Beyond eDiscovery: How OSINT Transforms Investigations and Due Dilligence

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Inside Deep Dive's Knowledge Engine for Open Source Intelligence, EDD, and Risk Insight.

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has become a powerful parallel capability to traditional eDiscovery — unlocking insight far beyond corporate systems and internal data. In this episode of The Salient Edge, host David Fisk is joined by Dave Pope, COO of Deep Dive, to explore how OSINT is reshaping investigations, enhanced due diligence (EDD), and risk-based decision-making.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in fraud investigation, identity verification, and intelligence platforms, Dave explains why traditional search engines fall short for investigators — and how Deep Dive’s “knowledge engine” approach transforms vast volumes of publicly available information into structured, defensible intelligence.

The conversation unpacks how Deep Dive automates the most time-consuming aspects of OSINT research while keeping humans firmly in the loop. From multi-language global searches and entity resolution to AI-driven analysis, source reliability scoring, and adversarial AI quality controls, this episode provides a practical look at how modern investigations can move from manual research to intelligence-led analysis.

Key topics include:
• What OSINT really is — and why it matters in investigations and eDiscovery
• The difference between a search engine and a knowledge engine
• How AI accelerates investigations without introducing bias or hallucination
• Person-centric vs entity-centric investigations (and what’s coming next)
• Using OSINT to support EDD, KYC, fraud investigations, onboarding and reputational risk decisions
• Why OSINT enables investigators to spend less time researching and more time analysing

Rather than replacing investigators, modern OSINT platforms are designed to reduce the time spent on manual research and data gathering, allowing teams to focus on analysis, judgment, and decision-making.

By automating source discovery, data aggregation, and initial structuring of open-source information, OSINT enables investigations and due diligence exercises to be conducted more efficiently, consistently, and at greater scale — particularly in complex, multi-jurisdictional matters.

The value lies not in speed alone, but in repeatability, coverage, and confidence. Investigators gain a broader, more structured view of risk while maintaining human oversight and defensibility throughout the process.

Key takeaway: OSINT enhances investigative workflows by streamlining research and improving visibility, enabling teams to deliver clearer insight within tighter timeframes — without sacrificing quality or control.
Chapters
  • 00:01 Introduction to OSINT and digital footprints
  • 01:33 David's background and Deep Dive's evolution
  • 02:48 Problems Deep Dive solves in OSINT research
  • 04:13 Knowledge engine vs search engine concept
  • 05:12 Automation and living body of knowledge
  • 06:03 Deep Dive's five-stage technology process
  • 09:22 Comprehensive global source coverage
  • 12:03 Person-centric model and entity expansion plans
  • 13:41 Cross-investigation knowledge and multi-subject analysis
  • 15:43 Addressing AI bias and hallucination challenges
  • 20:14 Technology advantages and human-AI collaboration
  • 22:01 Real-world investigation examples and vanity searches
5 Feb English South Africa Business · Technology

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