Actionable intelligence refers to actions that are informed by analytics. Analytics without action is considered analysis. Actionable intelligence makes outcomes visible — to see, critique, and adapt to various types of context.  A comparison of each follows:

• Actionable Intelligence —Useful information that helps people make informed decisions and take action. Example: getting a weather report that tells you to bring an umbrella before it rains.
• Analysis —The process of carefully studying information to understand it better. Example: looking at a weather map to figure out why a storm is coming.
• Analytics —Using data, math, and technology to find patterns and make predictions. Example: tracking past weather patterns to predict when the next big storm will happen.

A goal of many organizations developing solutions to improve the learn-and-work ecosystem is that their solutions (actions) are founded in actionable intelligence; i.e., actions informed by analytics. Without a description of the analytics that stand behind actions underway, it is not possible to determine whether they are founded in actionable intelligence.