Terms of Use

1.Who Can Participate

You may participate if:

• You are at least 18 years old
• You are a current or former working professional in IT, business operations, finance, or a related discipline
• You have direct experience relevant to IT outsourcing, partner transitions, managed services, or vendor governance — as a client, partner-side employee, advisor, or executive

This research is invitation-quality. We may decline to use or publish responses that don't meet the research criteria, at our discretion.

2.What Antaral? Is

Antaral? is an independent primary research initiative studying IT outsourcing and partner-transition decisions in enterprises. It is led by Sriram Goteti, a Senior IT Systems Engineering Architect based in Dallas, Texas.

The research may result in:

• Published findings, articles, frameworks, and a white paper
• A potential commercial advisory practice or product based on the research
• Academic publication associated with the researcher's graduate program at UT Dallas
• Other derivative works informed by the data collected

When you participate, you are contributing to all of the above.

3.License You Grant Us

By submitting your interview, you grant Sriram Goteti a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to:

• Use your interview responses (raw and AI-polished) in research analysis, publications, presentations, and derivative works
• Quote your responses, anonymously or with attribution depending on the permissions you selected during the interview
• Use your name and title alongside quotes — only if you explicitly opted in to public attribution
• Display your selected avatar, uploaded photo, or captured snapshot publicly on the site — only if you provided one with intent of public display
• Retain the data indefinitely as part of the research record
• Sublicense these rights to academic publishers, journals, or collaborators where reasonably necessary to publish the research

You confirm that:

• The information you provide is truthful to the best of your knowledge
• You have the right to share the experiences you describe — for example, you're not violating an NDA, non-disparagement clause, or trade secret obligation by participating
• You are participating in your personal capacity, not as an authorized spokesperson for your employer, unless you've cleared it with them

If you realize after the fact that you shouldn't have shared something specific, contact us and we'll work with you on redaction or deletion.

4.Identity Verification

The site requires email verification via a one-time magic link before the interview begins. By providing an email address, you confirm that:

• It belongs to you or you're authorized to use it
• You're not impersonating someone else
• You're not using disposable or fraudulent addresses to circumvent rate limits

We may invalidate or refuse to publish responses tied to identities we cannot reasonably verify.

5.AI Polish — What You Should Know

Some interview steps offer an optional "AI Polish" feature that uses Anthropic's Claude API to rephrase your spoken answer into a more polished written version. When you use it:

• The AI suggestion is just that — a suggestion
• The original (raw) version of your answer is always preserved alongside the polished version
• You see the polished version and choose whether to use it before it becomes part of your saved response
• The polished text is generated by an AI model and, while we instruct it to preserve meaning, may not capture your exact intent — review it before accepting

You acknowledge that AI Polish output is generated by an automated language model and is not a perfect substitute for your own words.

6.Acceptable Use

When using the site, you agree NOT to:

• Submit false, misleading, or fabricated experiences
• Submit content that is defamatory toward identifiable individuals or companies (your honest opinions are welcome; intentionally false accusations are not)
• Attempt to extract the interview question list, source code, or other intellectual property through means other than the intended interview flow
• Attempt to access other participants' data
• Use the site to harass, threaten, or harm anyone
• Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to interact with the site
• Interfere with the site's operation through excessive load, exploits, or other abuse
• Misrepresent your identity or qualifications

We reserve the right to delete responses that violate these terms and to ban participants from future research.

7.Intellectual Property

Owned by Sriram Goteti

• The "Antaral?" name, mark, and brand identity (trademark application pending or filed)
• The interview question set, research framework, and methodology
• The website source code and design
• All research findings, frameworks, publications, and derivative works
• The compiled dataset of interview responses (your individual statements remain yours; the curated dataset as a whole is the researcher's work)

Owned by you

• Your individual statements, opinions, and experiences (subject to the license you granted in Section 3)
• Any photo or content you uploaded (subject to the license you granted to display it)

You may not reproduce, redistribute, scrape, or build derivative products from the site, its question set, or its research outputs without written permission, except for personal review of your own submitted transcript.

8.Your Transcript

After submitting your interview, the site provides a "Download Your Transcript" option. This download is for your personal records. You may share or reference it as you wish, including with your own attorney, advisor, or colleague.

9.Public Display of Your Contribution

If you opt into public display:

• Your quote, name, and title may appear on the Voices section of the site
• Your selected avatar or uploaded photo may appear alongside your quote
• Your contribution may be referenced in research outputs and publications

If you opt out:

• Your contribution informs the research analysis privately
• No public-facing element identifies you

You can withdraw public-display consent at any time by emailing antaral.research@proton.me. We'll remove the public element within a reasonable timeframe, though prior publications already in distribution may not be retroactively recallable.

10.Disclaimers

The site and the research are provided "as is" and "as available." We make no warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to:

• That the site will be available without interruption
• That AI Polish will produce accurate or representative results in every case
• That the research findings will be applicable to any specific business situation
• That participation provides any business benefit to you

Information presented in the research is for informational and educational purposes. It is not consulting advice, legal advice, or a substitute for professional judgment specific to your situation. Use of the research is at your own risk.

11.Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Sriram Goteti shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site or your participation in the research
• In any case, total cumulative liability arising from these Terms or the site is limited to one hundred US dollars ($100) or the amount you paid to use the site, whichever is lower (the site is free to use)

Some jurisdictions don't allow these limitations; in those cases, the limitations apply to the maximum extent permitted.

12.Indemnification

You agree to defend and hold harmless Sriram Goteti from any third-party claim arising from:

• Your breach of these Terms
• False, defamatory, or unauthorized content you submitted
• Your violation of any agreement with a third party (e.g., an employer NDA) by sharing certain content

13.Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Any dispute arising from these Terms or your participation will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Dallas County, Texas. You consent to that jurisdiction.

Before formal action, we ask you to contact antaral.research@proton.me to try to resolve the issue informally.

14.Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes that affect existing participants will be communicated by email where possible. Continued participation after a change indicates acceptance.

15.Termination

You may stop participating at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access for violations of these Terms.

If your participation is terminated, the license you granted in Section 3 over already-submitted material remains in effect — meaning we keep the right to use what you already shared — but no new submissions will be accepted.

16.Severability and Entire Agreement

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest of the Terms remain in effect. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the site.

17.Contact

Sriram Goteti
Researcher, Antaral?
Email: antaral.research@proton.me
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sriramgoteti
Location: Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, USA