Glean is a knowledge management tool that helps teams find, share, and utilize information effectively, enhancing collaboration and productivity across organizations.
Glean is an AI-powered Work AI platform that unifies enterprise search, knowledge management, and automation, enabling teams to instantly access, organize, and utilize information across over 100 connected apps like Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, Jira, and Confluence.[1][2][4][5] Its core value proposition lies in delivering personalized, context-aware answers through intelligent search, knowledge graphs, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), reducing search time, accelerating workflows, and preserving institutional knowledge for faster decision-making and productivity gains.[3][6]
Key features include universal semantic search with natural language queries, Slack integration for saving answers, customizable collections for curating resources, custom AI agents for no-code automation, and a prompt library for domain-specific tasks like engineering code reviews or sales prep.[1][2][3][4] Designed for knowledge-intensive organizations, Glean targets enterprises in engineering, support, sales, HR, and cross-functional teams, with proven use cases at companies like Booking.com, Databricks, and Duolingo that report massive time savings—such as 15,000+ hours monthly at Confluent—and rapid ROI.[2]
What sets Glean apart is its enterprise-grade security with granular access controls, seamless extensibility via APIs and SDKs, and ability to blend internal data with external web knowledge, outperforming traditional tools by providing proactive, role-tailored insights without context switching.[3][5][6]
Sources
Glean explicitly states zero-day data retention and no training on customer data when using Glean's OpenAI/Azure OpenAI
No training opt-out mechanism was identified in the legal documents.
High risk across multiple dimensions. Only use with public, non-sensitive data.
Glean explicitly states zero-day data retention and no training on customer data when using Glean's OpenAI/Azure OpenAI keys, but this protection only applies to generative AI features and only when using Glean's keys. If customers use their own keys, they bear responsibility for negotiating training restrictions directly with the model provider. Additionally, the service improvement language suggests data may be used for non-training purposes like 'reviewing performance data' and 'incorporating customer feedback.'
“[ToS] 'Training Data Restrictions: While using Glean's OpenAI/Azure OpenAI key, customer data will not be used to inform or train Azure OpenAI/OpenAI's generative AI model.' Also: '[ToS] Service Provider continuously improves its services...by reviewing performance data...and incorporating customer feedback.'”
The website Terms of Service grant Glean an extremely broad license to user submissions: 'worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable and transferable license' for any purpose including derivative works, redistribution, and promoting the service. This perpetual, sublicensable license survives termination and applies to all content posted on the Site.
“[ToS] 'you hereby do and shall grant Glean a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable and transferable license to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, and otherwise fully exploit the User Submissions...'”
The Service Agreement mentions third-party software and services (Azure OpenAI, OpenAI) are governed by their respective terms, but does not provide a comprehensive sub-processor list or detailed sharing restrictions. The confidentiality clause allows disclosure to 'employees, contractors, professional advisors and third parties having a need to know' under confidentiality obligations, but lacks specificity on which third parties receive what data.
“[ToS] 'Confidential Information may be disclosed and used by recipient's employees, contractors, professional advisors and third parties having a need to know and who are under a similar obligation of confidentiality.' Also: '[ToS] 'As part of the Glean Services, Service Provider may make third party software and services available to Customer. Such third party software and services are governed by their respective terms and conditions.'”
For generative AI features using Glean's keys, the agreement explicitly guarantees zero-day data retention: data is not stored beyond the operational transaction. For the hosted deployment model, the agreement commits to complete data wiping within 7 days of termination. These are clear, specific retention commitments.
“[ToS] 'Zero Day Data Retention: Glean has separately negotiated agreements with Azure OpenAI and OpenAI to include zero day data retention for those services...data will not be stored beyond the operational transaction.' Also: '[ToS] Glean will wipe Customer's single tenant completely within seven (7) days.'”
The Service Agreement does not explicitly address ownership of outputs generated by the Glean Assistant or search results. The website ToS grants Glean broad rights over 'User Submissions' but the Service Agreement (which governs actual service use) is silent on whether generated content is owned by the customer or subject to Glean's license rights, creating ambiguity.
“[ToS] Service Agreement does not address IP ownership of generated outputs. Website ToS states: '[ToS] For clarity, the foregoing license grant to Glean does not affect your other ownership or license rights in your User Submission(s)' but this applies to posted content, not generated outputs.”
The documents do not mention SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or formal GDPR compliance certifications. However, the Service Agreement references compliance with 'all applicable laws and regulations (including but not limited to employment, privacy and export laws)' and mentions data security practices, but no third-party certifications or trust page are referenced.
“[ToS] 'Service Provider will perform...in full compliance with...all applicable laws and regulations (including but not limited to employment, privacy and export laws and regulations) and Customer's privacy, safety and security rules and regulations.' No specific certifications mentioned.”
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