Alan Berkson is a strategist, advisor, executive coach, and 3x founder dedicated to helping companies harness the power of story to drive alignment, engagement, and sustainable growth. As the founder of the Intelligist Group, Alan has developed a distinctive approach to corporate narrative, adapting storytelling techniques from the entertainment world—originally pioneered by Jeff Gomez and Starlight Runner Entertainment—for organizations navigating today’s complex media and business landscape.
Alan’s career spans decades of innovation and leadership across multiple disciplines. He was an early pioneer in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) space, helping define models that are now industry standards. Later, as a key player in the rise of enterprise SaaS company Freshworks, he was part of the leadership team that guided the company from $1M in revenue to over $500M and a successful IPO. His expertise extends across branding, customer and employee experience, and go-to-market strategy, where he brings both strategic vision and a talent for uncovering insights, patterns, and opportunities that others often miss.
In addition to his advisory work, Alan is an executive coach and trainer, working with founders and leaders—particularly in high-growth, high-stakes environments—to strengthen clarity, communication, and leadership presence. He helps startup founders build storytelling muscle and strategic clarity during their most formative stages and is especially effective at helping technical teams and international companies translate complex capabilities into compelling narratives that resonate with U.S. and global audiences.
Alan is also a seasoned speaker, including a 2013 TEDx talk on Three Essential Skills for the 21st Century, which remains remarkably relevant more than a decade later. He shares practical insights and narrative frameworks through his newsletter, The Narrative Intel, designed to help business leaders master marketing, strategy, and storytelling for the Information Age.
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Intelligist Group is a strategic advisory firm that helps founders and executive teams define, align, and scale their corporate narrative. We work at the intersection of story and strategy—where business outcomes are shaped by the stories you tell and the systems you build to tell them consistently.
We don’t write your copy. We help you discover your essence. We don’t chase superlatives. We help you claim a space only you can own. From positioning that reframes the market to storyworlds that evolve with your company, we give you the tools to lead with conviction—and be understood at every customer touchpoint.
We built this framework on the ground floor of startups and in the war rooms of IPOs. We’ve applied it from pitch decks to analyst briefings, from first hires to global launches. And now, we bring it to you.