Every year the WAPI Annual Training Conference brings investigators together for a day of learning, comparing notes and — by the end of the evening — a good deal of laughter. This year we’re at the Union Jack Club in London on Saturday 21 November, and the programme is shaping up to be one of the most practical we’ve run. Here’s what you’ll leave with.
1. A working understanding of AI for investigators
Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. Far fewer people can say, hand on heart, how it fits into a real investigation without creating risks for the client or the case. Daniel Forsthofer’s “AI for the PI” workshop is built for working investigators: what these tools do well, where they fall down, and how to use them without compromising confidentiality or the integrity of your evidence. You’ll go home with methods you can use on Monday morning.
2. OSINT techniques that lead somewhere
Open-source intelligence is now part of almost every enquiry, from tracing and due diligence to surveillance planning. Joshua Richards, founder of OSINT Praxis, runs a hands-on workshop — “OSINT for Private Investigators: From Online Clues to Real-World Impact” — on turning scattered online fragments into findings that stand up in a report and in front of a client. Bring a laptop and questions.
3. The inside story of how a serial fraudster was exposed
Investigative journalist Vicky Baker (BBC Panorama, Fake Heiress, Fake Psychic) hosts the BBC podcast Fraudacious. Her session, “The Making of Fraudacious: How a Podcast Exposed a Serial Fraudster”, walks through the investigation behind it — the sources, the dead ends and the decisions that finally made the story stick. For anyone who works on fraud, it’s a rare look at how a case gets built from the outside in.
4. A room full of people who do what you do
Investigation can be a solitary job. The value of a day like this isn’t only what’s said from the front of the room — it’s the conversation over coffee with someone who has handled the exact problem you’re stuck on, the contact you’ll instruct next month, and the exhibitors showing tools you didn’t know existed. And you don’t need to be a WAPI member to come: the conference is open to everyone working in and around the investigative profession.
5. A proper night out
The day finishes with our black-tie banquet in the same venue: a three-course dinner, wine on the tables, music and dancing. Firms and groups can book a Table of 10, which makes for a rather good team night out or a way to thank clients.
Dates and prices
Saturday 21 November 2026, Union Jack Club, London. Early bird pricing ends on Wednesday 30 September: conference £65 for members and £75 for non-members; banquet £100; day and evening combined £155 for members and £165 for non-members; Table of 10 for the banquet £1,050.
Places are limited, so book your place at https://wapi.org/events/ — and if you know a colleague who’d get a lot from the day, send them this page.