ClickUp introduces a new AI assistant to enhance its competitiveness against Slack and Notion

ClickUp has overhauled its productivity suite and introduced new AI-powered assistant tools in an effort to become an all-in-one solution for its users.

According to the company, key features in this update were made possible by its acquisition of Qatalog, an enterprise search company that previously secured over $29.5 million in funding from investors such as Salesforce Ventures, Atomico, Prototype Capital, Mosaic Ventures, Tiny VC, and Possible Ventures.

With the 4.0 update, ClickUp is rolling out two distinct AI agents. The first is integrated across all communication platforms, proactively identifying potential questions and providing answers using information from both internal company resources and external platforms like Google Drive, OneDrive, Figma, and Gmail.

The second assistant, named Brain, serves as a versatile tool capable of brainstorming, scheduling meetings based on team members’ availability, posting comments on tasks, or creating new tasks. It can also browse the web, interact with connected apps, review reports, and draft documents. Like many AI helpers, Brain is located in the sidebar and can be accessed from anywhere within ClickUp.

The productivity platform, which is backed by a16z, stated that the latest version simplifies moving between tasks, documents, and conversations. ClickUp 4.0 enables users to view their internal forum timeline, switch among communication channels, and manage tasks using sidebar options.

ClickUp has been working to better rival platforms such as Notion, Slack, and Microsoft Teams by integrating calendar, messaging, documentation, enterprise search, and task management into a single offering.

The company has aimed to match the communication features of Slack and Teams. Last year, it introduced AI-driven summaries and live internal video and audio calls called SyncUps. Now, a SyncUp button is available in every channel, and its AI notetaker can record, transcribe, and distribute notes from these live sessions to all participants.

The calendar feature now reviews your meeting schedule and can automatically rearrange meetings and tasks if a particular task is marked as urgent. ClickUp also offers a dashboard reminiscent of social platforms, where managers can monitor updates from various channels, review analytics on team progress, and see who is on leave for the week.

“When we started eight years ago, our goal was to replace all your work software. Our approach was to develop a flexible platform with data models that could be adapted for any use, and to create foundational tools like spreadsheets, tables, documents, and tasks,” ClickUp CEO Zeb Evans shared with TechCrunch in a phone interview. “With the rise of AI, these tools are even more essential, since visualizing information in AI is difficult within a chat-only interface.”

Evans mentioned that ClickUp has experienced significant growth in recent years, surpassing $300 million in annual recurring revenue. He added that, given this momentum, the company intends to go public within two years. To date, ClickUp has raised over $537 million from investors including a16z, Tiger Global, Craft Ventures, and Lightspeed, according to Crunchbase.