Handshakes Launches AI Agent to Transform Corporate Due Diligence and Investigation

Drawing on decades of regulatory expertise, the beta AI-powered agent runs due diligence, risk screening, vendor onboarding and conflicts-of-interest checks in simple workflows.

SINGAPORE, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Handshakes, a leading provider of corporate intelligence and due diligence data, today announced the launch of the Handshakes Agent, an AI-powered investigative tool that draws on more than a decade of regulatory intelligence to automate end-to-end due diligence, risk screening, vendor onboarding and conflicts-of-interest (COI) checks.

The Handshakes Agent performs more like a seasoned analyst than a generic AI tool. What sets the Agent apart is its grounding in real-world risk management and compliance practice, informed by domain expertise developed through years of hands-on collaboration with regulators and financial institutions across the region. Beyond structured data, the Agent is designed to reason the way experts do, how they approach a case, prioritise red flags and evolve risk assessments.

"The Handshakes Agent distills more than a decade of advisory experience with regulators and financial institutions into workflows that expedite due diligence and investigations," said Ivan Seah, Chief Commercial Officer at Handshakes. "It reflects the broader evolution of data analytics, from simply supplying data to delivering intelligence clients can act on."

With a simple entity-name query, the Agent retrieves Handshakes entity reports, maps ownership networks, screens risk databases and generates a synthesised summary of its findings. This complements the Handshakes APP with enhanced AI-driven capabilities that expedite investigations and surface insights, equipping compliance teams with the tools needed to mitigate financial crime and regulatory risks more effectively.

The Agent is grounded in official data sources spanning company registries and capital markets within ASEAN, global watchlists for sanctions and PEPs screening, court litigation records and Handshakes' own Regulatory, Enforcement & Disciplinary (RED) repository. The insights are supported by Handshakes' proprietary entity maps, which distill complex network relationships into clear, intuitive visualisations.

This launch marks an evolution in how Handshakes distributes its intelligence and handles complex queries, leveraging large language models (LLMs) and Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectors to keep pace with the growing complexity of cross-border ownership structures and regulatory demands facing clients today. This facilitates perpetual monitoring across multiple degrees of connection within Handshakes' graph databases, surfacing risk and opportunities as they arise.

For more information on the Handshakes Agent, visit www.handshakes.ai.

About Handshakes

Handshakes is a regulatory and data technology company specialising in corporate intelligence and derived data insights. The company aggregates authoritative corporate registry, business relationships, and capital markets data across ASEAN, transforming it into actionable intelligence through proprietary mapping and analytics. Its award-winning Handshakes APP enables users to uncover hidden connections between individuals and organisations of up to three degrees, supporting professionals in risk, compliance, audit, and investigations in identifying ultimate beneficial ownership and potential conflicts of interest. Handshakes is trusted by regulators and financial institutions across Asia to support more informed decision-making through deeper intelligence.

SOURCE Handshakes