How to sell your company's data to AI companies

Why AI companies want your company's data

Large AI models have already read most of the public internet. What they haven't seen is the inside of a working business: how a refund gets approved, how a lease renewal is handled, how a support ticket gets escalated, how month-end actually closes.

That gap matters because AI labs are now building AI agents, software that does multi-step work on its own. To train an agent, labs need examples of real work, with real exceptions and real judgment calls. micro1 said it plainly when it announced its program: "Real business operations involve incomplete information, competing priorities and exceptions that require judgment" (The Next Web).

So the buyers aren't after your customer list. They want records of how your team works.

How big is the market right now?

Bigger than most business owners realize, and growing fast:

• $1 billion: micro1 committed to spending $1B over 12 months buying and licensing company operational data, backed by Citi and Hercules Capital (The Next Web, Oct 9, 2026).
• $150,000: The Information reported data-labeling startups paying HVAC companies $150,000 for their data (The Information).
• $10,000–$100,000: SimpleClosure, which helps startups shut down, processed 100 deals in one year selling internal communications to AI labs, with payouts in that range (Fast Company, Apr 2026).
• $10 million: Google's deal for Spirit Airlines' records in bankruptcy, backed by the court-appointed privacy official (The Next Web).

For context on the high end, platform deals like Reddit's with Google run about $60 million a year (Engadget). Operating companies won't see those numbers, but the six-figure range is now public and repeatable.

What you can sell (and what you can't)

The most valuable data shows how work moves through your company. micro1 lists these categories (source):

What you generally can't sell is data you don't own outright: customer data covered by contracts, client files you hold on someone else's behalf, or regulated records like patient health information. Read client data vs. company data before you apply.

Who qualifies

For micro1's Enterprise Data Partnership, the published criteria are (source):

• 30+ employees
• Established documentation: written SOPs, knowledge bases, processes
• English-language docs and communication
• US companies first, then the UK, Canada and other Western markets

Not sure where you stand? Take the 60-second estimate.

How to sell your company data, step by step

1. Inventory what you have. List your SOPs, wikis, CRM, ticketing system, QA records and project tools, and how many years each covers.
2. Separate what you own from what you hold for others. Your process docs are yours. Client records often aren't.
3. Apply. The application includes a short AI interview to match you with the right partnership.
4. Evaluation. The buyer reviews whether your company and data are a fit.
5. Discovery call. You agree on scope, privacy rules, redaction and what's off-limits.
6. Agreement and delivery. You sign, prepare the approved data and review samples before use.

Use our preparation checklist and contract checklist to move faster.

How payouts are set

There's no fixed price list. micro1 says compensation depends on dataset size and volume, workflow complexity, data quality, domain expertise and uniqueness (source). Its published tiers:

More detail in how much your company data is worth.

Risks to weigh

• Confidentiality: process docs can reveal pricing logic or vendor terms. Scope them out or redact.
• Third-party rights: client contracts, NDAs and privacy laws may restrict some records.
• Employee data: internal messages contain personal information that must be removed.
• Competitive exposure: data is used to train general models, not handed to competitors, but ask how it's used.

Our full breakdown: is it safe to sell company data to AI? Always have your counsel review the agreement.

Frequently asked questions