Can Marketing Agencies License Their Data to AI? Agency-Owned vs Client-Owned

A marketing agency can license the data it owns: internal SOPs, onboarding checklists, templates, project management history and internal team chat. Client deliverables, ad account data, analytics and anything your MSA defines as client confidential information usually belong to the client or are restricted by contract. The line runs through your client agreements, so read them before scoping.

Has an agency actually done this?

Yes, and the public example draws the line in the right place. Business Insider reported on October 13, 2026 that Grant Gooley's agency, MyPortal Marketing, sold Micro1 "everything from Figma and Canva files to checklists for onboarding clients to Google ads." Gooley said the agency did not sell client-specific material. "If AI is going to be trained, why not be part of that, and do it responsibly?" he told BI.

That is the model for an agency deal: the agency's way of working, not its clients' businesses. Mode's program page lists Figma, HubSpot, Slack, Monday.com, Notion, Google Drive and Dropbox among the sources it buys, so most agency tool stacks are covered.

Why do AI buyers want agency workflow data?

AI developers are building agents to do multi-step office work, and agency work is a dense example of it: briefs become plans, plans become tickets, drafts go through review rounds, campaigns launch and get reported on. Buyers want that whole sequence. Micro1's chief revenue officer told Business Insider that buyers want "long-horizon" data showing how work gets done, and that a corpus missing Slack, CRM or email is worth less.

The awkward part is that agency work is mostly done for someone else, inside material the client owns or controls.

Does your agency meet the minimum?

Agencies fall into Mode's general category.

Agencies often run lean full-time teams with many freelancers. Mode's thresholds are stated in employees, and its application asks for full-time desk staff, so contractors likely don't count. Confirm during intake.

What does the agency own, and what does the client own?

Your master services agreement and statements of work answer this, not your instincts. Most agency MSAs split the world roughly like this:

Which MSA clauses should you read?

Pull your top client agreements and look for five things:

1. IP assignment and work-for-hire language. Does the client own all "work product" or only final deliverables? Broad clauses can reach drafts, working files and even internal notes created under the engagement.
2. Retained materials carve-out. Most agency-drafted MSAs reserve pre-existing tools, templates and know-how to the agency. That clause is what makes your SOPs licensable.
3. Confidential information definition. Many definitions include the client's business information, strategy, performance data and "results of the services." Disclosing those to a data buyer, even for de-identification, can breach the clause.
4. Data processing terms. If you handle client customer data, you are likely a service provider or processor bound to use it only for the client. Licensing it is a new purpose.
5. Use restrictions and AI clauses. Newer MSAs often bar using client materials to train AI models. Check for these explicitly.

Ad platforms layer their own data-use terms on top of client agreements. Treat ad account exports as client data and leave them out.

How do you scope a project-management and chat export?

Project management and internal chat are the most valuable agency records and the hardest to clean, because client work runs through them. A workable approach, before anything goes to Mode:

1. Build a client dictionary. List every client, brand, product and key contact name from your CRM and billing system. This becomes the screen for everything else.
2. Exclude whole spaces, not just messages. Drop shared client channels, client-named Slack channels and client-specific project boards entirely. Keep cross-client internal spaces such as #ops, #creative-reviews or #new-business, after screening.
3. Pick date ranges deliberately. Mode lets you approve date ranges before export. Periods dominated by one large client, or by a client with a strict confidentiality clause, are good candidates to leave out.
4. Sample before you sign off. Pull a few hundred random messages and tickets from the proposed scope and read them. If client strategy, performance numbers or customer data show up often, narrow further.
5. Ask Mode for sample output. Its release says it built its own tools to strip names and sensitive content after other vendors would not let it audit their PII removal. See how your own records look after filtering, including whether client names were caught.

The goal is a corpus that shows how your agency works (intake, briefing, review rounds, launch checklists, reporting cadence) without showing what any particular client sells, spends or earns. That is the line Gooley described, and it is the one most client contracts will let you defend.

What about the Springshot lesson?

In the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy data sale, Springshot, a software vendor to Spirit, objected that its contract gave it ownership of data generated by its service, according to Stretto's docket summary. Its CEO told Business Insider he had less than 48 hours' notice from the media that the data could be sold. For an agency, the lesson runs both ways. A client could claim ownership of records you assumed were yours, and your SaaS vendors' terms may claim data generated in their tools. Check both before you include a system.

What about your staff's data?

Licensing internal Slack means licensing your team's conversations. California employees' personal information has been fully covered by the CCPA since January 1, 2023, per the California Privacy Protection Agency. Emory law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa told Business Insider that whether employees' consent extends to the sale of their data is "an ethically gray area." Tell your team before you sign.

What could an agency be paid?

No public figure is specific to agencies, and BI did not report MyPortal Marketing's price. The attributed ranges:

Mode says its calculator "is illustrative, not a guaranteed offer" and that it reviews the systems and dates in scope, years of history, record volume and quality, and ownership terms before making a fixed offer. Ownership is on that list, which means messy client agreements can lower an offer or remove systems from it. See our methodology.

How does the process run?

Mode's release describes an initial estimate, a 14-day nonbinding letter of intent with one 7-day extension at Mode's request, then 15–30 days of collection and de-identification after you accept the final offer, with payment "expected within approximately 60 days." Mode's program FAQ now says about three months from first conversation to payment. You approve systems and date ranges before export, and your team signs in to approved systems without handing over passwords. Business Insider reported that some brokers push 48-hour "exploding offers"; leave time to review client contracts. Our process guide has more detail.

What should an agency owner check before signing?

• Client agreement review for IP, confidentiality, data processing and AI-use clauses, starting with your largest accounts.
• A system-by-system scope excluding client workspaces, shared channels, ad accounts and analytics.
• A client-name screen across project management and chat. Mode says it transforms names, but your obligations are about disclosure, not just what the end buyer sees.
• Vendor terms for tools where data is generated.
• Filtering evidence. Mode's release says it built its own PII-removal tools after other vendors would not let it audit theirs. Ask for sample output from your own records.
• Exclusivity terms and whether they limit future deals.
• Staff notice.

Our risk checklist and guide to what AI buyers want go further.

Who are we?

DataLicensingAudit is an independent referral partner of Mode. If your agency signs after we introduce it, Mode may pay us a referral fee; your payment does not change. See our disclosure. We don't give legal advice; have counsel read your client agreements.