Jacob Shapiro

Jacob L. Shapiro is Partner & Director of Geopolitical Analysis at Cognitive Investments (CI). He oversees geopolitical analysis at CI, working with the CI research team to integrate geopolitics into CI’s investment strategies. He also authors the “Global Situation Report,” a weekly intelligence brief on the world’s most important developments.

Jacob hosts a semimonthly podcast, “The Perch Pod,” which features interviews with a diverse array of foreign policy, technology, and global business experts. Jacob is a prolific writer and frequent keynote speaker at conferences and events, known for challenging consensus views whilst retaining a healthy sense of irony.

Prior to joining CI, Jacob was Director of Analysis at Geopolitical Futures, which he co-founded with famed geopolitical strategist George Friedman. Before co-founding GPF, Jacob was Director of the Operations Center at Stratfor, the geopolitical intelligence firm. He received a master’s degree with distinction from Oxford University and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Near Eastern studies.

In addition to CI, Jacob is the founder and Chief Strategist of Perch Perspectives. Perch is a business and political risk consulting firm that works directly with global businesses, helping them to identify and plan for key global risks to their supply chains, with special focus on the technology, agriculture, energy, and apparel industries.

When he doesn’t have his head buried in a book, you can find Jacob at a random pick-up basketball game somewhere in New Orleans doing his best Larry Bird impersonation.