We seek technology to be utilized as an instrument to optimize the way businesses run, therefore it does not make sense when instead of yielding productivity, the instrument instead hinders the process. With the emergence of data and content-oriented operations, companies often stumble upon the overload of information and struggle to retrieve important data or let alone understand what requires appropriate attention at any given time. Knowmail acknowledged this issue and came up with the solution by offering an on-device/cloud Artificial Intelligence platform for personalized email experiences.
In an interview with Insights Success, the CEO and Co-Founder of Knowmail, Haim Senior, shares his key insights on unified communications and the significance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implementation along with other technologies in order to enhance employee efficiency, engagement, and well-being while making sure operations run productively and targets are met. Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Haim and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of Knowmail and its vision.
Knowmail is a personalized Artificial Intelligence (P.A.I) platform for email, providing Unified Communication businesses, vendors, and service providers an easy-to-integrate API/SDK to enhance office productivity, engagement, and contextual relevancy for its own users.
The P.A.I platform benefits include automatic email prioritization to urgent, important, and other, estimated time-to-completion, predicted next-best-actions to save time, stay organized, and get things done, and more valuable uses across meetings and tasks to help knowledge workers become more productive and get more done with less effort and stress.
How do you differ Unified Communication services, so they will benefit your customers?
With Knowmail, Unified Communication providers can truly unify various office solutions such as email, meetings, and tasks, so they can work in unison to better manage time and deadlines, priority and relevancy, and make sure to complete the most urgent tasks according to their own targets and goals, as well as the organization’s. This AI layer provides a very personalized approach to available and upcoming UC devices and solutions, by granting each employee a tailored experience for their use, based on their own patterns, behaviors, preferences, contacts, and usability. Moreover, the entire learning process is done using a unique architecture, so data remains private and secured, with the model itself only available to the user, on its own device/s.
Describe the experiences, achievements, or lessons learnt that have shaped the journey of the company.
We were previously corporate employees who felt the pain of information overload first hand, with the constant need to be always on and use any available second (or meeting) to go through and clean our inboxes. We’ve spent tremendous time just trying to manage our time, calendar, and tasks efficiently, and we ended up continuing to do so even out of the office.
Our experience was not unique; most information workers were (and still are) going through the same at their place of work, with personal life taking second place. A solution is absolutely needed, yet we’re all personally unique, hence a one-size-fits-all type of solution isn’t right, nor would it be effective; This is why Artificial Intelligence is the only fitting solution, helping learn each person by their own individual use and need, and create a unique prediction model for each…which continually improves with use. In short, something to learn you as if you truly had a personal assistant understanding your needs, schedule, and priorities.
In addition, we’ve always listened to our users, contacts, and organizations we work with to further understand how the solution should be provided, along with the major areas and values required. This helped us adapt, customize, and fine-tune our offering so it may be integrated into a variety of solutions such as Unified Communication devices, digital assistants, and mobile apps.
Along with our own attention to detail, our platform technology proved itself, and we’ve been able to collaborate with major giants such as becoming a Microsoft AI partner who also integrated Knowmail in Cortana for Windows 10 and its mobile app. Furthermore, we’ve been able to work alongside leading UC provider Avaya for an enterprise solution in this arena.
What are the evident challenges in the unified communication services industry?
I believe Unified Communication can become more holistic, allowing individuals to communicate across various platforms, thus become a much broader unified channel, rather than an aggregation of channels. A universal approach is needed, so in turn the user gets a much more organic experience that adapts continuously to dynamic use and need, no matter the location, device, time-of-day, state-of-mind, and more. With this, a user can always be in focus and on top of their game.
How does the Knowmail contribute towards making the industry better?
We provide a valuable solution as an easy-to-integrate platform, so available (and upcoming) UC solutions and devices can easily and quickly upgrade their offerings and provide a personalized AI model for each of their users and clients. This can only benefit their users by keeping them engaged and productive within their own device, without the need to hop around channels, apps, and software just to keep up…rather move ahead and get things done.
Considering the rising number of unified communication solution providers, how does Knowmail stand out from its competitors?
Our solution is an AI platform to enhance providers/devices user’s engagement, experience, and usability, so we kind of stand-alone. We do not compete with the other solutions, rather are able to help upgrade them to provide even more value to their own users and clients.
A few words from Knowmail’s partners
“We’re working with companies like Knowmail for value-added applications that help predict and prioritize critical email communications that are directly applicable to the typical employee.” – Jon Alperin, Director of partnerships and alliances for DevConnect and A.I.Connect at Avaya
“We find in Knowmail’s technology elements that perfectly fit into Avaya’s vision of the Future Workplace experience. Knowmail’s application provides greater value to our smart devices by adding relevant, personalized context to the collaboration experience.” – Guy Gadnir, Director of Business Development and Avaya Israel Director
About the Company
Knowmail was founded by Haim Senior, Oded Avital, and Avi Mandelberg. As executives working in a big corporate firm, Oded and Haim were disappointed by the constant need to monitor their emails in order to stay on top of their game. They both understood the fact that they were investing excessive amounts of potentially productive time reading often unproductive and irrelevant messages. Together, they realized that if they cannot stop the message flood, they should be able to apply a personalized filter that would allow only relevant and important messages through. From this realization, the idea for Knowmail was born.
With their personal experience, both Haim and Oded believe that a solution for this problem is a must, and the current situation in the workplace cannot continue, neither for the employee nor the organization, in terms of progress, innovation, and growth.
Source: The 10 Most Innovative Unified Communication Solution Providers 2019
