Otter has expanded its artificial intelligence capabilities with the introduction of a new 'Work' mode within its AI Chat assistant. Announced on Tuesday, this feature is designed to automate complex tasks occurring before and after meetings, marking a strategic shift for the company beyond simple transcription. This launch coincides with Otter securing $320 million in funding last week, underscoring its drive to integrate deeper into business workflows.
The new interface appears alongside the existing Chat option in the AI prompt box. While the standard Chat function handles questions, content generation, and information retrieval, Work is specifically engineered for multi-step actions. This separation of simpler chat functions from agentic capabilities mirrors approaches taken by other major AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT.
Before a meeting begins, users can instruct Work to compile briefing documents using data gathered from previous calls and connected applications. Once a meeting concludes, the assistant can draft emails, generate various document formats including Word files, Notion pages, PDFs, and interactive web pages, as well as update records in Salesforce. An Otter spokesperson confirmed that human approval is required before the AI completes any of these tasks.
This update replaces the previous Express and Advanced options within the AI Chat interface, building upon functions already available in the Advanced mode. Work mode is immediately available to all paid Otter users without usage limits, a distinction from the Chat mode which allocates a specific number of monthly queries based on the payment plan.
Industry analysts view this move as part of a broader trend where meeting tools evolve from data capture to actionable workflow automation. Irwin Lazar, principal analyst at Metrigy, noted that vendors are increasingly delivering solutions that make meeting notes actionable by leveraging context from both within meetings and external platforms. He pointed to similar emerging functionalities in Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.
According to Metrigy's "Workplace Collaboration & Employee Experience: 2027" report, which surveyed 403 organizations, 91% of business users want note-taking tools to access and act on context outside of meetings. In addition to Work mode, Otter announced that its Live Assist feature is now available to enterprise customers, with plans to expand access to all paid accounts in the coming weeks. Live Assist provides private guidance during calls, such as suggesting questions and tracking objectives.
Thomas Randall, a research director at Infotech, highlighted the unique value of Live Assist for internal productivity meetings, though he cautioned that Otter faces stiff competition from other vendors integrating AI into their platforms. Randall suggested that while the new functionality will greatly assist existing users, it is unlikely to make Otter a central hub for all work activities.
Sources: Computerworld.