Start with the role of the counterparty.
“AI buyer” can describe different organizations. An AI developer may use material to train or evaluate its own systems. An acquisition or licensing platform may prepare and license material for downstream use. A specialist may evaluate a collection or manage processing without being the ultimate user. Establish which role the company is taking in your proposed deal.
Ask who signs the agreement, who pays, who receives the source material and who may receive derived data or usage rights. These may not all be the same entity. A company name on an introductory email does not answer the full chain of questions.
Prospective programs and the questions they raise.
This is an unranked description of public programs, not a partner directory. Requirements change; a listing does not establish current demand for your records.
| Program | Described focus | Resolve early |
|---|---|---|
| micro1 | Existing operating documentation and enterprise records. Its current program prioritizes US companies, primarily English records and established operations. | Which current track and company requirements apply, and what makes a package acceptable? |
| Scale | Structured, de-identified operating records and linked workflows. It describes limited starting scopes, package approval and continuing partnerships. | What is the first package, where does processing occur, and what approval is needed before each delivery? |
| Mercor | Workflow records across business tools. It describes a connector-based extraction and processing route. | Which connector permissions, exclusions and processing steps would apply to the proposed systems? |
| Labelbox Prism | Work documents and operational systems, including histories of decisions and work across tools. Its published approach describes exclusivity as a default. | How narrow can the licensed scope be, and exactly what would exclusivity restrict? |
| Grepped | Company datasets and operational records, with separate interest in interactive or reinforcement-learning environments. | Is the request for existing records, an environment or newly created expert work? Who contracts for the proposed use? |
| Polyshares | Company operating records that it describes licensing and preparing for AI use. | What material and uses are covered, what internal uses are retained, and which rights continue after the initial payment? |
What a useful buyer brief should tell you.
A broad request for “company data” is not enough to plan an extraction. Ask for a brief specific enough for your operations and technical owners to evaluate. You should be able to describe the requested package and the question the buyer expects it to answer.
- Task or use: what kind of work should the material help train, test or support?
- Record families: documents, event histories, structured tables, tool interactions or another clearly defined collection.
- Context: which timestamps, revisions, relationships and outcomes are needed for interpretation?
- Coverage: language, date range, continuity, units and an appropriate measure of volume.
- Quality: how missing records, duplicates, incomplete histories and mixed formats are handled.
- Rights and exclusions: which material cannot be included and who approves the proposed use.
- Evaluation route: what can be decided from metadata and what would require a separately agreed sample.
- Commercial route: the contracting entity, preparation responsibilities and the event that triggers payment.
If the brief changes from a historical collection to live access or newly created expert work, revisit the scope. These are different commitments, even if they relate to the same business process.
Company size is a filter, not a conclusion.
Some programs publish preferences for headcount, operating history, geography or language. Those preferences can help an acquisition team narrow its search, but they do not establish the value or suitability of an individual collection. A long-established company may have short accessible history; a smaller company may have a coherent specialist collection. Ask what the current brief requires.
Give coverage in terms of readable records, not only company age. State whether attachments, revision history and links across systems survive earlier migrations. If coverage is estimated, identify it as an estimate. That gives the buyer a concrete point to verify.
Plan the evaluation before giving access.
First agree what can be assessed from a description or schema. If a sample becomes necessary, resolve who may see it, its permitted evaluation use, confidentiality, exclusions and what happens if the opportunity stops. A connector can simplify extraction, but it also requires a review of the permissions it requests and the systems it can reach.
Clarify whether the buyer, your team or a specialist will prepare the material. Ask how exclusions are enforced, how the owner approves a package and how acceptance is documented. Keep the evaluation agreement separate from any assumption that a full license has already been agreed.
Our data licensing resource explains how to compare scope, exclusivity, payment and continuing rights. The readiness checklist helps identify which answers your company already has.
What an introduction through this site means.
An enquiry describes your company and its records. It is not automatically sent to any listed program. Before a proposed introduction, you approve the named recipient and the exact metadata and contact fields to share. Your company and the buyer handle samples, diligence, agreements and transfers directly.
The operator may receive a referral fee when a separately approved introduction satisfies a program’s terms. Ask about that arrangement before choosing the route. An enquiry, introductory call or preliminary estimate does not itself establish a sale or commission. The referral disclosure explains this financial interest.