# How to Reclaim Your Time with Jamie, the AI-Powered Meeting Assistant Episode 4 of AI with Sach, a podcast hosted by Sacha Gucciardo in Montréal, features Benedikt, co-founder of Jamie, an AI meeting assistant (previously co-founder of TeamTap). Jamie co-founder Benedikt explains how an AI meeting assistant works, how it handles European data rules, and how to validate a startup idea. - Show: AI with Sach, hosted by Sacha Gucciardo in Montréal (https://aiwithsach.com/) - Episode: 4 - Published: 2024-07-31 - Length: 15 minutes - Language: English - Page: https://aiwithsach.com/episodes/04-how-to-reclaim-your-time-with-jamie-the-ai-powered/ - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8 ## Guests - Benedikt: Co-founder of Jamie, an AI meeting assistant (previously co-founder of TeamTap) (https://aiwithsach.com/guests/benedikt/) ## Summary Sach talks with Benedikt, co-founder of Jamie, a Berlin-based AI meeting assistant. Benedikt tells how he and his co-founder Luis met playing tennis, started a first product called TeamTap, and then built Jamie to solve a problem they felt themselves: taking meeting notes while trying to listen. Jamie listens to a call or an in-person meeting without a bot joining, then produces action items, decisions, a customizable summary and a transcript. A sidebar lets users ask questions across their past meetings. Benedikt explains that they launched an imperfect first version in 2022, personally onboarded a couple of hundred customers, and grew through SEO and close contact with users. On regulation, he says Jamie is GDPR compliant, stores no audio permanently, does not train on user data and hosts data in Germany. He sees AI as a productivity driver if companies invest in education, because many people are still afraid of it. His advice to founders: do not treat polite interest as validation. Launch a simple MVP, or get contracts signed before you build. ## Key takeaways 1. Solving a problem you have yourself brings more passion than solving one for strangers. 2. Launching an imperfect first version early gives the feedback needed to build a solid core product. 3. Personally onboarding early users and staying in touch with them is a growth channel as well as a learning one. 4. Polite interest is not validation: ship a simple MVP, or get people to sign contracts or pay before you build. 5. For an AI tool used at work, privacy choices (GDPR, no training on user data, EU hosting) can be a selling point. 6. Companies adopting AI need education and clear guidelines, because the first reaction of many employees is fear. ## Verified quotes Each quote is checked word for word against the recording. > So, what was very important for us in the beginning already is that we're, of course, entirely GDPR compliant. Also, there's no audio data being permanently stored, which is quite crucial. And none of the data is being used for training purposes. So, no user data, of course, is being used there. And the data is being stored on servers in Germany. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 10:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=600s) > Because in the end, everyone is going to be nice and say, hey, that's super interesting. Reach out to me once you build it. And I think taking this for validation is a big mistake that you can do. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 13:25 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=805s) > And second option is then if the product, for example, takes longer to develop, to sign contracts actually before that. Because if people put money down for the product that you plan to build, that's the biggest validation that you can get. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 13:44 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=824s) > So my co-founder, Luis and I, we've met like 10 years ago while playing tennis together and already shared this common interest of businesses and ideas in general. And therefore discuss them heavily during our doubles matches. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 0:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=59s) > And we started to solve a problem actually for ourselves, which was in retrospect, very important to me. So I think that's where very much more passion came in than solving a problem for someone you don't really know, to be honest. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 2:57 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=177s) > There's no need for a bot to join a meeting. And it also works at in-person settings and can be heavily customized so that you can actually, yeah, have it provide the nodes and the structure that you want them to be. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 4:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=250s) > But what we did, which was challenging, but also I think in retrospective the right decision is that we launched very early with the first version. So it was actually back in 2022 when we launched the first version of Jamie. And it was, of course, not the perfect solution and not working 100% of the time. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 4:49 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=289s) > One thing, for example, that we did is I, in the beginning, onboarded a couple of hundred customers personally in a quick feedback call or in a quick onboarding call. And then after a week, a quick feedback call, which was very important to us to get the learning of what's needed actually to build a product that works well in the work environment. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 5:22 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=322s) > So, for example, what were the five key takeaways for my last 10 sales meetings, for example? And Jamie will give you an answer based on your past meetings. And it also has the opportunity to capture the screen in addition to that. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 7:07 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=427s) > And also, I believe there's a lot of education that needs to be done within companies. So, that actually, it's just a feeling of mine. I don't have, like, any stats on it. But from what I've seen, I mean, also, many people are still afraid to use AI because there were some negative views, of course, in the past. