5 reasons to work with the competition, according to business leaders

Business leaders recognize the value of intellectual property (IP) — they go to great lengths to ensure their organization’s best ideas don’t fall into the hands of competitors, using everything from tight data policies to strict access privileges and enforceable patent applications. 

However, sometimes professionals benefit from working with people in organizations that might otherwise be considered rivals.

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So when — and why — should you collaborate with the competition? Five business leaders gave ZDNET their advice.

1. You can find common ground

Attiq Qureshi, chief digital information officer at Manchester United Football Club, works for an organization defined by competition. As one of the world’s biggest sports teams, Manchester United is characterized by intense rivalry, which Qureshi recognizes — but he told ZDNET that off the field, he maintains close relationships with other sports CIOs, usually informally. 

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Qureshi is part of a network with other Premier League CIOs, where IT executives talk about using technology in football clubs. “That could be similar challenges or areas where some people are further along the journey or further behind, whether that’s cybersecurity, broadcasting, or matchday logistics,” he told ZDNET. 

He also meets with CIOs at major European clubs who discuss the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation.

“We’re very mindful about where we collaborate. We’re never going to collaborate on cutting-edge technology that we’re introducing. But we might share experiences on broadcast technology, networks, IT service desk tools, and data platforms,” he said.

“So, we participate in those conversations. It’s a respectful set of groups and the output is useful. But the knowledge we share is in no way competitive.”

2. You can learn something new

Ambrose Earle, CIO at food service distributor Southwest Traders, said specialist groups help business leaders in his industry share knowledge. Two examples of those groups are the food service distribution cooperative UniPro and the trade association IFDA.

“There’s certainly an amount of respect for your competitors in this industry — we’re often doing the same things,” Earle said. “You can learn something from other firms; they can learn something from you. I think groups like UniPro and IFDA encourage that knowledge-sharing process. And I think that’s healthy because a rising tide floats all boats.”

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Of course, there are limits. Earle’s colleague, Brad Smith, VP of procurement at Southwest Traders, said people at the California-based business are more willing to share ideas with professionals beyond the local vicinity.

“We are limited by geography, so I don’t have to worry about sharing ideas with people in the Pacific Northwest or New England,” he said. 

When he attends industry events, Smith told ZDNET he likes to “keep some things close to his chest.”

“I do a lot more listening than talking,” he said. “I go there to hear the latest things and see what’s happening. I will share, but I want to ensure we know who’s in the room before I do.”

3. You can meet new customer demands

Benoît Dageville, co-founder of technology firm Snowflake, said his company’s north star is its customers — and they’ll work with other software providers if it means clients can benefit.

“When I know that this is what our customers want, we’ll do it,” he said. “When I think it’s not good for our customers, we won’t do it.”

Dageville told ZDNET at the recent Snowflake Summit 2024 in San Francisco that it’s sometimes difficult to judge what good and bad looks like for your customers. 

“Sometimes, they might say, ‘What you’re trying to do isn’t that smart.’ And you’ll listen and say, ‘Okay, I understand your point of view.’ So, listening is super-important.”

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Dageville said business leaders must stay sensitive to customer demands, and need to be prepared to flex in response to evolving requirements. 

“If you lose the dialogue and connection with your customers, and they feel that you are not doing the right thing for them, they will drop you and won’t trust you anymore,” he said.

“If our customers tell us they want us to work with a company like Microsoft, then we’ll do it — it’s as simple as that.”

4. You can optimize data insights

Gerard Francis, firmwide product head for data and analytics at JP Morgan Chase, agreed that client requirements dictate the direction of travel for working with competitors, especially regarding the importance of sharing data.

“I think to some extent our customers are going to demand collaboration. If I’m a customer, I don’t want to get information from 30 places, regardless of who the actual source of the data is,” he said.

“I want to get information from somebody who can standardize data. So, by default, it means we will work with data vendors, our partners, and our competitors, who have other types of data our clients care about.”

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While clients will demand collaboration, it’s Francis and his team who turn relationships into business benefits through two approaches: design and delivery.

“One approach, right out of the box, is to check we’re designing the technology for collaboration and that everybody is on a level playing field for how the data operates and works,” Francis said. “We need to enable our competitors’ data on our platform with the same velocity that we can enable our data.” 

He added that over time, the task becomes ensuring that customers are seeing the value of that collaboration instantly. “Data is hard. People struggle so much with trying to fix their data problems,” he continued. “I think customers just want their data issues sorted so they can move on.”

5. You can improve security 

Sasha Jory, CIO at Hastings Direct, said it’s crucial to recognize the importance of working with what might once have been seen as competitors in the fast-changing digital age.

She gave the example of fraud. Experts suggest the rise of generative AI allows fleet-of-foot attackers to find new ways to attack or steal from your business.

“I think it’s probably coming faster than we expect,” she said, anticipating an increase in gen AI-powered breaches. “Success is all about finding areas where we can all gain from non-competitive relationships.”

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She told ZDNET that organizations that work together might be able to exchange best-practice techniques to help reduce external threats.

“AI can be used for good, but it can also be used for bad,” she said. “When people in the industry collaborate to identify things that might be fraud, the potential benefits will drive collaboration to a higher level than we might have expected.”