: Fact / Inference / Assumption. Fabricating companies, funding rounds, market shares, or growth rates is strictly prohibited.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does it differ from an analyst quadrant?

A quadrant is a map drawn by an analyst firm for its own evaluation purposes. It typically excludes substitutes, lags behind emerging players, and uses segmentation criteria designed to “make ranking convenient” rather than “make decisions convenient.” Market landscape scanning uses a buyer-centric framework. Quadrants are treated only as sourced information, not as the analytical backbone.

How long does one run take, and what does the output look like?

A single run takes approximately 20–40 minutes. The output is a fixed-format six-section snapshot: scope, market segmentation, player map, funding and momentum dynamics, gaps and dead zones, and next-step recommendations (including hypotheses to validate). The fixed format enables direct comparison during quarterly rescans.

Can the scan’s conclusions be trusted and used directly for decision-making?

Every conclusion is labeled as a fact, inference, or assumption and accompanied by source links. The skill also requires a counterargument for every gap conclusion to avoid treating every open space as an opportunity. Its output is a structural view, not a market-size estimate. It is recommended that the “next steps” be handed off to TAM / SAM / SOM sizing and competitive research skills rather than treating the scan as a final deliverable.