Granola AI

Granola AI is an intelligent notepad built for professionals who spend much of their day in back-to-back meetings, helping them capture, organize, and refine discussions without the distraction of traditional note-taking. Unlike most meeting assistants, it doesn’t rely on bots joining your calls; instead, it securely transcribes audio locally on your device, ensuring privacy while supporting popular platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack Huddles, and WebEx. The app is designed around a “human + AI” workflow where you can jot down your own key points during a meeting, while it simultaneously creates a transcript. Afterward, it merges your notes with the transcript to produce structured summaries, complete with clear sections, action items, and follow-ups. One of its standout features is the ability to customize templates for different meeting types, whether it’s a sales call, a 1-on-1, or an interview, so that notes remain consistent and easy to share across teams. The tool also offers post-meeting enhancements such as generating follow-up emails, extracting budget mentions, and highlighting next steps.

Through its “Ask Granola” chat feature, users can query the meeting directly, for instance, by asking what was discussed about timelines or decisions. Integration is another strength—it connects seamlessly with calendars to auto-detect meetings and allows exporting notes to Slack, Notion, HubSpot, email, or through Zapier workflows. Available across macOS, iOS, and Windows, it also supports team collaboration via shared folders and templates. Founded in 2023 by Chris Pedregal and Sam Stephenson and launched publicly in May 2024, the company quickly gained traction, raising $20 million in Series A funding later that year. Reviews from Business Insider and others highlight how it reduces meeting stress by letting professionals focus on conversations instead of scrambling to capture every detail. While it intentionally doesn’t store or record audio—something journalists may miss—this choice reinforces its emphasis on security and simplicity. Overall, Granola AI stands out from competitors by focusing on privacy, usability, and augmenting human judgment with AI rather than replacing it, making it a valuable productivity tool for busy executives, managers, and teams who need clear, actionable records of their meetings.