Note-taking has quickly turned into a critical part of the productivity space, with many workplace software companies chasing the dream of having AI automate tasks based on action items created from meeting transcripts. Calendly, known for its scheduling and meeting booking software, is now entering the fray with a note-taking product.

Like others in the space, Calendly’s note-taker also joins meetings, records the audio and video, and transcribes it, after which it can generate a summary, action items, and draft follow-up emails. The company said it is also testing a Granola-like feature that uses system audio to transcribe meetings.

Calendly is also planning to release an AI assistant named Callie that taps the company’s existing meeting and scheduling stack to set up meetings, check peoples’ availability, and surface context from prior meetings. (Meeting notetaking startup Read AI launched a similar email-based assistant earlier this year.)

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

But the competition in this space is intense. On one end, you have meeting note-taking apps like Granola, Fireflies, Read AI, Otter, and Fathom; on the other, productivity companies like Notion, ClickUp, and Wispr have also added note-taking assistants and features to their suites.

Still, Awotona says there’s big opportunity in automating tasks after the meeting is transcribed.

“There’s a litany of notetakers, 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,” he said.

Given that some companies in this space, like Otter and Granola, are facing allegations of violating privacy, Awotona said Calendly’ note-taker will inform users that their meeting is being recorded. The recording assistant sends a message in the chat to inform everyone of its presence and activity, and any user can ask the app to leave the conversation. It can even inform people before the meeting starts that the call will be recorded, thanks to its integration with Calendly’s scheduling system.

The Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) has called for increased investment in the training, retention and development of indigenous professionals to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign expertise.

The National President of NITAD, Bulus James, made the call on Tuesday in Jos at the institute’s 33rd annual conference, titled “Talent Sovereignty: Engineering the Self-Replenishing Workforce for National Rebirth.”

Mr James said Nigeria could achieve sustainable national development by deliberately developing its human resources and creating systems that ensured a continuous supply of skilled professionals.

He said the country must take ownership of its talent development process by strengthening training, mentorship and succession planning across institutions.

“Nigeria must take ownership of its talent development pipeline to reduce dependence on external expertise and build capacity from within,” he said.

According to him, developing a self-sustaining workforce requires continuous investment in skills development and policies that encourage institutions to train and retain competent personnel.

He said such investment would ensure that institutions remained productive despite the retirement, resignation or exit of experienced personnel.

“The future of our nation depends on our ability to deliberately grow, retain and deploy homegrown talent across all sectors,” Mr James said.

The NITAD president said the conference was organised to draw attention to the country’s human capital challenges and promote practical strategies for building a workforce capable of meeting Nigeria’s development needs.

Also speaking, Governor Caleb Mutfwang, represented by the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Samuel Jatau, commended NITAD for focusing on workforce sustainability and human capital development.

Mr Mutfwang said the state government was committed to partnering with training institutions and other relevant stakeholders to bridge skills gaps and strengthen the capacity of its workforce.

He urged stakeholders to sustain efforts to equip Nigerians with relevant skills needed to drive economic growth and national development.

The conference attracted government officials, representatives of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), traditional rulers, training professionals and other stakeholders across the country. 

(NAN)