Competitive Intelligence (CI) has become an attractive concept for Library and Information Science professionals, as information and research functions have become commoditized by end users, and financial, competitive, and performance pressures increase the need to demonstrate value. In the current competitive and cost-cutting environment, business stakes are higher. Many corporate info professionals find that CI is a way to broaden their skills, raise their visibility, and more directly contribute to their firms' operations and direction. In many cases, too, information professionals are themselves driving competitive intelligence initiatives out of professional interest and leadership. In corporate settings, information professionals usually expand their business research skills into competitive research, then onto competitive analysis of varying complexity. A complete CI program requires the ability to identify the needs of its key users (i.e., decision-makers) and define their key intelligence topics and questions; plan and direct any CI projects or initiatives; conduct research using published sources (literature searches); conduct research using human sources (interviews and other primary material); analyze and produce the results of the research using a range of models and tools; and share the findings of any research, analysis, and recommendations. In this article, the author discusses the benefits of CI as a powerful and valuable tool that helps organizations and professionals recognize opportunities and mitigate risks.