Also every other advisor is 100% going to cost money on all options, Smith gives the possibility of industrializing Australia on the Empires budget if we put a military spin on it. Which is also useful if we want secret facilities or just outright military instillation which would make rebelling/not legal shit we do easier.
At least this is what I think.
Quite honestly, the best advisor for what you're talking about, counting solely on their own merits, is Hugo. He's old hat at playing political games in a number of ways and can cut through the bullshit fairly easily. His special quality reflects that. Basically, all of his
personal projects will be things that he can go, "No, see that's for military use and the Britannian industrial complex should start mass producing it." Or, alternatively... "Funding this project would make the Britannian military more capable, who wants to invest?"
Hugo's only caveat is that he hates people who
lie to him about what they're doing with his tech. See backstory. If you're mass producing cybernetics and they're civilian grade, don't use them on soldiers. Similarly, if you commission him or exploratory vehicles for deep-sea mining, don't use them to deliver explosives to enemy ports. I can't exactly explain further, because all advisors have issues and resolving them is ho you really boost SLs later on.
Bertrand... can
theoretically do some automated construction stuff if you chase his and Su's techs far enough, but that will be later stuff and require dedicated investment into it. What Bertrand
can do, relatively easily, is tech up to start empty enemy accounts. If you wanted, he could also start stealing secrets to help blackmail people into supporting your goals.
Jaegar, again, is a bit of a gamble. He has the potential to do some insane stuff that will make people sit up and take notice of you in a big way. And, theoretically, he can get you to the point where you can start making Sakuradite later on at an industrial scale. That's printing money, basically. Note: Not Quickly. He's also likely to draw some attention from the academic community if you ever prove him right about anything he's said, because they'll have to start rewriting history wholesale. If you can manage that, lots of money comes your way simply as his patron.