Latest news with #HumanX
Newsweek
03-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Grammarly Acquired Superhuman to Continue Developing an AI Productivity Suite
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Grammarly, originally a spell-check app, announced the acquisition of Superhuman, an AI-powered email platform, on Tuesday. Email is the most prevalent use case for Grammarly to date, creating an interesting alignment between the two companies. "This felt like peas in a pod," Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra told Newsweek. "I had a view on why we could reinvent documents, and [Superhuman founder/CEO Rahul Vohra] had a view on why he could reinvent email." This acquisition comes in the wake of Grammarly's acquisition of Mehrotra's company Coda at the end of last year, and Mehrotra's appointment as CEO of the combined company. In a previous interview with Newsweek, Mehrotra shared his vision to take Grammarly, which he called "the OG agent," to become the "blinking cursor of choice" with Coda, and use the "information superhighway" that Grammarly created to leverage other data and information beyond spelling and syntax rules to users while they are communicating in various apps. "Grammarly is an AI superhighway, and we're going to open it up so many agents can work on it," Mehrotra said. "That was the main theory behind the Coda acquisition, giving a natural writing home for users to work with all their agents. As we went looking for the next part of the suite, email is sort of the obvious place to go." Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra on stage at the Human X conference. Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra on stage at the Human X conference. Getty Images With Superhuman in the fold, Grammarly adds tens of thousands of AI-familiar users in an area where most office workers are spending a lot of time. A 2023 Microsoft study found that the top quartile of its users spent 8.8 hours per week on email, and Gartner estimates that there are one billion knowledge workers around the globe, including 100 million in the United States. Superhuman does not publish user data, and terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Before founding Superhuman, Vohra sold his previous company, Rapportive, another email app, to LinkedIn for a reported $15 million, four years after launching it. Grammarly reached a $13 billion valuation as of 2021, claims more than 40 million daily active users and is profitable with annual revenue over $700 million. Coda, which it acquired in December 2024, was founded in 2014, reached unicorn valuation by 2021 and had over 10,000 enterprise customers by 2024. Superhuman was valued at $825 million in its latest funding round, also in 2021. "Billions of emails are sent every single day," Mehrotra said. "We currently support something like 50 million emails per week, and we work across 20 different email providers, including Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and, of course, Superhuman." Mehrotra has a deep history with email, having worked on an early version of Outlook while at Microsoft in the early 2000s. He was also quite familiar with Superhuman and its founder, Rahul Vohra, who told Newsweek they first met at a tech conference in Hawaii in 2017. Vohra shared that he ran a poolside demo of Superhuman and onboarded him on the email tool right there. "It was one of those special moments when nobody else was around, and you had two productivity nerds, nerding out about productivity," Vohra said. In that 2017 meeting, Vohra said that Mehrotra delivered "the best product demo I'd seen in years" of the software that would eventually be called Coda. "It's a document, it's a spreadsheet, database, collaboration tool, also a mini app builder." From that meeting, the two stayed in touch. When Vohra saw the announcement that Grammarly was acquiring Coda and Mehrotra would be CEO, he said his "jaw figuratively dropped," when he read that Mehrotra had titled his 2025 plan "AI Productivity Suite." "At Superhuman our vision has always been to build what we also call an AI native productivity suite," Vohra said. He got in touch with Mehrotra near the time of the Grammarly-Coda acquisition and "over several conversations, it became very clear that we share the same vision, which is to build the AI-native productivity suite of choice." Mehrotra has been a loyal user of Superhuman since that 2017 meeting, sharing that he's more responsive to the hundreds of daily emails he receives and currently riding a 144-week "inbox-zero" streak, which he largely attributes to Superhuman. He is deeply familiar with the product and its potential. "We just started brainstorming on what it would feel like to put those products together. I think it's a very natural place for our multi-agent experience," Mehrotra said. "The number two, three and four players behind Superhuman are much, much smaller. So it was definitely the dominant new player in the space." Over the last few months, the former YouTube chief technology officer has been integrating Coda with Grammarly. In time, the new combined company, including Superhuman, will also have a new name. This past May, Grammarly announced a $1 billion investment from the VC firm General Catalyst to advance the mission of building an AI-powered productivity platform. It's possible that other acquisitions are coming down the road. "We're