Supplier Due Diligence
Know more before you approve the supplier
Akintic helps you build an initial, structured understanding of a supplier before deeper commercial, legal, compliance, security or operational review.
What is supplier due diligence?
Supplier due diligence is the process of understanding whether a supplier is appropriate for your organisation before or during a commercial relationship.
The exact checks depend on the supplier and the risk involved.
A cloud provider processing sensitive data should not receive the same review as the company delivering office plants.
But almost every review starts with the same requirement:
to understand the company.
The traditional starting point is messy
The information lives everywhere.
The company website tells one part of the story, registries another, and news another. Socials, your CRM and public filings yet another again.
So people spend much of their research time collecting together all the information. Then, only a small amount of time actually understanding.
Akintic is designed to reverse that.
How to conduct initial supplier due diligence
Step 1.
Make sure you’re researching the right company.
Brand names, subsidiaries, group entities and legal names can differ.
That matters when the company signing the contract isn’t necessarily the name everyone uses day to day.
Step 2.
Build a clear view of what the supplier does, where it operates, what services it provides, who owns it and who runs it.
This creates the context needed to interpret everything else you find.
Step 3.
Look at relevant company developments, media, public records and other information that may shape your assessment.
What should supplier due diligence cover?
Company identity
Confirm the company and legal entity you’re actually researching.
Ownership & control
Understand who owns or controls the business and its wider group.
Leadership
Know who’s running the company and identify relevant changes.
Products & services
Understand what the business actually provides.
Financial & commercial signals
Review available indicators of commercial position and change.
Media & reputation
Understand important developments and external narratives.
Good supplier research should leave you with better questions
An effective supplier review rarely ends with “Looks fine!”
The useful output is understanding what you know, what you don’t and what needs answering before the relationship moves forward.
Akintic doesn’t answer the decision for you. It helps you understand what deserves a question.
Decision Support is prepared specifically from the findings in the Akintic Profile, meaning it is completely relevant to your next steps.
For example:
- Which source deserves more weight?
- Does the company story match the public evidence?
- Is a piece of information material or just noise?
- What’s missing?
- What would you want to verify before going further?
A more consistent way to screen vendors
Save research time
Reduce repetitive searching and information gathering
Create consistency
Give different users the same core research structure
Know where to go deeper
Use gaps, watchpoints and questions to focus further investigation
FAQ’s
Common questions about Akintic, company profiles and pricing.
Can Akintic research private companies?
Yes. Akintic can research both public and private companies, bringing together available information on their operations, ownership, leadership, reputation and potential risks. The depth of research depends on the information available, and Akintic highlights gaps or areas that may need further investigation.
When should vendor screening take place?
Vendor screening typically takes place before onboarding a new supplier, at contract renewals and whenever significant changes or concerns arise. Regular screening helps organisations stay informed about changes in ownership, operations, financial stability or potential risks throughout the supplier relationship.
Can Akintic replace a supplier due diligence questionnaire?
No. Akintic complements formal supplier due diligence rather than replacing it. By bringing together relevant company information upfront, it can significantly reduce the time spent on initial screening, identify potential concerns and help teams focus their follow-up questions on areas that need closer examination.
Does Akintic pass or fail vendors?
No. Akintic doesn’t make approval decisions or assign vendors a pass or fail outcome. Instead, it presents a structured view of the company, highlighting strengths, potential risks, information gaps and areas for further investigation, so your team can make informed decisions based on its own requirements and risk criteria.
See what better company research looks like.
Start with a company name. Aki will take it from there.