Guides: your company's records, and what they may be worth

Questions owners ask

• Can I license my company's data to AI companies?

  Often, yes. AI developers license real working records from ordinary US businesses, such as quotes, work orders, drawings and dispatch logs, as long as your firm created them, owns the rights and can keep personal information out.

• What is my company's data worth to AI developers?

  Nobody can honestly name a number without seeing what you have. Data-licensing firms publish claims ranging from about $100,000 to several million dollars per firm, driven mostly by size, years of records, variety and how clearly you own them.

• Is it legal to license my business records for AI training?

  Generally yes, for records your firm created and owns. The work is in the checks: who owns each kind of record, what your client contracts say, how much personal information is inside, and whether any of it is government or export-controlled work. Have your own lawyer review the licence.

• What kinds of business records do AI companies license?

  Buyers license a firm's whole operating archive, not just one document type: quotes and estimates, orders, email and shared drives, work orders and logs, drawings and specs. Records that show real work from start to finish, with all the back-and-forth, are worth the most.

• Licensing vs. selling your company's data: do I lose ownership?

  No. In an AI data licence you keep ownership of your records and grant a buyer the right to use copies for a defined purpose, usually training or testing AI models. Non-exclusive licences are normal, so you can keep using your records and could license them again.

• How does an AI data licensing deal work, step by step?

  It starts with a few lines describing what you have, no files. If a buyer is interested, they review a description or small sample under an NDA, you agree price and terms directly with them, and the records are transferred and cleaned under their licence. Nothing moves without your written OK.

• My company closed. Are the old records worth anything?

  Possibly, yes. Some buyers say outright that closed or winding-down firms can qualify, and size is usually judged at the firm's peak. What matters is whether the records still exist in usable form and who now holds the rights to them.

• What about client confidentiality and personal data?

  Client-owned deliverables and anything under a confidentiality clause usually stay out. Personal information about employees, customers or drivers has to be removed or left out. Ask every buyer exactly how they clean the data, and who is responsible if something slips through.

• How to tell if an AI data offer is legitimate

  Walk away from anyone who asks you for money, passwords or files before a written agreement, promises you a fixed amount up front, or pressures you with deadlines. A legitimate buyer or finder is a named, reachable person, explains who pays whom, and is fine with you checking them out and saying no.

When your records are in play

• Closing a business? What to do with the company records

  Don't wipe the servers or call the shredding truck yet. First sort the records you're still legally required to keep, then the ones that hold personal information and must be destroyed securely. What's left, your firm's own working archive, may be worth licensing to AI developers before it disappears.

• Selling or handing over your firm? Don't forget the archive

  In a sale, the company records usually go with the business, so any value in them goes to the buyer, often without anyone pricing it. If you license copies of your archive before or alongside a sale, you keep the records and the business intact and can earn from the archive separately. Talk to your deal advisers first, because it has to fit the sale terms.

• What to do with an old file server and backups

  Before you wipe or recycle an old server, NAS or backup set, list what's on it, keep what you're legally required to keep, destroy personal data securely, and check whether the rest, often years of the firm's working records, is worth keeping or even licensing.

• Can I delete old company emails?

  Often yes, but not blindly. Email that counts as a required business record (tax, payroll, employment, contracts, industry records) has to be kept for its retention period, and anything relevant to a dispute must be preserved. The rest can go, though a firm's email archive is also one of the records AI developers most want to license.

How long to keep business records

• How long to keep business records (US federal rules, with sources)

  Most federal periods run 1 to 7 years: IRS records generally 3 years from filing (6 or 7 in some cases), employment tax records at least 4 years, payroll records 3 years, time cards 2 years, I-9s 3 years after hire or 1 year after employment ends (whichever is later), OSHA injury logs 5 years. State law and your industry can add more. Once a period ends, the records can go, though the working archive may be worth licensing first.

• Trucking and freight broker record retention (FMCSA rules, with sources)

  Freight brokers keep their transaction records 3 years. Carriers keep hours-of-service records and supporting documents at least 6 months, maintenance records 1 year plus 6 months after a vehicle leaves their control, and drug and alcohol testing records 1 to 5 years depending on the record. Load history beyond that, the years of rates, lanes and dispatch, usually has no retention duty, and it's what AI developers look for.