clearly building a broad suite. The document surface and the email surface are two of the most important parts of that suite," Mehrotra shared. "But there's clearly more that we'll do. Some of that we'll build internally, some of that we'll partner, and some of that we'll continue to find the right opportunistic positions." Mehrotra shared his vision for the AI productivity suite, organized with the approach of a "compound startup," a recently popular term in Silicon Valley which has business units operating like a collection of startups. Superhuman founder/CEO Rahul Vohra speaking at a 2025 conference. Superhuman founder/CEO Rahul Vohra speaking at a 2025 conference. Getty Images "We're building this AI-data productivity suite, and I'd like each of the products in the in that suite to act a little bit like fast-running startups," Mehrotra said, sharing that the model for Google after the acquisition of YouTube, running it as an independent company with much greater resources, serves as an example he's experienced where this approach succeeded. Vohra is staying on with the new company, where his goal will be to build and advance Superhuman, he says, not so different from what it was before the acquisition, except now they have more money and business partners. "It's really important that the team that's innovating on email really needs to stay focused on innovating on email," Mehrotra said. "We're gonna fund what they're working on now, as well as a few ambitious new projects that they've been putting off, and let them go after that as fast as possible, sort of similar to what we've done with the Coda Doc's team." Legacy productivity software providers for tools like email, documents or spreadsheets, such as Microsoft or Google, are firmly entrenched in the workplace, with Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint being required skills for nearly any office job. Mehrotra and Vohra say their AI-native software and platform are capable of accelerating workplace innovation. "The view was these [legacy] suites are unassailable, nobody's going to switch what they use for documents or emails, that's clearly not true," Mehrotra said. "Between Coda, Superhuman, and a variety of other products, it's pretty obvious that users are ready for change. I think at this point, the Microsoft suite and the Google suite are trying to respond to that."
Globe and Mail
24-03-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
NYSE CONTENT ADVISORY: The NYSE on the ground at HumanX's inaugural AI conference
NEW YORK , /CNW/ -- As a leading global exchange, the NYSE is committed to empowering our diverse communities, wherever they may be. Engaging with our listed companies and emerging startups at key industry events is an opportunity to do just that. Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: So, when the visionary teams behind HLTH and Money 20/20—two conferences where we are already deeply involved—unveiled the creation of a new AI-focused community, we were ready to be a part of it. With Funding from a16z, FPV Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Primary Ventures, HumanX is on a mission to distill AI complexity into actionable insights, strategies and tactics to help corporate and government leaders to move confidently forward in deploying and integrating AI. The inaugural HumanX conference was held on March 10-13, 2025 at The Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas and featured leaders from diverse industries including Healthcare and Life Sciences, Financial Services, Consumer and Retail, Cybersecurity, Sales and Marketing, Infrastructure Tools and Business Operations. In total, the event comprised of nine diverse industry tracks, over 300 expert speakers, and numerous opportunities for NYSE to collaborate. NYSE kicked off our coverage with a preview by Stefan Weitz , CEO of HumanX, and insights into industry trends from Gene Teare , Senior Data Editor at Crunchbase. According to Stefan, companies in attendance raised over $95 billion in capital and a third have plans to engage in M&A in the coming year. He later described the gathered community as, "the pioneers, the builders, and the decision makers, those who aren't just watching AI unfold around them, but hopefully actively shaping its future. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, from policy makers to investors, … they're building a roadmap for how AI and humanity can actually thrive together, and we do it at scale." On Monday, March 10 , Laura Diorio from the NYSE moderated a panel discussion on how AI is transforming finance through predictive analytics, fraud prevention, and automation, featuring Andrew Brown (Check), Laura Spiekerman (Alloy), and Juan Pablo Ortega (Yuno). Our coverage also highlighted companies like Credo AI, Brex, Glean, Vanta, Metropolis, Cerebras, SambaNova, and more, with real-time engagement from major participating companies. Stefan Weitz officially welcomed attendees, followed by commentary from Sridhar Ramaswamy , CEO of Snowflake, and Rajat Taneja , President of Technology at Visa. On Tuesday, March 11 , NYSE President Lynn Martin led a discussion on AI in the workplace with Sarah Franklin , CEO of Lattice, and Tomer Cohen , CPO of LinkedIn. The day also featured a Women in AI highlight with contributions from Lynn, alongside Monte Carlo , Credo AI, Lattice, Writer, Vanta, and others. Michael Misiewicz , Head of Data