Simplifying the To-Do List: Tana’s AI-Powered Solution
Introduction
An app that helps individuals and teams in the working world simplify their to-do lists has remained one of the unsolved goals in business technology. Leaning into AI, a startup called Tana believes it has cracked the code on how to reach it.
Features and Functionality
At its most basic, Tana is part automated-list builder and note taker, part application enabler, and part organizer. It can listen to conversations (e.g., over Zoom) or voice memos directed to Tana itself, transcribing them and turning them into action items. It then starts to work on that, depending on what the user has integrated with it for the purpose, to create lists, spreadsheets, web page updates, and more. Tana also has a feature it calls "Supertag," which it describes as modeled on Object-oriented programming that "transforms unstructured to structured information in seconds."
Vision and Ambition
Tana’s ambitious idea is that it will improve over time, as it takes on more data, and as its team builds future iterations of the platform. "We are building out a knowledge graph," said CEO Tarjei Vassbotn. Tana is a major fast-flowing river in Norway, and Vassbotn said that the startup named itself after it. "Tana is a river of information," he said.
Momentum and Funding
Today, Tana is emerging from stealth, announcing $25 million in funding from an interesting list of backers to get started. The startup has already gained momentum, with a popular closed beta and word of mouth. It has already managed to pick up 160,000 users on a waitlist, with a heavy concentration from large enterprises.
Background and Team
Tana is headquartered in Palo Alto and has a development and operations office in Norway, with three Norwegian co-founders. Vassbotn and Grim Iversen (CPO) are ex-Googlers. Significantly, Iversen had been one of the senior people building Google Wave, another of the efforts to solve the to-do and collaboration problem. They are joined by a third co-founder, COO Olav Kriken, who has built a string of digital companies in the country.
Competitors and Outlook
Many talented builders have tried to conquer the efficiency/productivity conundrum in business software, yet all of them have not quite worked as hoped. Even Slack’s so-called email killer has, in the end, turned the overstuffed inbox into a bloated burden of a different, notification kind. Tana’s founders are part of that complicated history. Now, their belief is that the circle can finally be completed through careful application of AI.
Conclusion
Tana’s founders are part of that complicated history. Now, their belief is that the circle can finally be completed through careful application of AI. The company’s ambition is to make Tana a tool catalog, integrating with around 50 different tools (such as Zoom), all of which themselves are also building their own AI functionality to make work for users a little easier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Tana?
A: Tana is an AI-powered app that helps individuals and teams in the working world simplify their to-do lists.
Q: How does Tana work?
A: Tana can listen to conversations (e.g., over Zoom) or voice memos directed to Tana itself, transcribing them and turning them into action items. It then starts to work on that, depending on what the user has integrated with it for the purpose, to create lists, spreadsheets, web page updates, and more.
Q: What is Supertag?
A: Supertag is a feature that transforms unstructured to structured information in seconds, modeled on Object-oriented programming.
Q: Who are the founders of Tana?
A: The founders of Tana are Tarjei Vassbotn, Grim Iversen, and Olav Kriken. Vassbotn and Iversen are ex-Googlers.
