The most consequential decisions are made under uncertainty. Signals are everywhere, but so is noise. Success depends on recognizing the signals that matter, interpreting them correctly, and delivering timely judgment to those who must act. That purpose defined my work in intelligence and now guides Sentinel Strategies.

At the CIA, I made and shaped decisions on the nation's most consequential national security challenges: emerging technologies, counterterrorism, insider threats, enterprise risk. The subjects changed; the standard did not: judgment that could be trusted and acted on, delivered before the moment passed.

China was a central focus of my work. I led enterprise assessments of China's economic ambitions, technological priorities, and national security strategy, synthesizing fragmented, sometimes contradictory intelligence into actionable judgments for senior U.S. decision-makers. This work was recognized with the Director of National Intelligence Counterintelligence and Security Professional Award in 2025.

I also designed and launched an enterprise risk identification and data science program that introduced new analytic capabilities to the CIA, enabling earlier identification of strategic vulnerabilities, better threat prioritization, and more informed resource decisions. Working across the intelligence community and with international partners, I applied those same capabilities to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure by identifying emerging vulnerabilities before they became widely recognized.

Earlier in my career, I led counterterrorism programs where there was no time to wait for a complete picture. Decisions had to be made under pressure, with incomplete information and real consequences for being wrong. Those experiences reinforced a lesson that continues to guide my work today: sound judgment rarely waits for perfect information.

Before joining the CIA, I spent nearly a decade serving across Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense, gaining firsthand insight into how policy is shaped and where government decisions create both opportunities and risks for organizations outside government.

Today's executives face the same challenge national security leaders have confronted for decades: an overwhelming volume of information, accelerating change, and decisions that cannot wait for certainty. Through Sentinel Strategies, I apply the same intelligence discipline that guided my work in government, separating signal from noise, interpreting emerging developments, and delivering timely judgment that helps leaders identify risk, and convert uncertainty into informed action, before the moment passes.

—Jennifer Crook, Founder