Data-driven tools are turning the tide in the fight against human trafficking

Fragmented anti-trafficking efforts across the U.S. are leaving communities without the complete picture they need to protect vulnerable populations. But as AI and advanced data-driven tools mature, organizations working to end human trafficking now have an opportunity to convert that scattered data into coordinated action.

For more than 15 years, Qlik Technologies Inc. has partnered with nonprofits facing the same data challenges its enterprise customers do — disparate sources, inaccurate records and delayed insights. Nowhere is that work more visible than in its collaboration with Engage Together, a nonprofit that maps anti-trafficking resources and service gaps across entire communities, according to Julie Kae (pictured, right), vice president of sustainability and social impact and executive director of Qlik.org at Qlik Technologies Inc.

“With the advent of AI and all of these incredible innovations in our technology, we’re just getting ready to hit the electric gas pedal to power organizations that are doing such incredible work on the ground so much farther forward,” Kae told theCUBE.

Kae and Ashleigh Chapman (left), founder and chief executive officer of Engage Together, spoke with theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Rob Strechay at Qlik Connect 2026, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how data-driven tools are helping frontline organizations identify gaps in community anti-trafficking systems and drive faster, more strategic action. (* Disclosure below.)

Data-driven tools fuel anti-trafficking action

Human trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar criminal industry with millions of victims worldwide. However, the community resources meant to combat the problem have historically operated in silos — near one another, but rarely together, Chapman noted.

“Years ago when we were working on the ground with these communities, we would unearth hundreds of efforts, but they were not working together,” Chapman said. “How do you get the entire landscape? How do you unearth everyone doing anything related to this issue? How do you pull that together and package it in a way that you can share with the community that will change things? That’s when Qlik came to the table.”

The Qlik and Engage Together partnership has enabled decision makers — legislators, commissioners and local task forces — to see comprehensive dashboards, demographic breakdowns and programmatic gaps that previously existed only as hunches. Work in Florida, for example, revealed that trafficking exploitation was concentrated in urban areas while its root causes ran deep in rural communities, requiring a shift in resource allocation, Chapman explained.

“When we see gaping holes in our systems of care — whole populations that we didn’t even realize were at risk, that are at high risk in this community and no resource to help them — now we can start to say, ‘Wait a minute. We need to shift here. We need to lean more resource this way,'” she said. “Those kinds of insights are powerful.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Qlik Connect 2026:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Qlik Connect. Neither Qlik, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE