AI reasoning is everywhere. Institutions still can’t rely on it.

Reasoning is a commodity. Bernard adds method, evidence, and memory.

Request early access See how it works
A provenance record under examination Knowledge Pack KP-2026-0147 traces custody from 1912 to 2026 and keeps the unresolved 1938 to 1956 ownership gap visible. KP-2026-0147
Sample Knowledge Pack KP-2026-0147 contains 28 claims and 10 evidence items. Its provenance record spans 1912 to 2026 and preserves one unresolved ownership gap from 1938 to 1956 instead of smoothing it away.

The missing knowledge layer

Method governs the research. Evidence makes it inspectable. Memory lets it compound.

Bernard guides AI through what to establish, what to ask, which sources count, and when to stop or escalate. It checks each claim against its sources and keeps the work in a durable record.

Knowledge layer / alignment

Method · evidence · memory

Fragments Chat history isn’t knowledge
Institutional memory Claims, evidence, contradictions, and gaps remain in a durable record the institution can find and build on.
Unguided Domain expertise isn’t built in
Domain expertise Bernard guides AI through what to establish, what to ask, which sources count, and when to stop or escalate.
Unchecked References aren’t evidence
Evidence you can inspect Bernard checks each claim against its sources and records conflicts and gaps. Anyone can see what rests on what.
Exposed Private files don’t stay private
Private sources, processed privately In local-only configuration the model runs on your own machines. Your files are read and checked without reaching a cloud provider.
Public and private sources

When authorized, Bernard combines customer files with public research. The same evidence standard applies to both.

Bernard prepares the evidence. The accountable professional interprets and decides.

A four-rail alignment instrument maps the limits of general AI to the institutional disciplines Bernard adds: memory, method, and inspectable evidence, and the local-only mode that lets those disciplines reach material which cannot leave the institution.

Institutional memory

Research compounds when the institution keeps the record.

As those records accumulate, each new case can build on what prior work established instead of starting over.

  1. 01

    Each case leaves a durable record

    Evidence, reasoning, uncertainty, and provenance stay together.

  2. 02

    The next case starts ahead

    Experts build on prior work instead of reconstructing it.

  3. 03

    Governed memory takes shape

    When authorized and relevant, records can be found, connected, challenged, and reused.

The record stays with the institution as AI tools, staff, and systems change.

Where this goes

Art first. Compliance & real estate next. Platform licensing after.

One knowledge system underneath: every application inherits the same evidence discipline, custody, and review.

Now

Art & Collectibles

Auction houses, galleries, and advisors face fragmented records, hard deadlines, and tightening AML. Bernard is in limited early access today, with art as our proving ground.

Next

Compliance & Real Estate

The same knowledge system extends to the people, company, and risk work around every transaction — investigations structured by case type, jurisdiction, and approved sources.

After

Platform Licensing

Select licensees build their own applications on the platform, carrying the same evidence discipline into further fields.

Three applications resting on one platform: art and collectibles now, compliance and real estate next, platform licensing after. Each inherits the same evidence discipline, custody, and review.

The knowledge layer is the same in every one. What changes is the practice it serves.

The work

Art specialists making high-stakes calls on a deadline.

Auction-house specialists, gallery directors, museum curators and registrars, and family-office and private advisors: the people who carry the decision when an object comes in.

  • Fragmented records

    Provenance scattered across emails, PDFs, catalogs, registries, and personal notes.

  • Incomplete provenance

    Gaps the specialist has to close, defend, or disclose.

  • Compressed timelines

    A consignment window, a preview, an acquisition or loan deadline by end of day.

  • Personal accountability

    Their name, and their institution's name, are on the decision long after it is made.

The research is manual, the sources are scattered, and the decision cannot wait.

The product

Bernard turns scattered evidence into a source-linked decision record.

