Otter.ai, a Silicon Valley-based startup founded in 2016, has recently crossed some important milestones in the relatively new field of AI-powered meeting assistance. The company does much more than transcribe meetings. It’s aiming to be an all-in-one knowledge management platform for businesses. Otter told us that meetings are really, really important to his company’s practice of knowledge management. Here’s why it’s developing its offerings to improve internal corporate comms.
Otter gives users the opportunity to record meetings right onto the platform, and then keep the notes in a company-wide knowledge repository. There’s a catch, not all meeting notes will automatically be added to this repository. Users have full control over the sensitive data contained in their recordings, giving them the ability to limit access to recordings if and when needed. This new feature is an important step towards creating a more privacy-first environment and giving users control and agency over their personal data.
In August, a class-action lawsuit was brought to bear against Otter. The company is accused of illegally recording private conversations by failing to ask for user’s explicit consent. The suit alleges that Otter used this data to improve its transcription services. In reaction to these accusations, CEO Sam Liang argued against the allegations and justified the company’s actions, saying,
“If they accuse us, then they could accuse everyone else, all the tools you heard about doing meeting notes.”
Liang went on to reiterate that Otter is firm on continuing to lead the industry forward with ethical practices.
While Otter still works to tackle these challenges, it is in the midst of rapidly expanding its product line. Most recently, the startup launched a new suite of tools, featuring an API, an MCP (multi-agent computational platform) server, and an AI agent. The API allows for deep custom integrations with other widely-used platforms such as Jira and HubSpot. This improvement significantly increases the usefulness of Otter’s offerings for enterprises. The MCP server takes users’ Otter data and connects it to external AI models, giving users even more powerful capabilities.
The new ChatGPT-like AI agent is a game changer. It lets users easily browse a company’s archive of public meeting notes and presentations. This new feature gets a little closer to Liang’s vision of breaking down the inefficiencies created by databases kept behind information silos in organizations. He stated,
“We are evolving from a meeting notetaker to a corporate meeting knowledge base.”
Liang is passionate about ensuring that organizations have AI as a part of their meetings. This integration is key to unlocking the unprecedented value of their knowledge assets. He asserted,
“My view is that we are on the right side of history. We’re building this new AI revolution. If you want AI to help, you need to put AI in the meetings.”
Otter’s shift in strategy is clear and aimed to make it the default resource for enterprise-level companies looking for streamlined knowledge management solutions. Otter hopes to change the way businesses use their collective intelligence by improving access to information created in meetings.