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The CoDomain map is built around a single core unit: the frame. Every piece of intelligence the map surfaces lives inside a frame, and every frame answers the same question — what is the market actually doing at this specific intersection of AI product category and industry? Once you understand how frames work and what each direction is telling you, the map becomes a navigation tool, not just a reference.

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How the Map Is Organized

Each frame in the map represents one subpattern (AI product category) operating in one industry. Think of it as a coordinate on the map: the subpattern is one axis, the industry is the other, and the frame is what’s at that intersection. For example, a frame might cover developer agents in software and SaaS, or multi-agent orchestration in financial services. These aren’t the same frame. Each one has its own signal profile, its own competitive terrain, and its own directional call — even if the subpatterns are adjacent. The frame is the unit of intelligence. When you’re reading the map, you’re looking for the frames that correspond to your product category and target industry, then reading what the signal says about that specific market.

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The Four Frame Directions

Every published frame carries one of four directions. The direction reflects the relationship between financial investment and practitioner field sentiment in that category and industry. Here’s what each one means — and how to use it.
Financial investment and practitioner sentiment are pointing in the same direction. The market believes in this category, and money is following that belief (or vice versa).What this means for your strategy: You’re entering a validated, active market. Competition is real — other teams have read the same signal and are building here. Concordant frames aren’t automatically safe; they’re confirmed. Your edge in a Concordant frame comes from differentiation, not from being first to believe.If you’re raising, a Concordant frame in your category validates the market thesis. If you’re building, it means you need a sharper angle — the space is real, but it’s not empty.
Capital is flowing into this category, but the people actually doing the work aren’t convinced yet. Financial investment has outpaced field sentiment.What this means for your strategy: This is a high-variance signal. Money Ahead can mean you’re looking at an early-mover opportunity — capital is staking a position before practitioners catch up. It can also mean you’re looking at a hype cycle, where investment is speculative and sentiment will never follow.Read the signal section for these frames carefully. Look at the sentiment cluster distribution — is skepticism high, or is enthusiasm just lagging? The direction label tells you there’s a gap. The signal section tells you what kind of gap it is.
Practitioners are talking about this category actively and positively, but financial investment hasn’t caught up. Lots of signal, limited spend.What this means for your strategy: Mouth Ahead frames can represent emerging opportunity — a category where practitioners have identified real value and spend is on its way. They can also represent a space that generates enthusiasm but never converts to revenue or budget.If you’re looking for whitespace, Mouth Ahead frames in your adjacent industries are worth investigating. If you’re raising on a Mouth Ahead frame, be prepared to explain the conversion thesis — why spend follows, and when.
There wasn’t enough defensible signal to publish a directional call for this category and industry combination. The frame exists in the map’s data model, but no direction is surfaced.What this means for your strategy: The absence of signal is itself information. This category hasn’t formed in this industry — at least not in a way that shows up in public practitioner channels or tracked financial sources. That could mean it’s genuinely nascent, or it could mean it’s operating in channels the map doesn’t yet cover.
Insufficient Signal frames are not published on the live map. If a frame is missing from your target category and industry, it means the team didn’t have enough signal to publish a defensible call — not that the combination doesn’t exist.

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Using Frame Directions in Your Strategy

The direction label is the starting point, not the conclusion. Here’s how to apply each direction to common product and go-to-market decisions:
Start with Concordant frames in your target industry. These tell you where the market is validated and active. Then look at Money Ahead frames — they tell you where capital is already betting. Use the combination to understand whether you’re entering a proven space or staking a position in a forming one.Avoid treating Insufficient Signal as an opportunity without further investigation. It may be whitespace, or it may be a category the market has already tried and moved on from.

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The Version Label

Every version of the CoDomain map carries a version number (for example, v1.0.1) and a data refresh date. When you’re reading a frame, check the version to understand how current the intelligence is. The map is updated in versioned releases, not continuously. Between versions, a frame’s direction is stable — it reflects the signal at the time of that release. After a refresh, directions can shift as practitioner sentiment evolves and new financial data is captured. If you’re making a time-sensitive decision, check whether a new version is in progress. The changelog for each version documents which frames changed direction and why.
Read the signal and pattern sections for each frame, not just the direction label. Two Concordant frames in the same industry can have completely different competitive dynamics — one might be a winner-take-most race, the other an open field with no dominant player yet. The direction tells you the relationship between spend and sentiment. The signal section tells you the story underneath it.