Ex-Meta AI director Rohit Patel launches rival to Google Workspace
What's the story
Rohit Patel, the former Director of Meta's Superintelligence Labs, is leaving the company after eight years of developing AI. He is now launching a start-up called Ndoc. The new venture aims to be an AI-native alternative to Microsoft Office suite and Google Workspace. Patel's departure comes after other high-profile exits from Meta including Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan and AI researcher Andrew Tulloch.
Innovative approach
Ndoc aims to streamline workflows
Patel's vision for Ndoc is to create a unified workspace that replaces the disjointed way people work across different tools like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Tableau, Replit and ChatGPT copy-paste.
The platform combines three components in one layout: The Stage tab for presentations of key findings; the Narrative tab for analyzes and citations; and the Model tab where underlying datasets and Python scripts are stored.
Design philosophy
Transparency in AI's decision-making process
The design of Ndoc mirrors Patel's focus on reinforcement learning and assessing the trustworthiness of AI output during his time at Meta.
He believes that if AI is going to create spreadsheets and slide decks for decision-making, there should be a way to verify its work.
Users can find the Python scripts used to generate documents, ensuring transparency in the process.
Future plans
Reinventing the document
Ndoc allows users to upload a dataset and ask for an analysis with a narrative about the findings. It also maintains memory across individuals, documents, teams, and companies.
Patel envisions reinventing the file itself by allowing documents to be exported as a single ."ndoc.html" file that can be opened in any browser.
He plans to open-source this format so other developers can build apps compatible with it.
Market challenges
Patel's departure and the potential of AI-native tools
Patel's decision to leave Meta was partly driven by his desire to open-source this project.
He is now conducting an enterprise pilot and offering an alpha version of Ndoc to select customers who join the waitlist.
While other AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, SpaceXSI, and Google have launched enterprise AI tools that integrate with workplace apps such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, Patel believes they are missing the point of what AI can do.