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 11:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=676s) > So, I think if you have more than two meetings a day, I would already say, okay, this is a huge value add for you. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 9:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=560s) > But then also, I think the even more important aspect is that we talk to everyone who wants to talk to us personally. So, you have the option to schedule a demo, for example, on our website where you get directly connected to one of our team members and where you can ask any questions. > — Benedikt, AI with Sach episode 4, at 12:28 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=748s) ## Transcript Automatic transcript; speaker labels are automatic. [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=0s) **Sacha:** Hello. So today we have a very special guest with us, Benedikt, the co-founder of Jamie, a company that is revolutionizing the way we work by eliminating busy work through the power of AI. Before Jamie, Benedikt worked on a product called TeamTap, which is focused on helping anyone who works remotely to find what matters within two clicks. Benedikt's academic background is as impressive as his entrepreneurial journey. We studied together at Maastricht University and then he spent a semester abroad at ESSEC Business School, one of the top business schools in Europe. And under Benedikt's leadership, Jamie has grown rapidly since its launch in 2023 with a mission to give people the time back they deserve so they can focus on meaningful work. Benedikt, welcome. [0:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=38s) **Guest:** Thank you very much for having me. [0:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=40s) **Sacha:** Benedikt, can you share your journey from being a student at ESSEC Business School, Maastricht University, to becoming the co-founder of Jamie? What were some key moments or decisions that really led you to where you are now? [0:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=53s) **Guest:** Yeah, no, happy to share that. I think I didn't go like the common way and kind of stumbled into this situation. So my co-founder, Luis and I, we've met like 10 years ago while playing tennis together and already shared this common interest of businesses and ideas in general. And therefore discuss them heavily during our doubles matches. And then we stumbled across an idea. It was in my first year in my studies at Maastricht and Luis was about to start there as well. And then we decided, okay, that's an interesting opportunity for us. And we decided to pitch it to a couple of people, then got the first customer, also the first, first angel check. And that's, yeah, where everything started, which was back then in 2020, actually, with a totally different product than what we're doing now. And things have evolved quite heavily since then. I finished my studies, or we both finished our studies, actually, in Maastricht and then for me later on in Paris, and then went full time with our company. [1:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=109s) **Sacha:** Great. So as you mentioned, you touched upon it, you've built two different products and we've talked about it, TeamTap and now Jamie, both of which seem to really focus on improving work efficiency. What sparked your interest in this area? [2:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=123s) **Guest:** Yeah, very good question. So as you can probably tell by my age, I don't have that much work experience, despite the company yet. However, I think with TeamTap, it was a problem that we've noticed from other companies, actually, and from what we've heard about. And it was quite good. We saw some progress. But then we noticed with Jamie, an even bigger problem and opportunity. And also a problem back then of like automated meeting notes, which we were deeply passionate about. And I was the one when actually doing sales calls, for example, for TeamTap. And I always took meeting notes and to sit down after a meeting, for example, and memorize what was being said. I needed to be distracted actually doing calls because I needed to take notes. And then Lewis came up with the idea of this technology called artificial intelligence and there are those language models out there. Why can't we not build a solution for that? And that's kind of how things got started with Jamie. And we started to solve a problem actually for ourselves, which was in retrospect, very important to me. [3:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=183s) So I think that's where very much more passion came in than solving a problem for someone you don't really know, to be honest. [3:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=191s) **Sacha:** That's awesome. I recently read a book that says fall in love with the problem, not the solution. And it seems like that's exactly what you've done. And so Jamie's mission is to, as you just mentioned, eliminate busy work by playing AI. Can you explain how Jamie's AI works and how it differs from different AI companies that may do something similar? [3:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=210s) **Guest:** Yeah, I'm happy to. So we are heavily focused on meetings because we see that with meetings, there comes a lot of busy work and a lot of repetitive tasks happening in meetings or before or after meetings that can be automated through AI. And what Jamie now does at the moment, it's an AI meeting assistant, which you can start at the beginning of a call or even an in-person meeting. Jamie will then listen to the conversation and afterwards extract all the action items, the decisions for you and give you a detailed summary, which can also be customized and transcript. Furthermore, you have an LM connected to it. So you can also ask any questions about all your past meeting conversations. And that's what we're doing now. There's no need for a bot to join a meeting. And it also works at in-person settings and can be heavily customized so that you can actually, yeah, have it provide the nodes and the structure that you want them to be. [4:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=261s) **Sacha:** Awesome. And so it sounds great. Did