Highlights:

  • The AI assistant aims to provide users with an automated workflow, simplifying the process as if they are programming in English.
  • Lutra secured USD 3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Coatue Ventures, with participation from Hustle Fund, Maven Ventures, and a group of angel investors.

Lutra AI, a fresh entrant in the startup scene, unveiled its platform recently. It targets users who seek to craft personal AI workflows and automate routine tasks easily, eliminating the necessity for extensive technical know-how.

Jiquan Ngiam, the Co-founder and Chief Executive of Lutra, brings a wealth of experience from his prior roles at Google LLC and the online education platform Coursera Inc. Recognizing an opportunity, he envisioned leveraging AI to offer non-technical users a pathway to construct automation projects for tasks that involve connecting various workflows.

The company aims to seamlessly integrate AI with established tools like Slack, Microsoft Outlook, and Google Workspace. Users can articulate their daily tasks, and the AI assistant will formulate a tailored workflow. Examples include managing incoming emails, conducting financial research, or summarizing and extracting data from PDF documents for daily reporting systems.

Ngiam gained insight from his time at Coursera and Google, recognizing the need for a solution to simplify the automation of workflows for users. Joined by friends, including co-founder Vijay Vasudevan from Google, they explored AI models to assist non-technical users, enabling them to describe their needs using conversational English.

Ngiam said, “It made me think about the ability of these models to generate code and reasoning, then figure out the environment about making it more useful for non-engineers. There was this question about can these models now code in a way that interconnects all the software we use to then do very useful things for us reliably and securely.”

Lutra created a code-first AI assistant, enabling users to articulate workflows and goals in natural language. The AI assistant refines automation by posing follow-up questions. Effectively, it’s akin to conversing with a colleague or developer crafting code to connect applications for task automation.

The AI assistant aims to provide users with an automated workflow, simplifying the process as if they are programming in English. Users guide the AI assistant by describing the desired workflow, gaining visibility end-to-end in the produced code. Lutra asserts that its AI models generate production-ready software code, ensuring secure and reliable integration with enterprise data and applications.

Lutra secured USD 3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Coatue Ventures, with participation from Hustle Fund, Maven Ventures, and a group of angel investors. The platform is presently in a private beta phase as the team concentrates on expanding it to a broader customer base. However, for users eager to gain early access, a waitlist exists.