Ferret AI allows users to get background information on their entire network before entering into a business agreement with them.
The AI tool claims to automatically monitor various information sources to vet potential customers, investors, and business patterns.
The tool starts by examining the users’ relationships and determining which friends, colleagues, and partners are in their network and what relationship they play.
Some sources it searches include newspaper archives, legal records, and corporate ownership records.
Ferret AI is one of a number of increasingly popular AI scraping tools that scan vast amounts of data from different sources and then analyze them to provide tailored solutions for specific use cases.
Google searches and are often lacking in detail, and searching individual data sources such as searches through a newspaper archive like newspapers.com one-by-one is obviously extremely time-consuming.
Use Cases
The tool bills itself as critical for high-net-worth individuals who need to screen their network and other founders for negative stories before investing or forming a relationship with them.
The tool claims to allow users to perform anti-money laundering and sanctions checks so that they don't inadvertently run afoul of the law by doing business with them.
By running these checks, high-net-worth individuals can also ensure that they are not bringing people into their network who could ruin their reputation.
It also allows business owners to vet contractors who have a habit of suing or making things difficult if the contract doesn't work out.
However, for such highly critical checks, it would not be wise to rely on an AI tool just yet. The high-net-worth users the app targets have the resources to hire professional vetting services and investigators, and would not necessarily be looking for a cheaper tool to replace them.
Privacy
There are a lot of potential privacy concerns around the data the app collects. According to dot.LA, the company is even in talks with dating apps to include their data in its searches. The information that Ferett AI collects could help influence the next generation of dating apps.
All the data that Ferett currently collects is publicly available but difficult to track down. The founders' vision is to democratize data that already exists but is usually only available by hiring an expensive professional to research it.
Pricing
The tool, which is currently in beta, has a free version that offers 10 free searches per month
and unlimited contact imports.
The premium version, currently at $240 per year, includes unlimited searches and unlimited contact imports with the ability to continuously monitor 100 saved searches.
The Professional version, currently at $600 per year, includes the same features with the ability to monitor 1000 saved searches.
Founders
Ferett AI's founders are Robert Loughan and Al MacDonald. Loughan is an investor and technical advisor from the United States and was previously a founder of the SaaS company Dexterra. MacDonald is a software developer with a technical background and former Chief Technical Officer at RDC.