INDUSTRY_NAME Players
Who participates in the INDUSTRY_NAME community — and what positions does each player fill?
Players are the community of participants in the INDUSTRY_NAME ecosystem — the WHO. Positions are the roles those players fill — the WHAT. The hat changes; the player remains. (Doctrinal anchor: Ecosystem — every industry has a community of participants.)
The Ecosystem
The INDUSTRY_NAME community has four sides:
- Buyers — [who consumes the output of this industry and why]
- Providers — [who produces the work product or goods]
- Infrastructure — [the technology, data, networks, and service providers the industry runs on]
- Boundary — [regulators, standards bodies, courts, and accreditation authorities that set the rules]
Every player can wear multiple hats. [Give one concrete example of a player who is simultaneously on two or more sides.] The position changes per transaction; the player remains.
The five-counterparty model from Ecosystem maps to this industry as follows:
| Counterparty (canonical) | INDUSTRY_NAME-industry expression |
|---|---|
| Customers | [Buyers in this industry — who hires the industry to do a job] |
| Suppliers | [Input providers — raw materials, talent pipelines, platform vendors] |
| Employees | [Practitioners and workers — job titles specific to this industry] |
| Owners | [Capital providers and principals — partners, investors, franchise owners] |
| Regulators | [Licensing bodies, sector regulators, courts, standards organisations] |
Buyer side — players
The buyers of INDUSTRY_NAME output. The value-generators the industry exists to serve. Player = the WHO. Position filled = what they buy.
| Player (WHO) | Position filled — what they buy | Asymmetry they need closed | Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Player type 1] | [What they purchase from this industry] | [Information, cost, or access gap they face] | [Dreamer / Realist / Engineer / Coach / Philosopher] |
| [Player type 2] | |||
| [Player type 3] |
Provider side — players
The professionals and organisations that produce the work product. Player = the WHO. Position filled = what they provide.
| Player (WHO) | Position filled — what they provide | Where they compete | Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Incumbent tier-1 provider] | [Core product or service] | [Competitive edge] | |
| [Mid-market / specialist provider] | |||
| [Emerging or technology-native provider] | |||
| [Commodity or platform-layer provider] |
Infrastructure side — players
The technology, data, and service providers the industry operates on. Player = the WHO. Position filled = what they provide.
| Player (WHO) | Position filled — what they provide | Disruption vector | Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Legacy / incumbent platform] | [What they supply] | [Why they are sticky or vulnerable] | |
| [Wave-2 / AI-native platform] | |||
| [Open-source or decentralised alternative] | |||
| [Data or connectivity layer] |
Boundary side — players
Sets the rules the other three sides operate inside. Player = the WHO. Position filled = function held in the system.
| Player (WHO) | Position filled — function held | Repeat-player advantage |
|---|---|---|
| [Licensing or accreditation body] | [What they mandate] | [Where their power compounds] |
| [Sector regulator] | ||
| [Standards body] | ||
| [Courts or dispute resolution body] |
The Five Archetypes Across the Community
The fractal pattern names five archetypes that appear at every layer of every system. The INDUSTRY_NAME industry is no exception.
- Dreamer — [Who fills this role in this industry — the vision-holder or venture-seeker]
- Realist — [Who is the pragmatist or gatekeeper — the one who says "will this actually work?"]
- Engineer — [Who builds and operates the systems — the domain craftsperson]
- Coach — [Who develops others and carries the trust capital — the relationship-holder]
- Philosopher — [Who asks "what is the right answer here" — the researcher or domain purist]
A healthy INDUSTRY_NAME community has all five archetypes represented across the buyer / provider / infrastructure / boundary sides. When any one archetype dominates a side, [describe what fails — e.g. innovation stalls / cost blows out / regulation captured].
Positions Matrix — Human vs AI Split
Players hold positions. Each position has a human-vs-AI split that is shifting. The hat changes; the player remains — but AI does an increasing share of the work inside the hat.
| Position | Human today | AI today | Direction (3–5 years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Senior / relationship position] | 100% human | [AI-augmented for which tasks] | [How the split shifts] |
| [Mid-level practitioner] | |||
| [Volume / commodity position] | [AI does most X today] | [Significant headcount pressure] | |
| [Specialist / expert position] | |||
| [Regulatory / oversight position] | 100% human | AI-assisted research | AI-augmented but human-led |
Archetype Asymmetries — Industry Level
| Archetype | What they bring | Where they win in INDUSTRY_NAME |
|---|---|---|
| Dreamer | [Their distinctive contribution] | [Where they create disproportionate value] |
| Engineer | ||
| Realist | ||
| Coach | ||
| Philosopher |
Context
- depends-on Community → Ecosystem — Five-counterparty model; the hat changes, the player remains
- applies-to Community → Archetypes — The five archetypes mapped across this community
- pairs-with INDUSTRY_NAME Principles
/playbook/industries/INDUSTRY_SLUG/principles— The first principles that govern which counterparties dominate - pairs-with INDUSTRY_NAME Process
/playbook/industries/INDUSTRY_SLUG/process— The processes that serve these counterparties - pairs-with INDUSTRY_NAME Platform
/playbook/industries/INDUSTRY_SLUG/platform— The tools these players run on - instance-of Community — How any industry community functions
Questions
- Which counterparty's perspective is most often invisible in this industry — and what routing signal gets missed as a result?
- Where does the hat-changing dynamic most distort incentives — and how does a new entrant exploit that?
- If AI removes the volume-work asymmetry, what is the residual asymmetry that keeps the Dreamer, Coach, and Philosopher irreplaceable?
- Which archetype is currently underrepresented on the provider side — and what does that explain about how the industry is evolving?