5 steps to Understand Any Industry (Without Reading 100 Reports)

Use AI as your personal industry coach

Hello, Fellow Stock Pickers

A few days ago, I saw a post on X:
“What’s the best way to understand an industry?”

Everyone replied with the usual answers:
Books. Reports. Long PDFs.
Not a single person mentioned AI.

That got me thinking.

What if AI could act like a personal coach?

So I decided to test it.

I asked Gemini deepsearch to explore the tire industry, which I know well as an insider—just to make sure the results were accurate before sharing the process with you.

And it worked.

With just 3 prompts, I got a clear view of the value chain, key players, and what’s changing.

Now I’ll show you how to get the same result in any industry :

Step 1 : Think before you prompt

Let’s say you want to understand the tire industry.Please don’t go into ChatGPT and type: “Help me learn more about the tire industry.”

You’ll get a vague, surface-level answer.

Instead, pause and plan your approach.

• Pick your model
  for deep analysis, I use DeepSearch because I want real insights not surface level answers.
  I prefer Gemini because it gives better-quality results,and it’s cheaper.
  

• Define your angles
  What exactly do you want to understand?

  You’re not just “curious” about an industry.
  You need to break it down into 3 clear angles:

  • Macro dynamics
    Market size, key segments, trends, value chain.

  • Customers & operations
    Who buys? How do they decide? How does it work day-to-day?

  • Business architecture
    What models win? What KPIs matter? Who enables the ecosystem?

• Split your prompts
  Each angle needs its own prompt.
  One big question won’t work — AI has memory issues.
  Write 3 focused prompts instead.
  (I covered why in last week’s newsletter.)
  

• Create a master prompt
  Write one base prompt you can reuse for any industry.
  Then ask AI to adapt it to your current topic.
  

Step 2 : Use a prompt to map market dynamics

Imagine you’re dropped into a new industry. Where do you start?

You start with the map.

Who’s who. What’s what. Where the money flows
Here’s what your first prompt should cover:

• Market size & growth

• Main segments

• Value chain

• Key players

• Long-term trends

• Past disruptions

This is the generic prompt is use for this step :

You are a senior sector analyst.

Your task is to help me fully understand how an industry works — not from a financial perspective, but from a strategic, structural, and operational lens.

 GOAL (BLOCK 1 of 3)

In this first phase, focus on the **macro-structure** and **deep dynamics** of the following industry: [INSERT INDUSTRY NAME].

 COVER THESE POINTS

1. What is the current market size, and how is it expected to evolve (CAGR, 5–10 years)?
2. What are the main industry segments (by use case, tech, client type, etc.)?
3. Who are the typical players at each layer of the value chain?
4. Describe the full value chain from raw input to end user
5. What are the dominant long-term trends shaping the industry?
6. What are the historical disruptions or milestones that changed the landscape?

 BEST PRACTICES

- Reflect deeply before writing
- Prioritize clarity, precision, and real-world applicability
- Use bullet points and headers
- If data is missing, suggest proxies or approximations

I gave this generic prompt to ChatGPT and asked it to adapt it to a specific industry.
In this case: the tire industry.

Here’s the adapted prompt

CONTEXT

You are a senior sector analyst focused on the tire industry.

GOAL (BLOCK 1 of 3)

Explain the macro‑structure and deep dynamics of tire markets.

COVER THESE POINTS

    Market size & outlook

        Total + by segment: OEM vs replacement, PCR/LTR/TBR/OTR/2‑wheel/Agri/Aviation; radial vs bias, retread.

        5–10y CAGR ranges with Base / Upside / Downside drivers.

    Segments

        By use case, technology, client type (OEMs, fleets, retail), tiering (premium/mid/value/budget), channel (captive networks, independents, wholesalers, e‑commerce, mobile fitment).

    Players per value chain layer

        Upstream: NR, SR, carbon black, silica, steel/textiles, key geographies.

        Equipment: mixing, building, curing, testing.

        Manufacturers: global leaders vs regional challengers, private labels.

        Downstream: distributors, dealers, fleet service, retreaders, ELT collectors/recyclers.

    Value chain flow

        Inputs → compounding/mixing → building → curing → inspection → distribution/fitment → retread / ELT recycling (crumb, pyrolysis, devulcanization).

    Long‑term trends

        EV impacts (torque/weight/wear, RR, noise).

        Sustainability & regulation (EU label, abrasion/microplastics, traceability/NR, Scope 3).

        Supply chain shifts (regionalization, tariffs/AD duties).

        Channel & digital (online, mobile, fleet outsourcing, RFID/TPMS/smart tires).

    Historical inflections

        Bias→radial, steel belts; rise of Asian capacity; major M&A/JVs; key tariff/regulatory milestones (with dates).

BEST PRACTICES

    Be crisp; bullets only. Cite date + source.

    If data is missing, propose proxies: vehicle parc & mileage, freight ton‑km, mining output, crop acreage, tire intensity per segment.

    Add quick tables: market split, CAGR scenarios, simple cost stack (materials/labor/energy/logistics), retread penetration.

    Flag disagreements across sources and state which you trust and why.

The results were really good.
It gave a clear view of how the market works.

I know the tire industry well, and I can tell you the answers made sense.
Even if you know nothing about this industry, this prompt would help you understand it fast.

Step 3 : Use a prompt to dive into customers and operations

Once you’ve mapped the market, zoom in.

You want to understand how things actually run:
Who buys, how decisions are made, and what happens behind the scenes.

Ask questions like:

• Final customers, their goals and frustrations

• Buying journey and decision-making

• Power dynamics in the value chain

• Where things slow down or cause problems

• How the work really happens in daily life

This prompt helps you see the business from the inside out: