What counts as SOP data?
Any written procedure your teams follow, plus the trail that shows it in use. That covers the SOPs themselves, work instructions, checklists, approval steps and escalation paths, and also their version history, the deviation notes written when a step could not be followed, and the tickets or forms that record each run. Regulated companies often hold the deepest sets because the rules demand them: US drug manufacturers must keep "written procedures for production and process control", and any deviation from them "shall be recorded and justified" (21 CFR 211.100).
Why do AI builders want SOP data?
Because an AI agent has to know how a piece of work is meant to be done, and where real cases leave the script. Business Insider reported in October 2026 that "workplace data is more valuable than ever" as AI developers build agents for businesses, and that one marketing agency had licensed material ranging from design files to "checklists for onboarding clients to Google ads" (Business Insider, Oct 2026). A procedure paired with its exceptions says more than either alone: the deviation notes record the judgment the SOP leaves out.
What does SOP data mean for what you get paid and control?
Your procedures are usually written and stored already, so licensing them needs no new collection. Much of a company's data already lives in third-party software. Licensing it means re-licensing what already exists, and getting paid for it rather than giving it away for free. Many SOPs are also confidential know-how. US federal law counts "methods, techniques, processes, procedures" as trade secrets only if the owner "has taken reasonable measures to keep such information secret" and the information has economic value from not being generally known (18 U.S.C. § 1839(3)), so it is worth checking that any licence keeps that secrecy in place; this is general information, not legal advice. fearofgod.ai de-identifies the data before it goes to buyers. Your company can keep ownership of its data. This is agreed case by case. Your company can be paid more than once, through renewals and repeat licences.