Science at Yext, previewed his presence on the HumanX panel and discussed Yext's new product, Scout. Rajat Taneja unveiled new research on AI's impact on commerce and finance from the Institute for the Future. Sven Gierlinger , SVP and CXO at Northwell Health, discussed his involvement in HumanX Innovation and Healthcare. The event also featured companies like Airtable, Mistral, Neo4J, Dialpad, Dataiku, and Crunchbase. Coming off the success of the inaugural HumanX Conference, its leadership team convened at the corner of Wall and Broad to ring the Opening Bell on Wednesday, March 19 , to mark next year's conference in San Francisco , planned for April 2026 . While here, CEO Stefan Weitz conducted interviews on the trading floor, including with NYSE TV. When he took to stage at the Opening Bell Ceremony, Stefan had this to say about opening the US Equity Markets, "Let's recognize what we're actually doing, what we're actually opening. It's really a future where AI isn't just another tool, it's a force multiplier, a future where those who understand its potential for those who invest in its power, who won't just adapt, they will lead."
Associated Press
24-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
NYSE CONTENT ADVISORY: The NYSE on the ground at HumanX's inaugural AI conference
NEW YORK, March 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As a leading global exchange, the NYSE is committed to empowering our diverse communities, wherever they may be. Engaging with our listed companies and emerging startups at key industry events is an opportunity to do just that. Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: So, when the visionary teams behind HLTH and Money 20/20—two conferences where we are already deeply involved—unveiled the creation of a new AI-focused community, we were ready to be a part of it. With Funding from a16z, FPV Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Primary Ventures, HumanX is on a mission to distill AI complexity into actionable insights, strategies and tactics to help corporate and government leaders to move confidently forward in deploying and integrating AI. The inaugural HumanX conference was held on March 10-13, 2025 at The Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas and featured leaders from diverse industries including Healthcare and Life Sciences, Financial Services, Consumer and Retail, Cybersecurity, Sales and Marketing, Infrastructure Tools and Business Operations. In total, the event comprised of nine diverse industry tracks, over 300 expert speakers, and numerous opportunities for NYSE to collaborate. NYSE kicked off our coverage with a preview by Stefan Weitz, CEO of HumanX, and insights into industry trends from Gene Teare, Senior Data Editor at Crunchbase. According to Stefan, companies in attendance raised over $95 billion in capital and a third have plans to engage in M&A in the coming year. He later described the gathered community as, 'the pioneers, the builders, and the decision makers, those who aren't just watching AI unfold around them, but hopefully actively shaping its future. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, from policy makers to investors, … they're building a roadmap for how AI and humanity can actually thrive together, and we do it at scale.' On Monday, March 10, Laura Diorio from the NYSE moderated a panel discussion on how AI is transforming finance through predictive analytics, fraud prevention, and automation, featuring Andrew Brown (Check), Laura Spiekerman (Alloy), and Juan Pablo Ortega (Yuno). Our coverage also highlighted companies like Credo AI, Brex, Glean, Vanta, Metropolis, Cerebras, SambaNova, and more, with real-time engagement from major participating companies. Stefan Weitz officially welcomed attendees, followed by commentary from Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of Snowflake, and Rajat Taneja, President of Technology at Visa. On Tuesday, March 11, NYSE President Lynn Martin led a discussion on AI in the workplace with Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice, and Tomer Cohen, CPO of LinkedIn. The day also featured a Women in AI highlight with contributions from Lynn, alongside Monte Carlo, Credo AI, Lattice, Writer, Vanta, and others. Michael Misiewicz, Head of Data Science at Yext, previewed his presence on the HumanX panel and discussed Yext's new product, Scout. Rajat Taneja unveiled new research on AI's impact on commerce and finance from the Institute for the Future. Sven Gierlinger, SVP and CXO at Northwell Health, discussed his involvement in HumanX Innovation and Healthcare. The event also featured companies like Airtable, Mistral, Neo4J, Dialpad, Dataiku, and Crunchbase. Coming off the success of the inaugural HumanX Conference, its leadership team convened at the corner of Wall and Broad to ring the Opening Bell on Wednesday, March 19, to mark next year's conference in San Francisco, planned for April 2026. While here, CEO Stefan Weitz conducted interviews on the trading floor, including with NYSE TV. When he took to stage at the Opening Bell Ceremony, Stefan had this to say about opening the US Equity Markets, 'Let's recognize what we're actually doing, what we're actually opening. It's really a future where AI isn't just another tool, it's a force multiplier, a future where those who understand its potential for those who invest in its power, who won't just adapt, they will lead.'
