NoxStone, Market Intelligence & AI · Consulting & Innovation

Practice 01

Market Intelligence & AI

Before you commit budget to a market, a sector or a programme, you need to know how it really works. We combine desk research, interviews and fieldwork with AI tools that let us cover more ground, and we report what we find, including the parts that are inconvenient.

Where we can, we talk to people in their own language. It changes what they tell you.

Market & sector studies

Size, structure, trends and the economics behind them, built from primary and secondary sources and checked with people who work in the sector.

Competitor & stakeholder mapping

Who the players are, how they position themselves, who influences whom, and where the gaps are.

AI-assisted analysis

We use AI to review large volumes of documents, transcribe and code interviews and prepare first drafts. An analyst checks every output before it reaches you.

Deliverables you can use

Reports, briefing notes, dashboards and models that work in a management meeting and still make sense to your team six months later.

How an engagement runs

Agree the question and the decision it informs.

Collect the evidence: desk research, interviews, surveys.

Analyse it and reach a clear position.

Hand over the data, the sources and the method.

Typical deliverables

Market landscape report Competitor profiles Opportunity sizing model Stakeholder map Intelligence dashboard Mystery shopping Crisis management Executive briefings Marketing strategy

Every engagement starts from the decision you have to make, and the research is designed around it. A senior consultant leads the work from start to finish and uses AI tools where they save time without lowering quality. At the end you keep everything, including the models, the source lists and the method, so your team can update the work on its own.

Practice 02

Consulting & Innovation

We work with leadership teams on strategy, organization and new initiatives, and we stay on through implementation. A strategy is only as good as the plan that carries it out, so we give execution as much time as the strategy itself.

The people who propose the work are the people who do it.

Strategy & positioning

Where to compete and how, with the trade-offs written down and agreed, and a sequence the organization can realistically follow.

Operating model & organization

Roles, processes, governance and decision rights that let the strategy run day to day.

Innovation & new ventures

New services, partnerships or lines of business, taken from concept to a pilot with real users.

Capability transfer

We train your people as we go and document what we do, so the work carries on after the engagement ends.

How an engagement runs

Agree the objective and how success will be measured.

Design the strategy or model with your team.

Pilot it, measure the results, adjust.

Hand over tools, playbooks and training.

Typical deliverables

Strategy on a page Operating model blueprint Governance design Pilot design & test plan Capability-building plan

We work as part of your team, with one senior lead accountable for the result. Recommendations are tested on a small scale before they are rolled out, and your staff are trained to run them. When we leave, the work should not depend on us.

Practice 03

Non-Profit Organizations

UN agencies, NGOs and foundations are increasingly asked to show what their work has changed. We design and run the evaluations, studies and reports that answer that question for donors, boards and partners, and we present the findings so that a wider public can follow them.

We work to your Terms of Reference, in your working language, and to the standards your donors apply.

Reach the right people

Research on who knows your work and who does not, followed by a communication plan, in more than one language where needed.

Show the results

Evaluation frameworks, surveys and reports that link activities to outcomes, written for donors, boards and ministries.

Keep the knowledge

Records, collections and project know-how organized into a searchable archive that supports reporting and future proposals.

Services

Audience & perception studies

Who engages with your cause today, who does not, and how to reach them.

Evaluation & impact reporting

Theory of change, indicators, data collection and the final report, including an annual report if you need one.

Digital archive

AI-assisted cataloguing of documents, images and records, so they can be found and used again.

Visibility & partnerships

Awards, editorial coverage and introductions to peer organizations, at home and abroad.

How we work

Read the Terms of Reference and agree the scope in an inception phase.

Design the methodology and the tools with your team.

Collect and analyse the data, with clear governance and data protection.

Report, present the findings and hand over the data.

Most engagements start with a short call on your objectives and the Terms of Reference.

Typical deliverables

Inception report Theory of change Monitoring & evaluation framework Baseline & endline studies Audience segmentation Donor reporting Annual report Digital archive schema

Every organization is different, but the questions tend to be the same: who are we reaching, what has changed because of our work, and how do we keep what we have learned. We answer them with established evaluation methods, applying the OECD-DAC criteria where the Terms of Reference require them, and we deliver in English and in the languages your stakeholders speak.

Market Intelligence & AI Consulting & Innovation Non-Profit Organizations

European standards, international presence.

Independent advisory firm
Registered in the EU

Milan · Rome · Tallinn · Limassol
EST. 2026

European standards. International presence.

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Why the name

Obsidian, the night stone, was used for two things: mirrors, to see clearly, and blades, to cut cleanly. We named the firm after it.

The Mirror

Market Intelligence & AI

Research that shows how a market or sector actually works.

Market & sector studies
Competitor & stakeholder mapping
Customer experience measurement
Surveys & multi-wave fieldwork
Marketing & communication plans

The Edge

Consulting & Innovation

Strategy and organization work, from diagnosis to a plan people can run.

Corporate & growth strategy
Operating models & organizational design
Programme & venture design
Board advisory & bid strategy

iii

The Network

Non-Profit Organizations

Evaluation, research and communication for UN agencies, NGOs and foundations.

