Deep: New AI Assistants and Agents Explored
Assistants and Agents from top companies like LinkedIn, Google Maps, OpenAI, Atlassian and more.
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Hey everyone 👋,
It’s been over 6 months since we last looked at how companies are using chatbots and AI assistants.
Since then, the number of AI assistants released has exploded - and we’ve also seen the rapid rise of several new AI agent products from leading companies. OpenAI’s chief product officer has gone so far as to predict that 2025 will be the year of the AI agent. But before then, we’re already seeing a bunch of new, so-called “Agentic” AI products hit the market in recent weeks.
In this deep dive, we’re going to explore how top companies like LinkedIn, Atlassian, Webflow, Slack and more are building new AI assistants and agents. This will include dedicated new assistants focused on specific tasks and user segments, new standalone agents as well as new startups who have recently built new AI Assistant products designed to compete with larger companies, too.
If you’re currently considering whether to build AI Assistants or Agents in your own product, this might be helpful as a reference guide to understand what other companies are building right now.
Coming up:
How top tech companies are leveraging AI assistants and agents to transform user experiences
How Slack’s internal engineering assistant will save engineering teams 10,000+ hours annually
Understand the key differences between AI assistants and the emerging “agentic AI” trend
Why Salesforce’s CEO calls their new Agentforce “the biggest and most exciting technology we’ve ever worked on”
The list of 20+ companies and features in full
How this analysis is structured
In this deep dive, we’re looking at 20+ different companies and startups to understand what new AI Assistants and Agents they’re building.
The analysis includes:
Product - the product featured. This includes companies from B2B SaaS through to consumer products who have built new AI Assistant features and standalone new products.
Assistant / agent featured - often (but not always), companies will give their assistants and agents specific names. For each company featured we’ve broken this down further to include the name given to their assistant. Zoom calls its latest assistant, Companion 2.0 and Descript calls its assistant Underlord, for example.
Utility - each assistant is assigned a categorized utility. Stripe’s Sigma Assistant is categorized as an experience enhancement but Webflow’s new dedicated AI Assistant is a productivity booster, for example. More below on how utility for each product assistant is categorized.
How it works - an explanation of how the assistant or agent works for each of the companies featured.
Link to more info - links to learn more information about the feature. This can include links to product blogs for more info or videos of the feature in action.
How utility is categorized
For each Assistant / Agent featured, the utility of the assistant or agent is categorized into a distinct category. These categories include:
Productivity - focuses on helping users achieve tasks more efficiently, reducing time or effort through automation or streamlined processes. Assistants that fall under this category, like LinkedIn's Hiring Assistant, support specific tasks within the product (e.g., candidate evaluation) by automating repetitive tasks or optimizing workflows.
Experience enhancers - elevate the user experience by making interactions smoother, more informative, or more personalized. For instance, Google Maps' Assistant enables users to ask questions about specific locations, enhancing navigation with real-time, contextual guidance.
Customer service - addresses customer inquiries, issues, or needs, often through automated but responsive support. Salesforce’s new Agentforce product does this in various ways. We’ll explore how.
Core value proposition - this is when the AI assistant or agent isn’t just an additional feature - but it is the product itself. This includes new startups and standalone products you might not have heard of before.
Third party extension - these are assistants or agents which work with third parties as extensions of value - rather than simply standalone products or experience enhancing features. We’re starting to see more of this as AI assistants become more prevalent.
A deeper look at some of the companies featured
Now that we’ve explained how this analysis is structured, let’s take a closer look at some of the companies featured to understand how their Assistants / Agents work.