Seattle-basedZeitworks,whichislaunchingitsprivatebetatodayafterraisinga$4.5millionseedroundin2020,wantstogiveenterprisesdata-driventoolsforimprovingtheproductivityoftheirteamsandstreamliningtheirbusinessoperations.That’samarketthat’sseeingquiteabitofgrowthrightnow,especiallygivenhowthepandemichasmaderemoteworkastandardbusinesspracticeandhowtheoveralltalentcrunchisforcingmanybusinessestodomorewithfeweremployees.Theoverallideahereistogivebusinessesbetterinsightsintohowteamsworkandwherethereareopportunitiesforimprovingbusinessprocessesbeyondsimplyusingautomation.
“Theproblemthatwe’rereallyaddressingisthatthere’steamsandcompaniesinjustabouteveryindustrywhoexecuteallkindsofrepetitivebusinessprocesseseveryday–andtobeclear,it’sbusinessprocessesexecutedbyhumans,”ZeitworksCEOandco-founderJayBartottoldme.“ThinkaboutprocessingbankloansorinsuranceclaimsorHRonboardingofnewemployees,movinginformationfromsystemtosystem.Oftentimes,thosesystemsaren’tinterconnectedordon’thaveAPIs.Theproblemthatwe’resolvingisthatthemajorityoftheseprocessescan’tbeoptimizedbecausethey’reundocumentedandunmeasured.They’rejustnotunderstood.”
ImageCredits:Zeitworks
Unsurprisingly,understandingtheseprocessesisatthecoreofZeitworks’product.Butsincetheseprocessesaren’tdocumented,youcan’texactlybuildarule-basedenginearounddiscoveringwhatpeoplearedoing.Instead,thecompanyusesanAI-driventaskminingsystemthatusessignalsfromawidevarietyofsources,mostlywithafocusonthedesktopapplicationstheseusersinteractwithduringtheirdailywork.Bartotactuallynotedthathepreferstheterm“processintelligence”over“taskmining,”giventhattaskminingtendstobeassociatedwithcreatingRPAbotsmorethanempoweringteamsandhelpingthemworkbetter.
ImageCredits:Zeitworks
Now,inordertodoallofthis,Zeitworkshastorunitsagentonanemployee’sdesktopandthoseusers’dailyworkisthentrackedwithquiteabitofgranularity.Microsoft,withitsProductivityScore,doessomethingsimilar,butthecompanyalsofacedquiteabitofbacklashoverit,giventhatmanagerscoulddrilldowntotheindividualemployeeandseehowmanyemailstheysent,chatstheyparticipatedin,etc.Thecompanylatermadesomechangesthatputthefocusmoreontheorganizationallevelandawayfromindividualusers.
“Inourworld,thekindsofproductivityscoresthatwearerecordingarearoundthisrepetitivework—thefactthatpeopleareprocessingbankloansoryouknowinsuranceclaimsrepeatedlyisafundamentalpartofwhatwe’remeasuringandwhatwe’redoingwithpatternrecognition,”BartotexplainedwhenIaskedhimaboutthepotentialforbacklash.“Sotheproductivityscoresarereallygearedtowardsthatspecifickindofrepetitivework.IthinkinthecaseofMicrosoftandothertoolsthatweseeouttherealsointheproductivityspace,whenyou’remeasuringacross manydifferenttypesofworkersupanddowntheworkerstackfromthehighestlevelknowledgeworkersallthewaydowntokindofdigitallaborers,Ithinkit’smorechallengingtocomewithsomethingthatisusefulandsomethingthatwouldmakesensetopeople.”Hebelievesthatbecausehiscompanyhasaverydifferentkindoffocus,itsscoreswillbemoreusefulandacceptabletousers.
Lookingahead,Zeitworksisstartingtobuildoutitsgo-to-marketcapabilitiesnowthatithasprovenitssystemwithanumberofpilotcustomers.ThecompanyisalsoworkingongettingitsSOC2certification.
ImageCredits:Zeitworks
