Definitions that keep evidence and action aligned.
The same words must mean the same thing across reports, products, case studies and operating systems. This page is the current Delta Arc source of record for core terms and counts.
Core intelligence terms.
Opportunity intelligence
The governed handoff from dated market evidence to a known, qualified opportunity, defensible route and accountable next action.
Open the full definition →Demand intelligence
The outside-in system that maps a market, observes signals, resolves identity and qualifies credible need before or as a company reaches the door.
Open the demand-intelligence guide →Business intelligence
The inside operating layer that organizes evidence, performance, ownership and decisions after an opportunity enters the organization.
Open the business-intelligence guide →Known opportunity
An opportunity connected to a defensible company, account, person, market entity, asset, product need or traceable project context.
Qualified opportunity
A known opportunity whose available evidence meets defined thresholds for fit, need, timing, authority, capacity or another market-specific condition.
Signal
A dated observation that may affect a decision. A signal is not automatically intent, demand, qualification or outcome.
Entity
The durable company, person, product, asset, market or project identity to which source observations are attached without erasing aliases or history.
Source record
The retained source, date, identifier, original value and transformation history supporting a published or operational claim.
Data snapshot
A defined record set frozen at a stated time with disclosed filters. A snapshot should not be confused with a changing live catalog.
Delta Arc evidence classes.
Direct observation
States exactly what an examined source shows.
Corroborated conclusion
Connects independent evidence that supports the same bounded conclusion.
Derived estimate
Applies disclosed logic to observations and preserves the assumptions.
Working inference
Records a plausible interpretation that remains incomplete or unconfirmed.
Bounded absence
States that a defined search of identified sources did not locate a record.
User-supplied
Preserves submitted context without silently upgrading it to verification.
The public report library uses four desks.
- Demand & Revenue for opportunity, CRM and conversion evidence
- Markets & Risk for probability, uncertainty and decision infrastructure
- Industry & Machines for manufacturing, capital equipment and productive capacity
- AI & Decision Systems for industrial AI, agents, digital twins and governance
Desk, product, series and evidence class are not synonyms.
A research desk groups reports. A product is an operating system or interface. A publication series is an editorial stream. An evidence class labels what a claim can support.
Open the four research desks →Version history.
Version 1.0 · October 4, 2026: established the canonical definitions for opportunity intelligence, demand intelligence, business intelligence, qualification, signals, entities, source records, snapshots, six evidence classes and four research desks.
Challenge a definition with evidence.
Send the URL, disputed term and supporting source to Delta Arc. Material changes receive a new version note.
bronto@thedeltaarc.com