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This week I tested Granola, my AI Note Taking Assistant. He fired it for an interview with consulting giant EY tycoon Raj Sharma. Coincidentally, he said his wife was using granola to transcribe her interactions with patients.
It was easy to install on your MacBook. It synced with Google’s Work Calendar, prompted me to start a Microsoft Teams video call and start recording. My prepared questions were saved in the app, but were not easily accessible during the call. I kept it by default in Google Docs, hoping that the notes would be displayed more intuitively once the interview started.
The granola features after the interview impressed me. We provided a summary themed on extensible sections and action items. This is based in part on my prepared questions and the notes that Raj wrote down while he was talking. I asked to find a quote from Raj about AI being a “welcome relief” and it was delivered. I always went back and checked the exact phrase. To do this, complete transcription was required. Raj’s comments and my questions sometimes contributed to the wrong speaker by mistake, but this was pretty good.
What shocked me: Granola doesn’t record audio from the meeting. This is a trading breaker for journalists who need to accurately verify their citations. I used Apple’s Voice Memos app alongside Granola for my Essential Raw Audio backup.
Granola is sophisticated, clever and promising. But for now, it lacks one important thing for me: the truth of someone’s voice.
Postscript
After sending out a Tech Memo Newsletter this morning, I tracked an email from Vicky Firth, the leading customer experience at Granola. She kindly answered my annoying questions!
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Here’s what she said about my lack of asking why Granola doesn’t provide audio recordings:
“We don’t store audio recordings. It’s a deliberate decision for several reasons. First of all, we realize that any platform you’re doing for the phone is already doing this and we don’t feel the need to replicate this feature. That’s the best.”
“Another reason is about data security. We want to make sure we capture only what we need to make these great notes. So we don’t keep any more sensitive information than necessary. We hear feedback from both sides. Some people want to save the recording, but the transcript feels good here again.”
This suggested it was a kind of deal killer for someone who needs to verify exactly what people say. Also, I asked why Granola not only provides this as a default feature, but also adds a clear button to turn off audio recording when users want it.
Firth’s reply makes sense, it’s a real window into how the startup works and how they have to make the hard product decisions they have to make while building efficiently.
“If you need someone who needs a very specific quote on a regular basis, it’s probably not the best solution. And if that’s what you’re chasing as your main output, then another product is probably more suited to you. That sadly means you have a long, long list of things you have to park for now!”