Evaluations, reviews & monitoring
Baseline, midline & endline studies
Communication & stakeholder strategy
EU-registered, set up for UNGM tenders

Approach

We build the capability inside your organization first.

The research and analysis we set up for your own decisions can later become a service for your members, partners or clients. Each project also adds methods and data that make the next one faster.

Internal use

NoxStone

Switch between the three views above.

Better decisions inside the organization

We start with your own questions. This tests the method, trains your team and produces results you can measure before anything is offered outside.

Clear evidence

Research on your sector, your peers and your stakeholders.

Better decisions

Strategy and organization work based on that evidence.

Tools that stay

Dashboards, models and guides your team keeps.

Offering it to your members or clients

Once it works internally, the same capability can be offered to your members, partners or clients. We supply the method and the analysts; you keep the relationship.

A defined service

Research and advisory packaged for your audience.

Joint delivery

We work under your name or alongside you, under NDA.

New income

A service line based on something you already use.

Why it gets faster over time

Each project leaves behind data, templates and lessons. The next one starts from there, so it takes less time and costs less.

Evidence

Each project adds data and findings.

Reuse

Findings turn into templates and tools.

Speed

Later projects start further ahead.

Footprint

Where we are.

We are based in Milan, Rome, Tallinn and Limassol, and we travel to wherever the work is. The company is registered in Estonia and contracts under EU law.

NoxStone · In numbers

Highly selected.Wide reach.

A niche firm by choice, built on highly selected senior profiles with the languages and the presence to work across borders.

International
professionals

International
cities

Practices

Sectors
served

Who we are

What we stand for.

Vision

To be the firm institutions turn to when a decision needs solid evidence behind it.

Mission

To give public, international and non-profit institutions the quality they would expect from a large consulting firm, through a highly selected senior team, and to leave their people better equipped than we found them.

Discretion

WHY →

What we learn about a client stays with that client. We never use names or data without permission.

Rigour

WHY →

Every figure has a source, and every conclusion can be traced back to the evidence.

Respect

WHY →

Every country and every organization works in its own way. We learn how before we suggest changes.

Ownership

WHY →

We stay with the work until it is actually in use, and we answer for it afterwards.

NoxStone · The team

Senior-ledMultilingualTender-ready

NoxStone is a highly selected group of senior consultants. Each of us spent years at large international consulting firms before joining.

We work across countries and in several languages. Clients deal directly with the people who do the work, with no junior layers in between.

Large-firm experience

Strategy, transformation and public-sector work at large international consulting firms, for banks, ministries and public institutions.

Several languages

Interviews, workshops and fieldwork in the language of the people involved, with English as the standard for reports.

International reach

Projects across Europe and in international markets, often with teams spread over several countries and time zones.

Ready for tenders

EU-registered, with the documentation and compliance that formal tenders, UNGM and donor-funded contracts require.

Where we've delivered

Sectors we serve.

Our consultants have worked for governments, UN and multilateral agencies, NGOs, foundations and private institutions. Client names are shared under NDA.

Government & Public Sector

UN Agencies & Multilateral Organizations

NGOs & Civil Society

International Development & Humanitarian Aid

Foundations & Philanthropy

Culture & Heritage

Tourism & Hospitality

Banking & Financial Services

NoX-Ai

Ask us a question.

NoX-Ai is a simple assistant that answers common questions about NoxStone. For anything specific, write to us and a person will reply.

Online

Hello. I can answer basic questions about NoxStone: what we do, how we handle tenders, who is on the team. What would you like to know?

This assistant gives standard answers. For anything specific, write to hello@noxstone.eu.

Clients

Who we work with.

UN agencies & multilateral organizations

Evaluations, studies, strategy and communication work, procured through UNGM and other international tenders and reported to UN and donor standards.

ii.

Ministries, commissions & public institutions

Sector studies, national reports and programme design for work that goes before boards, leadership and the public.

iii.

Development banks & donor agencies

Assessments, evaluations and programme design for development banks, bilateral donors and the organizations that implement their programmes.

iv.

Non-profits, foundations & NGOs

Impact measurement, audience research and annual reports for organizations that work for a cause rather than for profit.

Questions

Asked often.

Where is NoxStone registered, and how do we contract?

NoxStone OÜ is registered in Estonia, so it is an EU company and contracts under EU law. We provide the supplier documentation needed for vendor registration and procurement portals.

Can you bid on UN and international tenders?

Yes. We bid on UNGM and other international tenders as an EU-registered supplier, either alone or with specialist partners, depending on the scope and the requirements.

Who actually does the work?

The senior consultants you meet in the first call. All of us come from large international consulting firms, and we do not pass projects on to junior staff.

How do you use AI?

For document review, transcription, coding of qualitative data and first drafts, where it saves time on large volumes of material. A consultant checks every output, and we agree with you beforehand which data can be processed with which tools.

Which languages do you work in?

Reports are in English by default. The team works natively in Italian and in other European and international languages, which we use for interviews, focus groups and workshops.

Contact

Send us the brief. You'll get an honest answer.

hello@noxstone.eu

Milan · Rome · Tallinn · Limassol