Every publisher's subscriber file gathers mess over time. The same reader entered three ways. Job titles typed however people felt like typing them. Addresses with the postcode in the wrong field. A report you need for the board that nobody quite knows how to get out of the system.
None of it is hard. It's slow. And slow is exactly where AI earns its keep, as long as people who understand publishing data are in charge of it.
Where we use AI
We use AI tools across our data and reporting work:
- Data cleaning. Finding the same person or company entered in different ways, standardising formats and spotting records that don't look right.
- Quality improvement. Sorting free-text job titles and industries into the categories your terms of control and your audit need, and flagging records that don't fit.
- Reporting and analytics. Getting from a question to the right figures quickly, and checking the numbers add up.
- Bespoke reports for clients. Writing and testing the queries behind a one-off or regular report, so you get what you asked for in days rather than weeks.
- Plain-English analysis. Turning a page of figures into the three things you actually need to know.
What stays with people
AI is quick, but it doesn't know your title, your advertisers or your auditor. So the judgement stays with our team. Simon or one of the bureau team reviews every change before it's applied to your records, and every report before it goes to you. Changes are logged, so you can always see what was changed and why.
That's the same principle we use for building our software: people decide what should happen and check the result, and AI does the heavy lifting in between.
Your data stays protected
We only use business versions of AI services, on terms that don't allow your data to be used to train their models. We act as your data processor under a written agreement, and our team works in systems with two-factor sign-in, permissions by role and an audit trail.
Why it matters
Clean data isn't housekeeping for its own sake. It's fewer copies posted to people who aren't there (our gone-away cost calculator shows what that's costing you), a file that stands up when the ABC or BPA auditor looks at it, and figures your advertisers can trust.
Who does the work
Simon Torrington, our data and audit specialist, leads our data cleaning and reporting work. SQL, data cleaning and circulation audits are his bread and butter.
You don't have to be a bureau or software client. If your file needs a tidy, or there's a report you've never managed to get, tell us what you need and we'll usually turn it round in a few days.
Questions
Does our data get sent to a public AI service?
We only use business versions of AI services, on terms that don't allow your data to be used to train their models. We act as your data processor under a written agreement, and if you'd like to know which services we use for your work, just ask.
Who checks what the AI does?
A person, every time. Simon or one of the bureau team reviews every change before it's applied to your records, and every change is logged with what changed and why.
Can you do this if we're not a bureau client?
Yes. We can clean a file, build a set of reports or answer a one-off question about your data, whether or not you use Avio, Adeptis or our bureau.
How quickly can you turn a report round?
Usually a few days. The slow part, writing and testing the query, is where AI saves the most time.