Axios
14-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Malware's AI time bomb
Hackers already have the AI tools needed to create the adaptable, destructive malware that security experts fear. But as long as their basic tactics — phishing, scams and ransomware — continue to work, they have little reason to use them. Why it matters: Adversaries can flip that switch anytime, and companies need to prepare now. Driving the news: The looming threat of autonomous cyberattacks was a top talking point at the inaugural HumanX conference in Las Vegas this week. "You know that phrase, 'Keep your powder dry'? That's what attackers are doing right now," James White, chief technology officer at AI security startup CalypsoAI, told Axios, implying that bad actors are ready for battle. The big picture: Cyber leaders have long feared generative AI would enable autonomous cyberattacks, making current security tools ineffective. These attacks could involve AI agents carrying out hackers' bidding or malware that adapts in real time as it spreads. Between the lines: A few years into the generative AI revolution, experts are split on how imminent these threats are. Some say we're less than two years away from seeing agentic malware in nation-state cyber warfare. Others argue hackers have little incentive to change tactics as they continue to profit from simple scams, phishing and ransomware. Threat level: Even though AI-powered malware has yet to flood the zone, companies can't rest easy. "The rate of acceleration is insane," Evan Reiser, CEO of email security company Abnormal Security, told Axios. "You don't have to be a total science fiction nerd, like me, to imagine where this can go in one year, two years." AI will speed up attacks, leaving defenders with little time to react. Meanwhile, most organizations are still behind on basic security measures, Reiser said, noting that the typical company is focused on setting up two-factor authentication. Abnormal Security works with about 20% of the Fortune 500. Reality check: Startups selling AI security tools have an interest in hyping potential threats. Mandiant says it has yet to respond to an attack involving truly autonomous AI or adaptable malware. "I'm actually not worried about any of that right now," Charles Carmakal, CTO at Mandiant, told Axios. Mandiant has mostly seen adversaries using AI for basic tasks like crafting phishing emails or researching targets. The intrigue: Companies hiring cybersecurity vendors are beginning to understand that the best way to fight AI attacks is with AI security tools, said Itai Tevet, CEO of Intezer, a startup that offers an autonomous security operation center. "It's dramatically different between 2023 and today," Tevet told Axios. "In the past, we needed to evangelize on why technology can do the same job. Today, all CISOs are getting asked by their board, 'How do you leverage AI?'" Zoom in: AI agents can also help threat intelligence teams review the pile of notifications they receive about new vulnerabilities, phishing emails and other malicious activity, Steve Schmidt, chief security officer at Amazon, said in a fireside chat with Axios. Amazon currently doesn't let agents make decisions or act on their own, but they can review the threat intelligence coming in to determine what needs to be prioritized. "We've ended up significantly improving the lives of the security engineers, making them more efficient at what they have to do," Schmidt said.
Bloomberg
11-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Special: Bloomberg Tech Live From HumanX
Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde reports from Las Vegas for a special edition of Bloomberg Technology, live from the HumanX conference. Guests include: Sequoia Capital Partner Alfred Lin, Writer CEO May Habib, Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin, Poolside CEO Jason Warner, Khosla Ventures Co-Founder Vinod Khosla and Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. (Source: Bloomberg)
