Our verdict
Cleartelligence is a Boston-area data and AI consultancy with more than 150 staff, Align Capital Partners backing since 2022, and a 2024 Bardess Group acquisition that deepened its engineering bench. It suits a mid-market or PE-backed company that wants trusted data platforms and decision intelligence before or alongside AI, and it is less suited to a buyer who needs a large custom software product studio.
The right buyer
- Mid-market and PE portfolio companies that need data strategy tied to business outcomes. Align Capital Partners backed it to scale that model across the Americas (Cleartelligence; Align Capital Partners).
- Teams building on Snowflake, Databricks, Tableau, or dbt. Those platforms are core to its partner stack (Align Capital Partners; about page).
- Life sciences, manufacturing, retail, and financial services buyers. Those are its stated industry practices (about page).
Reasons to look elsewhere
- Public case studies with published ROI figures are thinner than at some peers, so a buyer who wants long published proof lists should ask for references.
- It is a data and AI consultancy, not a full custom product engineering shop, so a pure software build may fit another firm better.
Cleartelligence, At A High Level
Cleartelligence was founded in 2011 by Joe Marino, Ron Keler, and Anil Bharadwa and is headquartered at 275 Grove Street in Newton, Massachusetts (Cleartelligence; about page). Align Capital Partners invested growth capital in late 2022, and the firm bought New Jersey data engineering consultancy Bardess Group in July 2024 (Cleartelligence; Cleartelligence). Owen Frivold, a co-founder of Hero Digital, became CEO in April 2025 (Cleartelligence).
- More than 150 team members, 50+ clients, 130+ partner certifications, and an 86 Net Promoter Score by its own count; we estimate annual revenue at $20 million to $30 million (about page).
- Offers analytics and visualization, artificial intelligence, data engineering and architecture, and data strategy and advisory (about page).
- Became a Certified Services Partner in Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network (about page).
- Opened a Hyderabad, India, office in 2025 to expand delivery capacity (Cleartelligence).
Scores by criterion
We scored Cleartelligence from its about page, growth-capital and acquisition announcements, CEO appointment, and Align Capital Partners profile. Stability scores highest; commercial clarity scores lowest because rates are unpublished.
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production track record | 20% | 6.5 | 50+ clients and PE-oriented delivery; fewer public ROI case studies with figures. |
| Technical depth | 15% | 7.0 | Modern data stack engineering, ML operationalization, and Claude partner work. |
| Industry depth | 10% | 7.0 | Life sciences, manufacturing, retail, technology, and financial services. |
| Delivery model and handoff | 15% | 6.5 | US delivery with a new India office for scale. |
| Commercial clarity | 10% | 5.5 | No published rates or minimums. |
| Platform independence | 10% | 7.0 | Works across Snowflake, Databricks, Tableau, dbt, AWS, and related tools. |
| Stability and scale | 10% | 7.5 | Founded 2011, ACP-backed, Bardess acquisition, 150+ staff. |
| Independent evidence | 10% | 6.5 | Partner certifications, Claude partner status, and PE sponsor profile. |
| Overall | 100% | 6.7 | Weighted average |
Where Cleartelligence fits
Cleartelligence is used by mid-market enterprises and private equity portfolio companies that need data platforms, visualization, and AI insights on a modern stack. On price it sits in the regional mid-market tier. Competitors on this site include Analytics8 and phData for data platform consulting at a larger scale, and Brainforge for a smaller boutique.
| Need | Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A Snowflake or Databricks platform build | Strong | Those platforms sit at the center of its partner work. |
| Decision intelligence for a PE portfolio company | Strong | ACP backing and PE-oriented messaging are core to its pitch. |
| Operationalizing ML on trusted data | Good | AI and ML operationalization are listed services. |
| A large custom software product build | Weak | Its focus is data and AI consulting, not product engineering. |
What clients and leaders say
Cleartelligence’s leaders and clients describe its work in published announcements. One buyer concern is written from public facts about the firm.
“Owen brings a proven track record of driving growth and operational excellence, making him the ideal leader to guide Cleartelligence through its next phase of expansion.”
“I am honored to take on this role at such a pivotal time for Cleartelligence.”
“Acquiring Bardess marks a crucial milestone in our journey to become the leading provider of AI-first data solutions.”
“They were strong on Snowflake and Tableau architecture, but we had to press for specific references with numbers before we signed.”
Where customer reviews couldn’t be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums and product documentation. Based on: Cleartelligence’s about page and Align Capital Partners’ Cleartelligence profile, which describe its modern data stack work without publishing client ROI figures.
Who leads Cleartelligence
Owen Frivold became CEO of Cleartelligence in April 2025 after co-founding Hero Digital and Winter Sun (Cleartelligence).
Sources (6)
- Cleartelligence: about / who we are
- Cleartelligence: homepage
- Cleartelligence: Owen Frivold CEO appointment (April 10, 2025)
- Cleartelligence: Bardess Group acquisition (July 16, 2024)
- Cleartelligence: Align Capital Partners growth capital (January 2023 / July 2023 post)
- Align Capital Partners: Cleartelligence investment profile