What AI Knows About You: Research, Reputation & Influence with Dan Barkhuff

What happens when AI makes scattered public records easy to connect?

Dan Barkhuff—a former Navy SEAL, emergency physician and founder of Civly—joins Jason AI Wade to discuss how AI is changing research, reputation and access to information.

Dan shares how Civly began as an attempt to automate political compliance, then expanded into opposition research and applications beyond politics. The conversation explores public data, what AI assistants say about people and organizations, the boundaries of reputation management, and whether cheaper research could lower the cost of political participation.

It’s an open conversation about what becomes possible when information that once took weeks to assemble can be researched much faster—and the questions that come with that access.

In this episode:

• Dan’s path from the Naval Academy and SEAL teams to medicine and entrepreneurship.

• Why compliance automation led Civly into political research.

• Connecting financial filings, public records and social history.

• Applications beyond politics, including business research and athlete vetting.

• AI visibility and the line between accurate representation and manipulation.

• Donor data, fundraising calls and the economics of campaigning.

• Dan’s argument that practical AI implementation could make participation more affordable.

Daniel “Dan” Barkhuff is the founder and CEO of Civly, an AI-powered research and intelligence company serving politics, business, athletics and nonprofits. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Navy SEAL, he earned his medical degree at Harvard and trained in emergency medicine. He practices in Vermont and also founded Veterans for Responsible Leadership.

Jason AI Wade is the host of the AI Visibility Podcast and is with BackTier. His work explores how AI systems discover, describe and recommend people and businesses, alongside the practical use of AI agents.

• Civly

• Dan Barkhuff and the Civly team

• AI Narratives

• Research Books

• Data Coverage

• Civly Business

• Client Case Studies

• Contact Civly