Firsthand
Customize AI agents for real-time, controlled consumer engagement online.. [Contact for Pricing]
Last verified:
What is Firsthand?
Firsthand is the industry's first Brand Agent Platform built for marketers and publishers to engage consumers with their knowledge everywhere online. The platform creates AI-powered Brand Agents that act as AI-powered brand representatives, delivering your company's expertise in real time and in the right context on your site, across paid media, and on publisher properties. Brand Agents use your brand's unique knowledge and marketing goals to deliver adaptive, real-time experiences that guide consumers toward the information they need to take action.
The platform combines Lakebed™, Firsthand's AI-first data and knowledge rights management solution, with custom Brand Agents. Lakebed keeps you in full control of your content by letting you define exactly how your knowledge is used, determining what Brand Agents can access, and ensuring your information is only used as intended. Brand safety controls are available at every stage, allowing you to review, refine, and audit campaign output throughout the lifecycle.
Firsthand is designed for marketers who want to share their brand story, educate consumers on offerings, generate and qualify leads, reach new audiences, streamline conversion paths, and gain rich persona-level customer insights. Publishers use it to unlock new revenue streams, convert readers into subscribers, drive reader engagement, and fuel commerce through context by surfacing relevant sponsored products within content experiences.
Key features include shortening the path from interest to action by proactively surfacing the right content at the right moment, knowing customers like never before through rich interaction transcripts that reveal how customer groups think and decide, and maintaining control of your voice through secure data sharing. Brand Agents operate wherever customers are—on your owned site or distributed across premium publisher partner sites—without requiring AI expertise or resources to launch.
The platform transforms funnel-based marketing into seamless customer experiences, turning brand expertise into AI-powered interactions that attract, inspire, and engage consumers. Businesses can launch their first campaign in a matter of weeks, with Brand Agents combining human creativity with AI to deliver personalized ad experiences that connect brands with their audiences.
Firsthand pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Firsthand does not publish detailed pricing on its website. The platform has a free tier entry path, but most plans require contacting sales rather than self-serve checkout. The company raised $26M in Series A funding led by Radical Ventures to scale the Brand Agent Platform. Pricing appears to be tier-based subscription with sales-led motion for enterprise plans. Businesses can launch their first campaign in a matter of weeks without AI expertise. For specific pricing details, plan structures, and what is included in each tier, users must schedule a demo or contact Firsthand directly through their website.
Firsthand pros
- Industry's first Brand Agent Platform purpose-built for marketers and publishers
- Lakebed™ provides AI-first data and knowledge rights management
- Full control over brand voice, knowledge, data, and customer relationships
- Brand Agents use your company's approved content grounded in unique knowledge
- Brand safety controls at every stage to review, refine, and audit output
- Operates on owned sites and distributes across premium publisher partner sites
- Shortens path from consumer interest to action with timely content
- Rich interaction transcripts reveal how customer groups think, decide, and engage
- Every Brand Agent interaction acts as a real-time survey for consumer insights
- No AI expertise or resources required to launch campaigns in weeks
- Dynamically adapts messaging to highlight key benefits and features
- Generates and qualifies more leads through expertise and premium content
- Uncovers persona-level insights beyond basic metrics for smarter decisions
- Secure real-time collaboration without any party owning data that isn't theirs
- Personalized ad experiences that connect brands with audiences authentically
- Transforms product discovery and purchase journeys with contextual sponsored products
- Encourages reader subscriptions by highlighting premium content value at right moments
Firsthand cons
- Pricing is sales-led with no transparent public pricing on website
- Requires demo or sales contact for most plans instead of self-serve checkout
- No free tier clearly documented with specific features on the website
- Launch timeline of weeks may be too slow for urgent marketing needs
- No public API documentation available for custom integrations
- Limited to brands and publishers, not suitable for individual users
- Depends on premium publisher partner network for distribution beyond owned sites
- Requires brands to have existing knowledge content to ground Brand Agents
- New platform without extensive third-party reviews or case studies available
- May require significant content preparation before campaign deployment
Frequently asked questions about Firsthand
What is a Brand Agent?
Brand Agents are AI-powered mini-apps designed to seamlessly connect with consumers. They use your brand's knowledge and marketing goals to deliver adaptive, real-time experiences that respect your content controls. Think of them as AI-powered brand representatives that deliver your knowledge in real time and in the right context on your site, across paid media, and beyond, guiding consumers toward the information they need to take action.
What is Lakebed and how does it work?
Lakebed is Firsthand's AI-era data and knowledge rights management solution that keeps you in full control of your content. It lets you define exactly how your knowledge is used, determining what Brand Agents can access and ensuring your information is only used as intended. Lakebed enables you and your partners to securely share data the moment a consumer needs help, without any party taking ownership of data that isn't theirs, ensuring collaboration is secure, real-time, and only used as intended.
Who is Firsthand built for?
Firsthand is purpose-built for marketers and publishers. Marketers use it to share their brand story, educate consumers on offerings, generate and qualify leads, reach new audiences, streamline conversion paths, and learn more about customers through persona-level insights. Publishers use it to unlock new revenue streams, convert readers into subscribers, drive reader engagement, and fuel commerce through context by surfacing relevant sponsored products within content experiences.
Where can Brand Agents be deployed?
Brand Agent campaigns can run directly on your owned site or be distributed across premium publisher partner sites. The platform operates wherever your customers are online, enabling you to expand beyond your own channels with content-rich brand experiences that automatically discover and attract new audiences.
How long does it take to launch a campaign?
You can launch your first campaign in a matter of weeks with Firsthand. No AI expertise or resources are required, as the platform is designed to make your expertise accessible in real time without needing internal AI capabilities.
How does Firsthand help with customer insights?
Firsthand goes beyond basic metrics with rich transcripts that reveal how different customer groups think, decide, and engage. Every Brand Agent interaction acts as a real-time survey, uncovering meaningful persona-level insights that drive smarter business decisions. This helps inform more effective marketing, product, and business strategies.
Is my brand data safe with Firsthand?
Yes. Firsthand's platform keeps brands firmly in control with brand safety controls at every stage. You maintain full control of your Brand Agent campaign throughout its lifecycle, with tools to review, refine, and audit the output. Lakebed ensures your content is safeguarded and you retain complete control over where, when, and by whom your content is surfaced through AI.
How do Brand Agents differ from traditional ads?
Brand Agents combine human creativity with AI to deliver personalized ad experiences that connect brands with audiences. Instead of banner ads or static content, Brand Agents proactively surface the right content at the right moment in a consumer's journey, dynamically adapting messaging to highlight key benefits and features, and routing consumers to the right destination that matches their in-moment need. They analyze data, optimize strategies, and provide actionable insights to make campaigns more engaging and effective.
What happens to consumer data collected by Brand Agents?
Firsthand uses advanced encryption, strict access controls, and robust privacy measures to ensure all information remains fully protected. With Lakebed, no party takes ownership of data that isn't theirs—brands maintain control of their data, and collaboration is secure, real-time, and only used as intended. The platform captures rich interaction transcripts for insights while maintaining complete data rights management.
How do publishers monetize with Brand Agents?
Publishers unlock new revenue streams by maximizing the value of their premium content through AI-powered ad solutions that safely integrate Brand Agents with their property. By leveraging shared data to deliver personalized brand experiences, publishers can create new revenue opportunities. They can also transform product discovery and purchase journeys by contextually surfacing relevant sponsored products within content experiences, and fuel commerce through context.