Tegus expert calls: what happens to your words after you hang up

Tegus expert calls are recorded, transcribed and, after an embargo period, published to the AlphaSense platform, according to the expert FAQ on Tegus for Experts. That is the big difference from a typical expert network call: one client books you, but many subscribers can read what you said. Tegus pays the rate you set, prorated in 15-minute blocks and processed within 15 business days.

Tegus is now part of AlphaSense. AlphaSense agreed to buy it in a $930 million deal announced on June 11, 2024 (SiliconANGLE), and said it had closed the acquisition in July 2024 (MarTech Series). The calls now run as "Tegus by AlphaSense." The FAQ says its recruiters may write from addresses ending in @tegus.com, @alpha-sense.com or @experts.tegus.com, which is a quick way to check that an approach is real.

1. Assume every sentence will be read by people you never meet

Treat a Tegus call as something you are publishing. Here is what Tegus and AlphaSense say happens to your words:

• Recording: "All Tegus by AlphaSense calls are recorded, transcribed, and published to the AlphaSense platform after an embargo period." The audio is not posted publicly, but the FAQ says it may be used internally for training or to check transcription.
• Review: transcripts go through compliance review before publication, and AlphaSense's call services page says every call is reviewed after the conversation for non-public or sensitive information.
• Embargo: AlphaSense's AI-led calls FAQ says AI-led calls follow the same posting model as its one-on-one expert calls: a 14-day delay when the target company is public and 90 days when it is private. Clients can pay to push the posting date back further.
• Audience: AlphaSense describes a library of more than 300,000 expert call transcripts "only accessible to AlphaSense users" on its expert calls page. Tegus's terms of use tell clients that their call transcripts may go into an online repository "for viewing by other clients."

Your name comes off, but your context stays on. The FAQ says anonymization turns you into a description like a role plus a company, and that "in most cases, we are unable to anonymize your company." A former colleague who reads "former VP of supply chain at a regional grocery chain" may well guess who that is.

The FAQ describes payment for the call and mentions none when other subscribers later read the transcript. Plan as if the call fee is the only payment you will get for it.

Short version: say only what you would be comfortable seeing in print with your job title next to it.

2. Tegus pays your rate in 15-minute blocks, within 15 business days

The Tegus for Experts page says you set your own rate and have "full control" over pricing. Its FAQ explains the rest:

• Payments go through Tipalti, a payments company, and options vary by country.
• Payments are processed within 15 business days of the call.
• Pay is prorated and rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes, with a 5-minute grace period: run less than 5 minutes past a 15-minute mark and it rounds down, 5 minutes or more and it rounds up.
• All payments are initiated in US dollars, so check that your bank accepts wires initiated in USD.
• US experts paid above a yearly threshold get a 1099-NEC tax form.
• The 10 to 15 minute introductory call with a Tegus team member, where they check your background and explain the compliance rules, is not paid.

Here is a made-up example. Lucia spent eight years in category management at a grocery chain and sets her rate at $300 an hour. A call runs 37 minutes, which is 7 minutes past the 30-minute mark, so it rounds up to 45 minutes and she is paid $225. Had it ended at 33 minutes, it would round down to 30 and pay $150.

The only rate figure AlphaSense publishes is on its call services page, which is written for buyers. It says clients pay the expert's rate, which it puts at an average of about $450, plus a flat $75 transcription fee. The page does not say what that average covers, and it tells you nothing about what your background will command. Our Tegus pricing post covers the buyer side in detail.

3. Finish compliance onboarding a day early, and know the employer rules

Tegus requires an online onboarding process before your first call, and the FAQ says it "clarifies what information you can and cannot share." Complete the compliance documents at least 24 hours before the call, as the FAQ asks.

AlphaSense's AI-led calls FAQ lists who can take any Tegus call: experts who have agreed to its terms and conditions, completed mandatory compliance training and answered a standard pre-call questionnaire. It also says experts "cannot participate in calls concerning their current employer" or companies where they have indicated a material relationship.

There is one more rule worth knowing before you agree. AlphaSense's expert calls page says experts must be "at least six months out of their prior role" with the company they are asked to discuss. If you left that company last month, the honest answer to the invitation is no, for now.

4. What not to say on a Tegus call

The FAQ's rule is short: "Only discuss publicly available information. Do not share confidential or material non-public information." It adds that nothing you say should break a confidentiality agreement or a duty of trust, and that if a question makes you uncomfortable you should decline or end the call, and Tegus will still pay you for your time.

In practice, keep these off a Tegus call:

1. Anything about your current employer, even if the client asks about the wider industry first.
2. Specific numbers from a former employer that were never published, such as unannounced pricing, contract terms with named customers, or internal forecasts.
3. Anything covered by an NDA you signed with a supplier, customer or partner.
4. Details that identify you more than your role and company already do, like the one project only you ran.

What you can share is experience and judgment: how buyers in your industry choose between vendors, why a product was hard to roll out, what a reasonable price range looks like based on public information. Our guide to material non-public information explains where the legal line sits, and what happens on an expert network call covers declining a question gracefully.

5. Some Tegus calls have an AI interviewer

AlphaSense began offering AI-led expert calls to clients in 2026, according to its AI-led calls FAQ. An AI agent dials you, reads a mandatory compliance disclosure, and runs a live phone interview built from the client's topics. AlphaSense says experts are told during sourcing that the interviewer will be an AI, that you can ask it to repeat, rephrase or simplify a question, and that the same compliance rules and the same transcript library apply.

Treat these calls exactly like human-led ones. The transcript ends up in the same place.

6. Decide with two questions before you say yes

Ask yourself two things before you accept a Tegus call.

First, would you be comfortable seeing the transcript with your role and company attached? If the topic is a company you left recently, a competitor you still talk to, or something close to your current job, decline. The six-month rule and the current-employer rule will often decide this for you anyway.

Second, is the rate right for a call that becomes a published document? Since one hour of your time may be read by many subscribers, set a rate you will not resent later. How much GLG pays walks through choosing a number when the network publishes no rate card. Check your employment contract and your employer's outside-work policy before the first call.

Tegus is one option among several. Instant Expert works differently: a buyer invites you to a specific paid call or a written or voice answer and sets the amount up front, you receive the full amount offered, and you can reply with a higher price. You can claim your profile to set the rate buyers start from, or see open paid requests on the request board.

Before your first Tegus call, finish onboarding a day early and decide in advance which topics you will decline.