Red Flags in AI Vendor Pitches

Learn to hear these five sentences in a vendor pitch, and what each one is really telling you.

"Our AI is unbiased." No AI system is unbiased. This sentence means the vendor hasn't thought seriously about fairness, or hopes you haven't. Ask how they test for it.

"We can't share details — it's proprietary." Some secrecy is legitimate. Total secrecy about data handling, evaluation, and limitations is not. Ask what they can share under NDA.

"Just turn it on and let it run." Any tool that touches customers, money, or decisions needs human oversight. "No oversight needed" means no accountability designed in.

"Our security is military-grade." Adjectives aren't controls. Ask for the SOC 2 report, the pen test cadence, the encryption standards. Watch the adjectives evaporate.

"We're the only ones who do this." Maybe. Or maybe the category is so new that nobody — including them — knows what good looks like yet. New categories deserve more diligence, not less.

One red flag is a question. Two is a pattern. Three is your answer.

I explain frameworks; I don't give legal counsel.