Framework
SENSE
SENSE is a five-move strategic intelligence layer: Scan, Evaluate, Navigate, Simulate, Execute. It turns agent work from a productivity shortcut into a sourced claim that changes a watchlist, an assumption register, or a Monday decision.
When to use it
Use SENSE when you already have models in the loop and still decide from anecdote. The unit of work is one sourced claim with a confidence grade, not another unread summary.
The moves
- 1
Scan
Collection with a thesis: watch the competitor surfaces, regulatory dockets, and customer signals your strategy actually depends on.
- 2
Evaluate
Turn raw signal into a sourced claim with a confidence grade, instead of another summary nobody can act on.
- 3
Navigate
Make the claim change something real: the watchlist tightens, the assumption register updates, the strategy moves.
- 4
Simulate
Rehearse the future before it arrives: ask what would happen if, and pressure-test the plan against it.
- 5
Execute
Meet a decision or it never happened: a one-page brief in the Monday review, an alert the moment it matters.
The book
Available nowAI Agents for Startup Strategy
How Founders and Operators Deploy Agentic AI to Move Faster and Think Smarter
Related frameworks
The Agentic Codebase
STACK is a five-layer architecture for repositories where humans and agents share work: Structure, Toolchain, Agent configuration, Connection, Knowledge and quality. The agent OS is versioned like the app.
CHORUSThe Multi-Agent Organization
CHORUS is a six-skill coordination protocol for teams of 2 to 15 people who share work with specialised AI workers: Charter, Handoff, Orchestrate, Review, Update, Sync. Org charts name reporting lines. CHORUS names coordination lines.
SENSE here is the five-move protocol from AI Agents for Startup Strategy. It is not a product, sensor brand, or generic "sense-making" slogan.
Citation
SENSE (AI Agents for Startup Strategy). Len P. van der Hof, Systems for the Strategic Self. https://lenvanderhof.com/frameworks/sense/