Outsmart Everyone: Spy Skills to Gain an Unfair Advantage in Work and Life by Bustamante, Andrew

For readers of Never Split the Difference and What Every Body Is Saying, learn how to adopt top-secret spy skills to gain an unfair advantage in business and life.

Information is the lifeblood of spycraft, and the key to unlocking opportunity, influence, and freedom in everyday life. But in a world of infinite newsfeeds and data sources and AI-generated search results, the most powerful person in the room isn't the person with the most information, or even the best information. It's the person who knows how to turn that information into knowledge. This is what intelligence operatives do better than anyone on earth--and ex-CIA officer Andrew Bustamante is here to tell you how. Packed with high octane stories from his seven years undercover and practical strategies the CIA doesn't want you to know about, Outsmart Everyone reveals how to:

• Cut through information overload and transform raw data into actionable insight
• Detect lies and hidden agendas by reading people like a professional interrogator
• Build powerful networks using the same methods CIA uses to recruit foreign assets
• Navigate complex human dynamics to get an edge in negotiations, networking, and teamwork
• Separate signal from noise to notice what others miss and remember details others forget
• Master the art of asking questions to unlock human intelligence
• And much more

These are the same elite skills that CIA operatives use to hunt terrorists, learn enemy secrets, cultivate sources, and stay alive. In this one-of-a-kind field guide, you'll learn how to deploy them to win untold success, power, and influence in your everyday life.

Author: Andrew Bustamante
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
Published: 09/08/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780316572170

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/20/2026

About the Author
Andrew Bustamante is a former CIA intelligence officer and co-founder of EverydaySpy, a training platform for adapting the skills of intelligence operatives for business and life. He hosts the EverydaySpy Podcast, serves as a go-to expert for national security issues, and is a highly sought-after public speaker and corporate consultant who has appeared on FOX, ABC, and the History Channel. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and decorated US Air Force combat veteran, he was recruited into CIA's National Clandestine Service (NCS), where he served for seven years handling sensitive operations still classified Top Secret. He is the author (with his wife Jihi Bustamante), of the New York Times bestseller Shadow Cell.