you face any challenges when launching Jamie as an AI-based meeting node? Especially like if I'm thinking about, because you guys are based in Berlin, Europe is not the most tech, you know, advanced. How about say? So did you guys face any challenges when launching Jamie? [4:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=283s) **Guest:** Yeah, I think there are always many different challenges, some bigger than others, of course. But what we did, which was challenging, but also I think in retrospective the right decision is that we launched very early with the first version. So it was actually back in 2022 when we launched the first version of Jamie. And it was, of course, not the perfect solution and not working 100% of the time. So I think it was a challenge to get the very good and robust core experience, which we've been now nailing for some time. And, yeah, I think it's a challenge on the one side, but I think it's also tremendously important to launch an early version first and to get customer feedback. One thing, for example, that we did is I, in the beginning, onboarded a couple of hundred customers personally in a quick feedback call or in a quick onboarding call. And then after a week, a quick feedback call, which was very important to us to get the learning of what's needed actually to build a product that works well in the work environment. [5:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=340s) **Sacha:** That's really cool. So, Jamie has grown rapidly. You just said, like, you onboarded 100 customers in the first few months. Can you share some key strategies that you guys built to contribute to this growth? [5:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=355s) **Guest:** Yeah. I think we focus a lot on organic growth at the beginning, especially. So we did a lot of SEO, for example, which worked very well early on. And also, I think the fact that having this personal relationship to our users in the beginning is actually was very important. And we still try to keep this, for example, by offering optional onboarding calls and jumping on feedback calls with our users, because I think that's a big value add for users. And also, there's always a lot that we can still learn. And I think when building a product, it's tremendously important that you're staying close to the people you're building for. [6:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=393s) **Sacha:** Yeah, that's really crucial. What are some areas of busy work that you guys are looking at or maybe already, like, tackling behind the scenes? And can you give us, like, maybe a sneak peek into what's next for Jamie? [6:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=404s) **Guest:** Yeah. So I think we are really focused on the meeting use case at the moment and making and improving the product around that even more. I think one thing that we've previously launched is, like, our Jamie sidebar, where Jamie is connected to your past meetings, of course, to the content of your meetings, but also to an LLM. And you can simply, with one shortcut, open it up and ask it any questions. So, for example, what were the five key takeaways for my last 10 sales meetings, for example? And Jamie will give you an answer based on your past meetings. And it also has the opportunity to capture the screen in addition to that. So it's very context enriched. I think this is something we're also improving further, of course. Yeah, that's something quite new in the product. [7:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=447s) **Sacha:** Would you like to give us, like, a short demo on how it works from a user side, like, from the user interface side, if you want? [7:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=454s) **Guest:** Yeah, happy to do that. Let me quickly check that I have a version that's not... Unreleased. Yeah, and too much content shown of past meetings, because that's the problem. I mean, of course, I use it personally for all my meetings. So you should be able to see Jamie now. So how it works whenever you are... We also do have a dark mode, so the user can decide here. So whenever you join a meeting or start a call, you can just click on start meeting here on the top left. I cannot do it at the moment because I already have started it at the beginning of our conversation. But after the meeting is done, you have to identify the different speakers that were in the meeting, because Jamie detects them automatically. And then you get different sections in the summary. So, for example, highlights. These can be manual highlights. So, for example, with the keyword shortcut, you can say, okay, this past 30 seconds, for example, were extremely important to me, and I want them to be in the summary for sure. Then Jamie also creates an executive summary, meeting notes, which are structured by topic, and then also a separate section with the decisions, with the tasks, and the participants of the conversation. [8:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=520s) In addition to that, you get a transcript where you can always refer back to certain aspects. [8:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=525s) **Sacha:** Wow. And so all of your meetings would be in this one place, right? [8:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=529s) **Guest:** Yes, exactly. And you can, of course, organize them by tag. So, for example, for me, I have an external category, internal investors meeting, employee meetings, weekly meetings, to find all my notes quickly. So, [9:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=540s) **Sacha:** who would you say this tool, like Jamie, this product benefits the most? [9:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=545s) **Guest:** In general, people that are busy managing a team, but in general, just anyone who spends a lot of time in meetings. And those are generally managers that have their team meetings, but also have, for example, the sales meetings and external meetings. So, I think if you have more than two meetings a day, I would already say, okay, this is a huge value add for you. [9:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=569s) **Sacha:** Like, I spend a lot of time in meetings as well. And I definitely would love to, you know, use this kind of product. We can make that