Insights & Actions for the Humans + Machines Economy
Independent research, benchmarks, and briefings on the companies making humans and machines work better together. Powered by analysts and AI agents in real time.
The Leverage Index is DataEI's signature benchmark — output per person across companies running a human + machine operating model. Every input carries an openable source. See full benchmarks →
What We Cover
Six capability categories, each defined by the kind of leverage it creates. These are the coverage buckets we benchmark systematically — and the ones our briefings, insights, and advisory sessions are organized around. Each one opens onto its dataset, its adoption rubric, and what publishes next.
AI Coding & Development Agents
Small engineering teams shipping like large ones — pair programming, code generation, autonomous dev workflows.
Open coverage area → 02Automation & Workflow Orchestration
Automated workflows and integration replacing multi-person ops teams. iPaaS, orchestration, RPA-evolved platforms.
Open coverage area → 03Operations & Coordination
One operator coordinating what used to need a program-management layer. Fewer coordinators per contributor.
Open coverage area → 04Development & Data Infrastructure
Compute, data, observability, and deployment that let a small team run production-grade systems without an SRE org.
Open coverage area → 05GTM & Sales Leverage
AI-augmented prospecting, outbound, and RevOps. Revenue per salesperson and headcount-to-pipeline ratios.
Open coverage area → 06Knowledge, Content & Customer Experience
Content, support, and CX produced at large-org volume by small teams through AI synthesis and CX automation.
Open coverage area →What DataEI Does
Research you can't get from other analysts or sources, tailored so you can take action today.
Evidence, visibility, and third-party validation for the markets you sell into.
Benchmark reports, research notes, and market landscapes across our six coverage areas — including the Leverage Index, our signature benchmark on output per person.
View the research →Vendor briefings, analyst inquiry, and advisory sessions — plus the outputs your teams put to work: quotes, citations, validated claims, and third-party evidence for marketing and sales.
Request a briefing →Commissioned research on one strategic market question, delivered as a decision-ready briefing and a live session with the analyst who did the work. Most engagements start as a research pilot — one scoped question, one deliverable, one working session.
Start a research pilot →Independent evidence for the teams evaluating, buying, and deploying this technology.
Where your organization actually stands on output per person — benchmarked against peers in your sector and size band using the Leverage Index, with the inputs and weighting published so you can argue with the number.
See the benchmark →Analyst inquiry on a live buying decision: shortlist review, vendor claim verification, pricing and contract norms, and a written point of view on fit. We take no vendor money for placement, so the shortlist is the shortlist.
Book an inquiry →Market landscapes, adoption data, and sector research across our six coverage areas — what is actually being deployed, what it costs, and what is failing quietly, so your roadmap is built on evidence rather than vendor decks.
Browse the coverage areas →DataEI was founded by Ron Schmelzer, who has spent 25+ years as an industry analyst, researcher, advisor, and educator in enterprise technology — founding ZapThink in 2001, co-founding Cognilytica, and writing on AI for Forbes.
You work directly with the analyst doing the research, not an account team. What a boutique adds is depth, reachability, and coverage of the segments the large firms don't staff.
Our research runs on a published methodology: stated sources, stated sample, stated weighting. Agents accelerate collection and cross-checking — they do not decide what is true. Every finding is signed by a named analyst, every figure carries a source a client can open, and no sponsorship or paid engagement can buy, lift, or soften coverage.
Reach the analyst directly at research@dataei.com, or use the contact page to start a briefing.
Have a question worth researching?
Start with a briefing — a working conversation about the question, the evidence that already exists, and what we'd need to research to answer it. If the question is worth pursuing, it becomes a research pilot: one scoped question, one deliverable, one working session.