What is my company's data worth to AI developers?
Short answer
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.
The honest answer first
Anyone who promises you a dollar figure before seeing your records is guessing, or selling something. The price is agreed between you and the buyer, after they've looked at what you have.
What is public is a set of examples that data-licensing firms publish about their own deals, and the ranges they advertise.
Published examples
These are claims published by a data-licensing firm. I haven't verified them, and they are not an estimate for your company.
| Kind of firm | Published claim |
|---|---|
| Industrial distributor | $1.2M |
| Freight brokerage, 100 staff | $650K |
| 3PL / warehousing | $500K |
| Engineering firm, 70 staff | $450K |
| Roofing contractor | $450K |
| General contractor | $300K |
| Solar installer | $275K |
| Marketing agency | $110K |
Other buyers advertise ranges rather than single deals: from roughly $100,000 for a smaller archive up to $4 million or more for large ones.
What moves the price
Buyers don't publish formulas, but their requirements point to the same handful of factors:
- Size of the firm, at its peak. More people over more years means more records and more variety.
- Years of records. A decade of work is worth more than two years of it.
- Variety. A firm's whole operating archive (email, quotes, orders, work orders, drawings, logs) is worth more than one type of document.
- Digital and complete. Searchable files in their original formats, with their history, beat scanned paper and fragments.
- Clear rights. Records your firm created and owns are licensable. Client-owned work, government data-rights work and export-controlled material usually come out, and that shrinks the archive.
- Little personal information. Records full of personal data need heavy cleaning, or can't be used at all.
- What buyers need right now. Demand shifts as AI developers move between projects.
What usually lowers it, or rules it out
- Under about 20 staff at peak, or under three years of records.
- Mostly paper, or records already deleted.
- Most of the work belongs to clients.
- An industry where records are full of personal or privileged information: healthcare, law, accounting and tax, insurance and lending, staffing.
Why it might be worth more now than later
AI developers pay for authentic professional records because good training data has become scarce. That's unusual, and it probably won't last: as more firms license their archives, prices should fall.
Quick questions
Can you give me an estimate for my company?
Not an honest one from the outside. What I can do for free is tell you whether buyers look for what you have, and which published examples are closest to your kind of firm.
Are the published deal amounts real?
They are claims published by data-licensing firms about their own deals. I can't verify them, and they are not an estimate for any other company.
Is the money paid all at once?
Terms vary by buyer. Ask each buyer how and when they pay, what exactly is licensed, and for how long, and get it in writing before you agree.
Want an honest read on your own records?
Describe what you have in a few lines. I'll tell you whether buyers look for it. No files needed.
Ask for a free fit check You pay nothing · I never touch your files · Nothing happens without your written OK