Calendly

Calendly Enters the Meeting Note-Taker Game

ByBuraq

Calendly is known for scheduling meetings. Now they want to help you remember what happened in them.

Let me break down what they’re doing.

The New Product

Calendly just launched a note-taking product. Like others in the space, their note-taker joins meetings, records audio and video, transcribes everything, and generates summaries, action items, and follow-up emails.

They’re also testing a Granola-like feature that uses system audio to transcribe meetings. So you don’t need a bot in the meeting.

The AI Assistant: Callie

Calendly is also planning to release an AI assistant named Callie. It taps into the company’s existing meeting and scheduling stack to:

  • Set up meetings
  • Check people’s availability
  • Surface context from prior meetings

Read AI launched a similar email-based assistant earlier this year. So Calendly isn’t the first, but they’re coming in with a unique advantage.

The Advantage: They Already Know Your Calendar

Here’s the thing. Calendly already knows when you’re meeting and who you’re meeting with. They have the scheduling data.

That means their note-taker can inform people before the meeting starts that the call will be recorded. It’s built into the scheduling flow. Other note-takers have to announce themselves during the meeting.

The CEO’s Take

Calendly CEO Tope Awotona said the company wanted to automate workflows for their top users: people in outward-facing roles like sales and marketing whose workday is typically inundated with meetings.

He also addressed the competition:

“There’s a litany of note-takers, and all of them do a great job of recording and transcribing notes. But a lot of work happens after the meetings. And we think that really that’s where the opportunity for our note-takers to be efficient.”

So the pitch is: we’re not just recording. We’re helping you actually get work done after the meeting ends.

The Competition

This space is getting crowded.

On one end, you have dedicated note-taking apps:

  • Granola
  • Fireflies
  • Read AI
  • Otter
  • Fathom

On the other, productivity companies have added note-taking features:

  • Notion
  • ClickUp
  • Wispr

Wispr just raised a massive $280 million round at a $2 billion valuation to expand beyond dictation into meeting notes and new interfaces. They’re also launching a new AI model to fix quality issues. You can read the full breakdown here.

Calendly is entering a busy market.

Privacy Concerns

Some companies in this space, like Otter and Granola, are facing allegations of violating privacy.

Awotona said Calendly’s note-taker will inform users that their meeting is being recorded. The assistant sends a message in the chat to inform everyone of its presence. Any user can ask the app to leave the conversation.

And because of Calendly’s scheduling integration, it can even inform people before the meeting starts that the call will be recorded.

The Bottom Line

Calendly is entering the meeting note-taker market. They’re competing with Granola, Fireflies, Otter, and others. Their advantage is their scheduling data and integration.

The CEO says the real opportunity is after the meeting. Automating the work that comes after the call ends.

Privacy is a concern, but Calendly is being upfront about recording and giving users control.

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