happen. Another question that I have is, Europe, I think, recently passed the AI Act, which is they're trying to make sure AI is really regulated and everything is fine, especially with data. We know how Europe is really quite strict on that matter. How do you guys at Jamie tackle these regulations? [10:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=600s) **Guest:** So, what was very important for us in the beginning already is that we're, of course, entirely GDPR compliant. Also, there's no audio data being permanently stored, which is quite crucial. And none of the data is being used for training purposes. So, no user data, of course, is being used there. And the data is being stored on servers in Germany. And, yeah, I think those are, like, the critical factors that we focused on in the beginning already. Because, yeah, as you said, Europe is quite focused on that and also Germany, of course. So, that's why it was a priority for us from the beginning. And it's also an advantage to some extent. [10:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=636s) **Sacha:** Yeah, I think that's important for a lot of people that are considering, for example, using a product like Jamie. You know, that's really comforting to know that. So, how do you personally, Benedict, see the future of AI in the workplace? What role do you see or envision Jamie playing in the future? Or, in general, maybe AI, if you want to talk about that? [10:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=656s) **Guest:** Yeah. Well, in the future, I hope Jamie will become a crucial part of every busy manager's work stack, pretty much. I'm quite confident on that. In general, I think AI will just be a huge productivity driver if it's used correctly. A clear guidelines set. And also, I believe there's a lot of education that needs to be done within companies. So, that actually, it's just a feeling of mine. I don't have, like, any stats on it. But from what I've seen, I mean, also, many people are still afraid to use AI because there were some negative views, of course, in the past. And there's always something new. I think for many, the first response is being afraid. So, I think there needs to be a lot of education done within companies. But if this is done correctly and then also technology is used in a smart way, it would be a huge productivity driver. And I think we already see this in many organizations that are implementing AI and that report some either crazy time savings, cost savings. So, yeah. I think you probably have the same opinion on that, right? [11:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=719s) **Sacha:** Fully agree. I think education is really key. And I think that's also part of the goal of this podcast is, like, to really educate people and to have guests like you who can educate, you know, and share their positive vision on it. So, how do you guys at Jamie tackle this education problem? [12:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=735s) **Guest:** Yeah. I think pretty much we pillars. I mean, actually, two. So, we're producing a lot of content on the topic either on our blog. So, it's Jamie.ai. We have, like, a blog with a lot of content on that. But then also, I think the even more important aspect is that we talk to everyone who wants to talk to us personally. So, you have the option to schedule a demo, for example, on our website where you get directly connected to one of our team members and where you can ask any questions. You can, of course, we can talk about your concerns. And I think this is something which, of course, creates trust and it's very important in terms of education. [12:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=772s) **Sacha:** Yeah. That's really cool. And finally, what advice would you give someone or even aspiring entrepreneurs like you who want to leverage AI to solve real problems? What kind of advice would you give them? [13:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=784s) **Guest:** Yeah. I think my advice is not focused on AI in specific, but more in general. One thing that we've done wrong in the past, which were some learnings, is that you're willing to validate ideas. And what I mean by that is not just asking people, hey, what do you think about this if you would build it? Because in the end, everyone is going to be nice and say, hey, that's super interesting. Reach out to me once you build it. And I think taking this for validation is a big mistake that you can do. So I think either you launch something quickly with an easy MVP, if that's possible, and try to spread it and see if people actually use it. And if they don't, why they don't use it. And second option is then if the product, for example, takes longer to develop, to sign contracts actually before that. Because if people put money down for the product that you plan to build, that's the biggest validation that you can get. So, yeah, I think very much focusing on validation is something which I would encourage anyone to do. [14:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=842s) **Sacha:** Yeah, that's really valuable advice. And then I would like to give you the floor to say just anything about you, Jamie, or really anything you want. I'd just like to give you the floor now. [14:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=853s) **Guest:** Yeah, cool. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, also, if anyone of the listeners who wants to get in touch, has any questions, wants honest feedback, feel free to reach out to me. And, of course, if you see yourself being stuck in meetings and spending a lot of time in there, feel free to use Jamie. We also have a nice affiliate program. So if you say, hey, maybe that's not for myself, but I like the product in general, you can actually add some revenue share on that. So, yeah, please get in touch via LinkedIn or email, which you can put maybe in the show notes. And, yeah, thanks a lot for having me. Thank you so [14:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=888s) **Sacha:** much for joining, Benedict. It was truly valuable. And I think Jamie is a really good product. So I definitely recommend to anyone listening. Thank you, Benedict. [14:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpVgRi5xtf8&t=896s) **Guest:** Cool. Thank you very much.