AI and your industry

• AI in freight brokerage and trucking: what's changing, and where your records fit

  AI tools for freight are being built for quoting, carrier matching, load tendering, document processing and track-and-trace. They work only as well as the real freight history they learn from, and most of that history sits in the TMS exports, rate confirmations and dispatch email of ordinary brokerages and carriers. If you have years of it, it may be worth licensing.

• AI in industrial distribution and wholesale: what's changing, and where your records fit

  AI tools for distributors are being built for quoting, order entry from email and PDFs, product search, cross-referencing part numbers and demand forecasting. They need years of real quotes, orders and customer questions to learn from. An owner-led distributor's ERP history is exactly that, and it may be worth licensing.

• AI for contractors (roofing, HVAC, electrical, solar): what's changing, and where your records fit

  AI tools for contractors are being built for estimating and takeoffs, measuring from photos and aerial images, scheduling and dispatch, proposals and answering customer calls. They learn from real estimates, job costs, photos and change orders. A contractor with years of job files has what those tools need, and it may be worth licensing.

• AI in engineering and architecture firms: what's changing, and where your records fit

  AI tools for design firms are being built for drawing review, code checking, specification writing, proposal drafting and searching past projects. They need real drawing sets, calculations, RFIs and specs to learn from. A firm with decades of project archives has what those tools need, though client rights and confidentiality have to be checked first.

• AI in manufacturing and machine building: what's changing, and where your records fit

  AI tools for manufacturers are being built for quoting from drawings, process planning, machine maintenance, quality inspection and service support. They learn from real quotes, routings, work orders, inspection results and service tickets. An owner-led shop with years of that history has what those tools need, and it may be worth licensing.

Licensing records, by industry

• Freight brokers, trucking and 3PL: licensing your records for AI

  Freight and logistics records are among the most sought after: years of rate quotes, load tenders, dispatch decisions and claims show real-world judgment under pressure. A data-licensing firm says it paid a 100-person freight brokerage $650K and a 3PL $500K (their claims, unverified).

• Industrial distributors and wholesalers: licensing your records for AI

  Distributors hold years of orders, quotes, substitutions and supplier back-and-forth: the everyday reasoning of B2B commerce. A data-licensing firm says it paid an industrial distributor $1.2M, the largest of its published examples (their claim, unverified).

• Contractors and builders: licensing your records for AI

  Specialty and general contractors sit on years of estimates, bids, change orders, daily logs and closeout records, the practical knowledge of how jobs really go. A data-licensing firm says it paid a roofing contractor $450K, a general contractor $300K and a solar installer $275K (their claims, unverified).

• Engineering and architecture firms: licensing your records for AI

  Engineering and architecture archives are some of the richest technical records there are: drawings, models, calculations, specs and the revision history behind them. Ownership is the deciding question, because client contracts often change who owns the work. A data-licensing firm says it paid a 70-person engineering firm $450K (their claim, unverified).

• Manufacturers and machine builders: licensing your records for AI

  Manufacturers that make their own products often have the clearest rights of all: they own their designs outright. Buyers list work orders, QA and inspection logs, maintenance records, SOPs and spec sheets as wanted. There's no published deal example for manufacturing yet.

For advisors

• For accountants and CPAs: when a client's records may be worth something

  When a client closes, sells or asks what they can shred, you're often the first to hear. Once retention periods are covered, the client's working archive (quotes, orders, project and job files) may be worth licensing to AI developers. A free fit check costs the client nothing. I pay no referral fees, so your advice stays independent.

• For M&A advisers, business brokers and estate attorneys: the archive in the deal

  In a sale, succession or estate, the company's archive usually goes along unpriced. A non-exclusive licence of copies can earn the owner or the estate something separately, without changing what's sold, as long as it's disclosed and fits the deal terms. I pay no referral fees and work alongside the deal team, not around it.

• For IT providers and MSPs: before you decommission a client's old systems

  When you retire a client's old server, ERP or backup set, the decision to wipe usually sits with you and the owner. Before it's gone, make sure retention duties are covered, and mention that the working archive may be worth licensing to AI developers. A free fit check costs the client nothing, and I pay no referral fees.