After a year of repetitive AI copilots and fragile workflow automations, Oakland-based Teammates is launching with a bold new vision for workplace AI. Breaking away from the usual promises of “faster, cheaper, and more efficient,” the company believes what employees truly desire are virtual colleagues that feel genuinely human: collaborative, intuitive, and delightfully engaging.

Teammates’ AI-powered employees function less like traditional software tools and more like full-fledged team members. Instead of relying on complex drag-and-drop flow charts or rigid automation frameworks, these virtual teammates integrate seamlessly into Slack and Teams, just like any remote coworker. Each Teammate receives a company email address, LinkedIn profile, and access to Salesforce, GitHub, and thousands of other organizational applications. They operate across departments, proving themselves capable, intelligent, and charming enough to make users forget they are entirely code-based.

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Founded in 2024 by CEO Ben Stein and CTO Kenneth Hoxworth, Teammates is backed by Matrix Partners and leverages decades of experience in human-centric technology. As former product leaders at Twilio, Stein and Hoxworth scaled the company’s text messaging business from $5 million to over $500 million in revenue. Stein also co-founded QuitCarbon and Mobile Commons (acquired in 2014), demonstrating that the key to digital engagement lies not in more technology but in understanding human behavior.

Teammates operates under four core principles that transform AI-human collaboration:

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  1. Collaboration Beyond a Buzzword: Teammates take direction from multiple humans simultaneously, coordinate with other AI teammates, and even leave comments on Google Docs. This “multi-player mode” ensures tasks are completed efficiently and collaboratively.
  2. Autonomy as the New Automation: Teammates excel in nuanced, complex tasks that conventional workflow tools cannot handle. From monitoring news that impacts the business to generating content, they continuously learn what matters most and act proactively.
  3. Artificial Intuition Over Artificial Intelligence: By understanding company culture and context, Teammates can interpret ambiguous requests and act independently, mimicking the judgment of a human colleague.
  4. Software That Adapts to You: Teammates learn and adjust to individual work styles, style guides, and platform changes instantly, eliminating downtime and training needs.

“For the past 30 years, people have learned to work with software,” Stein explains. “Teammates represents the moment software learned to work with us. They’re not replacing humans; they’re joining them and making every day work better, more productive, and honestly, more enjoyable.”

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