How Otter.ai’s CEO is pushing the company to be more than just a meeting scribe

Otter.ai CEO Sam Liang isn’t satisfied with the institution being viewed, and used, arsenic conscionable a gathering notetaker. Liang wants Otter.ai to go a go-to root for enterprises and a caller batch of products released Tuesday is the archetypal measurement successful that evolution.

The Silicon Valley-based AI gathering assistant startup released Tuesday a caller suite of tools for enterprises designed to amended incorporated information from meetings into different workflows by funneling that accusation to a cardinal cognition base. The purpose is to turn Otter’s concern by helping companies get much retired of the meetings they record.

Otter’s caller merchandise suite includes an API that allows users to physique customized integrations with platforms similar Jira and HubSpot, an MCP server — which connects users’ Otter information to outer AI models — and a caller AI cause that tin hunt a company’s meetings notes or presentations.  

Liang told TechCrunch it is the adjacent signifier of Otter’s life.  

“We are evolving from a gathering notetaker to a firm gathering cognition base,” Liang said. “This is simply a strategy grounds for conversations. It tin assistance corporations standard their maturation and thrust measurable concern value.” 

When Otter was founded successful 2016, there were conscionable a fistful of gathering transcription companies — a acold leap from today. The AI roar that kicked disconnected successful 2022 fueled a surge successful startups like Granola or Circleback. Even older players similar Fireflies person seen a surge in interest.  

Liang argues this transition puts Otter into a abstracted part than its erstwhile peers.  

Meetings are where the majority of company cognition is stored, successful Liang’s opinion, whether that is notes from a lawsuit income telephone or discussions astir a selling strategy. But without a centralized spot for these gathering notes, that accusation tin only help a institution truthful much.  

“A batch of times, inefficiency happens due to the fact that of accusation silos,” Liang said. “One team doesn’t know what the different squad is doing, and it thinks that that was planned similar a period ago. Oftentimes the program changes, but not everybody is informed. So, the thought is to make a support strategy truthful that you cognize astir of the [nonconfidential] information is shared arsenic broadly arsenic possible.” 

Not each gathering with Otter volition beryllium straight added to this company-wide cognition basal and users tin take to restrict gathering enactment access for recordings that woody with delicate information.  

Employee and accusation privacy remains a interest contempt entree controls. Even if a gathering is astir a neutral topic, Otter transcriptions prime the tiny speech and chatter that happens earlier and aft meetings, which could contain gossip oregon accusation meant for lone definite participants to hear.  

Otter is besides the taxable of an August class-action lawsuit that claims the institution was recording backstage conversations without idiosyncratic consent and utilizing that accusation to bid its transcription services. 

Liang said that while he can’t comment connected the suit specifically, this isn’t an contented circumstantial to Otter, and that when looking astatine the bigger picture, more entree to information is better than not.  

“If they impeach us, past they could impeach everyone else, each the tools you heard astir doing gathering notes,” Liang said. “My presumption is that we are connected the close broadside of history. We’re building this caller AI revolution. If you privation AI to help, you request to enactment AI successful the meetings.”