This article tries to show the importance of the competitive intelligence (CI) and market intelligence (MI) function by describing developments in two quite different Swedish multinational companies. We see how top management can become the problem when the company is struggling to compete and how this affects the intelligence function. In the analysis we compare the intelligence function in private companies with those of state and military organizations and draw historical parallels. Moreover, the cases show what an important role competitive and market intelligence continue to play in the age of information, especially during the past decade.