AI reasons well, but serious work needs two things it doesn’t bring: a method for the research and a record you can stand behind. Bernard guides AI through domain-specific research — what to ask, where to look, what to check next — and keeps every finding with its reference, every conflict visible, every gap recorded. The result is a Knowledge Pack: Bernard’s durable, portable, structured record of the work — built to revisit.

Inputs

  • Consignment & loan files
  • Invoices
  • Photos
  • Condition reports
  • Certificates
  • Catalogs
  • Spreadsheets, emails
  • Handwritten ledgers

Bernard

  • Extracts and cross-checks evidence
  • Researches public and licensed sources
  • Structures findings, surfaces contradictions, logs gaps

Output

A source-backed

Knowledge Pack

Structured, portable, built to revisit.

  • Source-linked findings. Every factual claim points back to its evidence.
  • Surfaced contradictions. Competing narratives stay visible, not averaged away.
  • Unresolved risk gaps. What is missing is recorded with a reason, not hidden.

Bernard runs the research. The expert makes the call.

In practice

What the expert actually sees.

A Schiele work on paper, in for consignment. Bernard opens an object record and states the provenance plainly: what is documented, what is contested, and the one gap that decides the work.

Woman in a Black Pinafore · Provenance & Gaps
Sealed 28 claims 10 evidence
Provenance entries with holder, status, and source evidence IDs.
Period Holder / event Status Source
to 1938 Fritz Grünbaum, Vienna Documented E001, E004
1938 Seized; forced transfer under duress Documented E003
1938–1956 Ownership unverified Gap E005, E006
c. 1956 Kornfeld, Bern Contested E006
2022 Consigned, present sale Documented E010
Gap C006 1938–1956 ownership unverified. No documented lawful transfer bridges the seizure to the later market entry. This is the decisive open question for the work: flagged, not papered over.

From a folder of files to a sourced object record.

See how the research engine works

Why Bernard

A decision record, not a conversation.

  1. A structured, source-linked record

    A Knowledge Pack you can hold against the object, hand to a colleague, attach to a file, and revisit months later. Generic chat output is ephemeral; this is filed.

  2. Built around institutional workflow

    Intake, KYC and AML, sanctions, consignment or acquisition, catalog, sale or loan, post-decision. The output drops into existing process, not alongside it.

  3. Coverage generic models can't reach

    Bernard supports the lanes experts rely on: OFAC, UN, EU, UK and HMT, PEP and UBO screens, auction-comparable and exhibition research, and developing art-loss, restitution, and catalogue raisonné coverage. Every result is linked to its source.

Inspectable, evidence-led, built for the file, not the chat window.

Cultural heritage

Provenance protects more than price.

The same diligence that defends a buyer defends a collection. Bernard is being built for source-linked art-loss, restitution, exhibition-history, and catalogue raisonné research, so fragile records can become documentation that holds up.

The work that became Bernard began with documenting at-risk museum collections, so that what is taken can still be found, claimed, and returned.

Read where Bernard began

Where we are

A working product, with industry traction.

Available today

  • A working Mac app in limited early access.
  • Guided, source-linked art diligence for professional work.
  • A durable Knowledge Pack record that keeps references, conflicts, gaps, and revision together.

Working with partners

  • Early-access partners across the art trade are working directly with Bernard.
  • Industry engagement spans auction houses, galleries, compliance firms, and restitution initiatives.
  • Pilot conversations extend across auction houses and marketplaces, and compliance in art and real estate.

A working product in professional hands, with industry engagement that reaches beyond the art market.

The standard

The standard is not “interesting AI.”

It is a decision record: one a serious professional can act on, hand off, revisit, and defend months later.

Bernard

Request early access [email protected]

Bernard is an evidence-grounded knowledge system for professional work. AI with evidence — knowledge you keep. It works in art diligence today. Bernard guides AI through domain-specific research and keeps every finding with its reference, every conflict visible, and every gap recorded. The professional makes the call. Bernard supports professional diligence; it does not replace legal, fiduciary, appraisal, authentication, or compliance judgment.