Alessandra Knight '14, of New York City, co-founded Katch in early 2021 and launched the first iteration of her product in January 2022. Katch is an email assistant that supports scheduling needs. All an individual needs to do is loop Katch into any email message and it will reply automatically sharing calendar availability. Knight recently stepped down as CEO and moved into an advisory role with the company.
Special features: civil engineering & artificial intelligence
She founded Katch because she believes there is a gap in the way people work. The technology people use is always shifting and improving. But, when it comes to scheduling and how people connect, the tools have stayed more or less the same. She started Katch with a former colleague during the pandemic in response to the change in the way people were working. The shift from in-person to remote or hybrid, and an increasing reliance on technology for work tasks (like Zoom), felt like a pivotal moment in the future of work to them.
How do you use AI in your career?
Katch is built using a public large language model, enabling the assistant to understand and generate responses. It’s been exciting working with AI because it enhances many things. Our product, for example, supports productivity. It enables people to schedule meetings without them having to navigate their own calendars. The AI assistant does that for them.
This is the best part for me – seeing what we can do with AI. When we think about what we can do and then see AI achieving it, it’s a lot of fun. But there is still a lot of room for regulation and cybersecurity when it comes to AI. It’s a powerful tool and while a lot could go right, a lot could go wrong. We’ve recently seen headlines to this effect regarding deepfakes, for example.
For those unfamiliar with AI, how would you define it?
If I were to explain it to a grandparent, I would say AI enables us to do more than one person can normally do. Using data and trained models, AI can support us with various tasks. In the case of Katch, our tool enables individuals to spend less time managing their calendar and focus energy elsewhere. Some individuals fear AI puts certain jobs at risk, but I believe it can enhance our capabilities at work, school or in life. I see it more as a supplemental tool.
How did Union inform your path?
Union’s liberal arts education and emphasis on critical thinking empowered me to become an independent thinker. I learned to explore diverse perspectives, question assumptions and form my own conclusions. The interdisciplinary approach to education encouraged me to integrate knowledge from various fields, fostering creativity and innovation. Additionally, opportunities for independent research and projects nurtured self-reliance and initiative. Union College provided me with the skills and mindset to become a confident critical thinker, laying the foundation for my entrepreneurial journey with Katch.