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Title
The Network Builds an Agentic AI Research Agent on AWS to Fight Human Trafficking
…ers could only thoroughly investigate a fraction of these businesses each year. Using Amazon Web Services (AWS), The Network developed an agentic AI research agent that automates time-intensive research workflows. The solution empowers The Network to expand its investigative reach, freeing hu…
Description
Nonprofit The Network, which tracks thousands of illicit massage businesses in the United States that are linked to human trafficking, is building an agentic AI research agent on Amazon Bedrock with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5. The agent autonomously performs the research protocols human investigators follow to verify whether businesses in its database are still operating. The solution is currently in the testing phase, with full rollout planned for later in 2026.
…k is scaling human trafficking investigations using agentic AI on AWS. Overview The Network tracks thousands of illicit massage businesses that operate within the United States, partnering with law enforcement, attorney generals’ offices, and licensing and…
…d in our database.” Outcome | Freeing researchers to focus on higher-value work The agentic AI solution is currently in the testing phase, with full rollout planned for later in 2026. When the AI agent is incorporated with other tools that are under development,…
Company
The Network
…fficking operations nationwide. About The Network Based in Arlington, Virginia, The Network is a nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking in the illicit massage industry. Its mission is to disrupt these operations by targeting the economic infrastruc…
Country
United States
…ve greater visibility into trafficking operations nationwide. About The Network Based in Arlington, Virginia, The Network is a nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking in the illicit massage industry. Its mission is…
Industry
Government & Public Sector
…thousands of illicit massage businesses that operate within the United States, partnering with law enforcement, attorney generals’ offices, and licensing and regulation boards to shut down human trafficking operations. However, with a small team and limited resources, the organization’s researche…
Problem
With a team of approximately a dozen people, The Network's researchers could fully investigate only about a quarter of the businesses in its database each year, and the organization needed a way to expand its investigative reach without adding headcount.
…business, who owns the building, and whether trafficking activity is occurring. With a team of approximately a dozen people, The Network’s researchers could fully investigate only about a quarter of the businesses in the database each year. The organization needed a way to expand its investigative reach without adding headcount. Solution | Building an AI research agent to support investigations The Network’…
Solution
With funding and support from the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, a combined team of six engineers built an agentic AI research agent, focusing first on determining whether businesses in the database are still operating. The agent autonomously performs the same research protocols that human investigators follow, querying multiple sources to verify each business's status. It is powered by Amazon Bedrock with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5, AWS Lambda provides the serverless compute for the research workflow, and Amazon API Gateway manages requests between The Network's database and the AI system. The team validates outputs against a "golden set" of pre-researched businesses, and every automated investigation goes through multiple accuracy checks before the findings are logged.
…t use case: determining whether businesses in the database are still operating. The agent autonomously performs the same research protocols that human investigators follow, querying multiple sources to verify each business’s status. In less than 4 days, the team created a working proof of concept. The solution…
…nsitive data handling.” This careful approach extends to accuracy verification. The Network developed a “golden set” of pre-researched businesses to validate AI outputs against established human research standards. “We’ve built comprehensive validation protocols to verify that our AI agent pro…
Implementation approach
The Network was selected to receive funding and support from the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, and a combined team of six engineers focused on a first use case; in less than 4 days the team created a working proof of concept. The system currently analyzes only public information, and the solution is in the testing phase with full rollout planned for later in 2026.
…vestigators follow, querying multiple sources to verify each business’s status. In less than 4 days, the team created a working proof of concept. The solution is powered by Amazon Bedrock —used for building generative AI appl…
…es. “We’re very intentional about our AI development road map,” says Wilbrink. “Our current system only analyzes information that’s already public—business registrations, mapping data, social media—while maintaining strict con…
Business value
The agentic AI solution is currently in the testing phase, with full rollout planned for later in 2026. When the agent is incorporated with other tools under development, The Network estimates it could save thousands of researcher hours annually on routine status verification alone, freeing staff to focus on activities requiring judgment and relationship building and reducing the psychological toll of reviewing disturbing content.
…is currently in the testing phase, with full rollout planned for later in 2026. When the AI agent is incorporated with other tools that are under development, The Network estimates the agent could save thousands of researcher hours annually on routine status verification alone, with AI handling a large percentage of undifferentiated research tasks. This w…
AI capabilities
Agentic AI, Generative AI
…gate a fraction of these businesses each year. Using Amazon Web Services (AWS), The Network developed an agentic AI research agent that automates time-intensive research workflows. The solution empowers The Net…
…ess’s status. In less than 4 days, the team created a working proof of concept. The solution is powered by Amazon Bedrock —used for building generative AI applications and agents at production scale—with Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.5. This foundation provides the reasoning capabilities the agent needs to query mu…
Technology
Amazon Bedrock, AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, Claude Sonnet 4.5
…ecurity, empowering The Network to build sophisticated AI applications rapidly. The Network adopted AWS Lambda , a service used to run code without thinking about servers or clusters, to provide the serverless compute that powers the research workflow. Amazon API Gateway , a fully managed service that helps create, publish, mainta…
…ck —used for building generative AI applications and agents at production scale—with Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.5. This foundation provides the reasoning capabilities the agent needs to query m…
Deployment model
cloud
…ess’s status. In less than 4 days, the team created a working proof of concept. The solution is powered by Amazon Bedrock —used for building generative AI applications and agents at production scale—wi…
Deployment options
cloud
…clusters, to provide the serverless compute that powers the research workflow. Amazon API Gateway , a fully managed service that helps create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale, is used to manage requests between The Network’s database and the AI system. T…
Headline outcome
…When the AI agent is incorporated with other tools that are under development, The Network estimates the agent could save thousands of researcher hours annually on routine status verification alone, with AI handling a large percentage of undifferentiated research tasks. This w…
Use case type
Workflow automation
…se businesses each year. Using Amazon Web Services (AWS), The Network developed an agentic AI research agent that automates time-intensive research workflows. The solution empowers The Network to expand its investigative reach, freeing h…
