How to buy AI training data without going through a marketplace

What actually changes?

You stop specifying a task for an anonymous pool and start specifying an outcome for a named team. That means more work up front and considerably less firefighting afterwards.

It also means the accountability is singular. When something is wrong in the dataset there is one party responsible for it, which is not true when the work passed through a matching layer.

How does the engagement usually start?

With a conversation about what you are trying to teach the model, not a volume figure. Volume is downstream of specification, and a supplier who asks for volume first is quoting rather than scoping.

Then a pilot, which exists to find the gaps in your specification. Committed volume comes after that, priced against a specification that has actually met annotators.

How are commercial terms structured?

Variably, and that is deliberate. Corpshore prices per project, per accepted task, per hour and with setup fees where the work requires standing something up. Which mix applies depends on the shape of the work and is finalised with staff rather than forced into a single model.

The reason to resist a single per-unit rate is that it fits some work and actively distorts other work, particularly anything where the right answer sometimes takes ten times as long as the average answer.

• Per project for defined-scope programmes
• Per accepted task for high-volume repeatable work
• Per hour for exploratory or expert work
• Setup fees where capability must be stood up

What should you expect operationally?

Named contacts, a stated QA process you can inspect and continuity of the team across the programme. Continuity is the substantive benefit of this model, so it is reasonable to ask what happens to it if the programme pauses and restarts.

You should also expect to be told when something is not possible. A supplier who agrees to every requirement has not read them carefully.

What is the difference between a data operator and a data marketplace?

An operator runs delivery with its own teams and is singularly accountable for the result. A marketplace matches your posted task to available supply, distributing accountability across a matching layer.

How should a first data engagement be structured?

Specification conversation first, then a pilot whose purpose is to find specification gaps, then committed volume priced against a specification that has actually been tested with annotators.

How does Corpshore price data work?

Per project, per accepted task, per hour and with setup fees where capability must be stood up. The mix depends on the shape of the work and is finalised with Corpshore AI staff.