By now, you’ve probably participated in a video conference call that’s been recorded and automatically transcribed, with a meeting summary sent to you within seconds of the meeting ending.
The likes of Teams, Otter, Zoom and Fireflies are using artificial intelligence to parse our language for insights and meaning, translating long, meandering meetings into useful summaries.
But Christchurch startup Contented AI is taking this a step further, with its transcription app also mining conversations for information that can be turned into action tables, Swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, deep dives, and decision logs.
Founders Lucy Pink and Hannah Hardy-Jones come from very different business backgrounds and first met at the Ministry of Awesome’s Coffee and Jam event, bonding over the challenges of solo entrepreneurship.
“We became really close over that time, really just supporting each other as solo founders, you know, like just having that community and being able to bounce ideas off each other,” Hardy-Jones told me in this week’s episode of The Business of Tech.
The advent of generative AI was a turning point: “When ChatGPT launched, we saw the power of AI and how it could help our own startup. Suddenly, we had a tool that could really transform what we were doing,” Hardy-Jones said.
Building Contented AI: Beyond note-taking
Initially, the duo became “ChatGPT consultants”, helping friends, legal firms, and schools harness the new technology. But they quickly realised the limitations of existing tools for larger organisations.
“[They are] good if you’re an individual and you know what good looks like … but when you’re trying to roll that out across an entire legal firm … that’s when it gets very difficult,” Hardy-Jones told me.
This insight led them to focus on the deeper value of conversations. “We talk about wasted words in a business, the amount of words we say in a day that are valuable, that could actually have an outcome,” she said.
Contented AI’s platform, which comes with a $99 monthly subscription fee, goes beyond summarising meetings: it transforms conversations into actionable assets like proposals, compliance checklists, marketing content, and training material. “It’s like Canva for conversations,” Hardy-Jones added. “One conversation asset can turn into so many different things.”
Accuracy, privacy, and customisation at the core
Contented AI’s early traction came from working with journalists in the United States who are turning lengthy council meetings into news stories.
“To be able to earn the right to work with businesses, you have to be accurate. You have to have safeguards. You have to work with great models … and provide all of these frameworks,” Pink emphasised.
Their platform is particularly valued in New Zealand for its transcription quality, including support for te reo Māori and multiple accents.
Privacy and data security are central to their approach. “We take our role really, really responsibly,” said Pink. “We offer a menu of ways to customise how privately you want these conversations. As a new company, we get to work in a world that accommodates this.”
Bootstrapped growth and global reach
Contented AI has grown organically, with word-of-mouth driving international adoption.
“Our go-to-market currently, honestly, is word of mouth,” said Hardy-Jones.
Said Pink: “We’re bootstrapped and proud of it. We’ve built a business on our own terms.”
With more than 100 customers, including large New Zealand businesses and US newsrooms, Contented AI is now preparing for its next phase of growth and is seeking investment.
A vision for the future of conversations
Looking ahead, Pink and Hardy-Jones see Contented AI as “home to the world’s most important conversations”, from council meetings to parent-teacher interviews and healthcare consultations.
“The vision of Contented will always be around trust and security … Imagine if you could go back and create insights across all your conversations,” said Pink.
PLUS: Former psychology practitioner and academic, author and YouTuber Sarb Johal answers my big question of the week: What part of your life should always stay analogue, no matter how smart tech gets?
Listen to the full interview with Lucy Pink and Hannah Hardy-Jones on episode 105 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
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