Private Investigation Firm Marries Old-School Techniques With AI-Powered Technology

For decades, due diligence investigative techniques have largely been the same: a thorough examination of public records available either through online data sources or via in-person retrieval of those records not found online. Over the past few years, however, Hilton Global Associates has combined the power of these "old school" methods with a powerful open-source intelligence technology known as OSINT.

Hilton Global Associates investigates hedge fund managers and private equity managers for the alternative investment community, and also researches executives who are running companies that private equity firms, lenders, and others are considering financing, or potential key employees those firms or their portfolio companies are considering hiring. Hilton Global provides in-depth research that helps clients decide whether someone with a history of problematic behavior is worth being given millions of dollars, or being hired into an important leadership position.

Hilton Global reviews key elements of the person's background. This is done through an examination of information that can be publicly obtained, including verification of educational and work history, liens, judgments, civil, criminal, and bankruptcy actions, driving history, and media articles, among other items. The firm utilizes vast databases, manual sources, as well as open-source intelligence (OSINT) that searches the deep web and dark web for deleted website information, cached LinkedIn profiles, hyper-local news stories, and social media that someone may be trying to disassociate from.

"For decades, private investigative firms have utilized databases and manual research to gather information. More recently some firms have touted AI as a replacement for these old-school methods. At Hilton Global, we recognize the true power today is combining both methods to yield insightful and actionable information that is not seen by using only one of these methods individually," asserted Randy Shain, Hilton Global's COO.

Recently, the firm was investigating an alternatives manager whose old social media posts included a number of expletive-laced tweets and retweets, as well as provocative statements about the LGBTQ community. This information was not readily searchable in the past; now, using its OSINT expertise, Hilton Global is easily able to capture social media and other web-based data that clients see as critical.

But OSINT is only one piece of the proverbial due diligence puzzle. Determining whether a person has omitted things from their biography, or overstated accomplishments, is crucial but not solvable by OSINT research. Similarly, understanding exactly why an individual was sued, what the result of that suit was, and how much money was at stake, requires obtaining court records that not only are often not available via OSINT, but also are frequently not available online at all. The same holds true for criminal actions, especially those filed in the numerous state and county courts across the United States.

Shain says, "We hear all the time how AI is enabling OSINT to be the only tool investigators need to employ. But this is simply not true. OSINT is incredible, especially when it comes to social media research and discovering older or deleted data. But it leaves tremendous gaps in coverage, gaps that only database and manual records reviews can fill. For example, an electric car still has tires, steering, and a host of other equipment that is enhanced by, but not replaced by, the non-gas powered technology."

Marrying OSINT with the aforementioned "old-school" techniques, Hilton Global has been highly successful in protecting numerous clients from people who might cause problems for the businesses in which clients are investing. Clients add the information developed by Hilton Global to that gathered by their own due diligence efforts, forming a powerful snapshot into a subject's history.

Every investigation conducted by the firm is tailored to their client's specific requests and done through a customized process. This ensures the client receives all the information they need to determine if someone poses a potential reputational or financial risk, based on the client's internal risk assessment standards.

"Hilton Global does not tell our clients what to do with the information that we gather, and most of the time we do not know if the transaction in question has occurred. That said, we continue to receive tremendous feedback regarding the readability and insight of our reports, which is incredibly gratifying," stated Hilton Global's Founder and CEO, Melissa Kelley-Hilton.