AlphaSense

What do you like best about the product?

it used to be better — the proprietary data is solid still but the harness is not good

What do you dislike about the product?

We’ve evaluated tools across the spectrum: Capital IQ and FactSet, specialist platforms like BlueFlame, and the top available subscriptions to Claude and ChatGPT, alongside other agentic tools. We use these systems in real investment workflows. My criticism of AlphaSense’s product comes from that comparative experience; my criticism of the organization comes from our interactions with its sales team.

A premium AI platform should earn its place through better retrieval, source traceability, workflow integration and reliable execution. In my experience, AlphaSense increasingly fails that test. Its software layer feels like a harness that diminishes the capabilities of the underlying frontier models: agents and routines struggle to follow their own instructions, workflows require too much supervision, and the overall system feels brittle. When I check whether an agent or routine followed the process I specified, I consistently see errors.

There is an important distinction between having access to capable models and building a capable product around them through a well-designed harness and proprietary data. The quality of the orchestration, context management and execution matters enormously. My experience is that AlphaSense has let the product slip while maintaining a relentless sales effort.

The commercial experience has been perhaps even more disappointing. It feels like boiler-room sales tactics: “Urgent” offers, requests to sign that day and “Let me know ASAP,” paired with a Crunch Fitness–style cancellation policy. A full year automatically renews unless the customer gives 90 days’ notice, even when the product is materially underdelivering. They told us the auto-renewal clause is “core to our business operations.” To me, that makes perfect sense for a company whose product increasingly struggles to justify keeping customers on its own merits.

My takeaway: stay away. Focus on products and services supported by companies that believe in them enough to earn their customers’ continued business. I’m always happy to speak with other PE investors comparing AI tools and share what has and hasn’t worked in our workflows.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

it is causing not solving problems

What do you like best about the product?

Each insight that the AI comes up with is tagged directly to a management quote, financial filing, or other source. This helps me cover any fears of hallucination.

What do you dislike about the product?

There can be some delay, since it takes time to prepare the prompted answers. It’s still a good way to get up to speed, but you should expect some wait times of ~10–20 minutes to get a result.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

The platform helps me automate some tasks like manually pulling filings. This gives me more time to actually analyze the information rather than just aggregating the relevant data.

What do you like best about the product?

I like that every document is available and I can simply ask the tool to refer to select documents and help me with research.

What do you dislike about the product?

I would like the response to also include visuals instead of just text

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Helping me prepare quarterly earnings summaries effectively

What do you like best about the product?

Access to data and information I would not otherwise be able to have. Continuous improvement and innovation of products.

What do you dislike about the product?

I still find errors or misinterpretations in outputs

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Faster research across multiple markets

What do you like best about the product?

The integrations of all the rich market data with AI tools in a single place.

What do you dislike about the product?

It’s difficult to bring inside organizations with a lot of security concerns with internal data.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Its making more efficient the process to keep track of changes in the market caused by big players

What do you like best about the product?

I am impressed with the generative Ai function and routinely use it for my analysis

What do you dislike about the product?

Sometimes takes a bit of time to think. The email alerts after the report is ready comes handy for the long wait

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

The superanalyst that uses natural language solves prompt challenges

What do you like best about the product?

Workload reduction. Access to datasets I need

What do you dislike about the product?

Unsure of the economics. Would like more transparency.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Ability to get a thoughtful opinion on a company

What do you like best about the product?

It’s user-friendly and connected to so many databases.

What do you dislike about the product?

Not necessarily a dislike, but learning the mechanics take a bit, at least for me.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Policy analysis, market research

What do you like best about the product?

Enables comprehensive comp analysis based on high quality trusted data

What do you dislike about the product?

It is becoming increasingly complicated and takes time to master

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Evaluation of communication examples

What do you like best about the product?

Data aggregation source that can synthesize information and make my sector and company reviews efficient

What do you dislike about the product?

No issues. Huge fan and believer in the roadmap for the business

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

I don’t have enough time. 80% of my time used to be searching for information, now I get to spend my time reviewing it instead