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Grammarly Engineering

To build AI-powered systems that improve communication by delivering real-time writing assistance that's contextually aware and impactful

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To build AI-powered systems that improve communication by delivering real-time writing assistance that's contextually aware and impactful

Strengths

  • PRODUCT: Leading AI writing assistant with 30M+ global users
  • TECHNOLOGY: Robust NLP expertise and AI systems at scale
  • BRAND: Strong brand recognition with 82% of US users trusting us
  • PLATFORM: Cross-platform availability (browser, desktop, mobile)
  • TALENT: Strong engineering team with NLP and ML expertise

Weaknesses

  • MOAT: Core features increasingly replicated by competitors
  • COLLABORATION: Limited real-time collaborative editing features
  • LOCALIZATION: Primarily English-focused limiting global growth
  • INTEGRATION: API ecosystem needs expansion for enterprise needs
  • ARCHITECTURE: Technical debt constrains feature development speed

Opportunities

  • ENTERPRISE: Growing corporate demand for writing productivity tools
  • MULTIMODAL: Expand into voice, video, and visual communications
  • EDUCATION: Untapped potential in educational institutions market
  • DEVELOPER: Create robust API platform for third-party development
  • PERSONALIZATION: Enhanced customization for specific industries

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Microsoft Editor, Google, and other AI writing tools
  • CONSOLIDATION: Major platforms integrating writing assistance
  • GENERATIVE-AI: Large language models reducing perceived value
  • PRIVACY: Increasing data protection regulations worldwide
  • PRICING: Downward price pressure from free alternatives

Key Priorities

  • INNOVATION: Develop proprietary AI capabilities beyond competitors
  • ENTERPRISE: Strengthen enterprise offerings with robust integrations
  • PLATFORM: Create developer ecosystem around communication APIs
  • MULTIMODAL: Expand into voice and visual communication assistance
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To build AI-powered systems that improve communication by delivering real-time writing assistance that's contextually aware and impactful

AI ADVANTAGE

Lead the market with proprietary communication AI

  • MODELS: Deploy 3 specialized domain-specific AI models with 25% accuracy improvement over baseline
  • MULTIMODAL: Launch beta of voice tone analysis with 85%+ user satisfaction in 3 key use cases
  • EFFICIENCY: Reduce AI inference latency by 35% while maintaining quality across all platforms
  • DIFFERENTIATION: Achieve 30% performance lead over competitors in 5 key communication metrics
PLATFORM POWER

Build a thriving developer ecosystem

  • API: Launch public beta of Grammarly Communication API with 99.9% uptime and <100ms response time
  • DEVELOPERS: Onboard 100+ third-party developers with 15+ launching production integrations
  • DOCUMENTATION: Create comprehensive developer portal with 90%+ documentation satisfaction score
  • MARKETPLACE: Launch integration marketplace with 20+ certified partner solutions across 5 categories
ENTERPRISE EXPANSION

Accelerate enterprise adoption and retention

  • INTEGRATION: Develop deep integrations with 5 major enterprise platforms used by 80% of customers
  • SECURITY: Achieve SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications to meet enterprise requirements
  • ANALYTICS: Launch enterprise analytics dashboard tracking communication improvement metrics
  • ADOPTION: Increase enterprise-wide deployment rate from 65% to 85% within 90 days of purchase
BEYOND TEXT

Revolutionize communication across mediums

  • VOICE: Launch voice tone analysis for presentations with 5K beta testers and 80%+ satisfaction
  • VISUAL: Develop prototype for visual content recommendations with 70%+ improvement in engagement
  • REALTIME: Deploy real-time meeting assistance that improves communication clarity by 40%
  • MULTILINGUAL: Expand core capabilities to 3 new languages with 90% quality of English offering
METRICS
  • MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS: 30M by end of 2025, aiming for 35M by Q3
  • PREMIUM CONVERSION: 12% of free users converting to premium plans
  • ENTERPRISE NET REVENUE RETENTION: 120% for business customers
VALUES
  • Quality first
  • Leadership by everyone
  • Continuous improvement
  • Clarity in communication
  • Empathy for users
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Align the learnings

Grammarly Engineering Retrospective

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To build AI-powered systems that improve communication by delivering real-time writing assistance that's contextually aware and impactful

What Went Well

  • GROWTH: 25% year-over-year increase in premium subscription revenue
  • ENTERPRISE: 40% growth in Grammarly Business customers with 150+ seats
  • RETENTION: Improved annual retention rate to 85% for premium users
  • FEATURES: Successful launch of AI-powered summarization capabilities
  • MOBILE: 32% increase in mobile app installations and daily active users

Not So Well

  • CONVERSION: Free-to-premium conversion rate declined 3% year-over-year
  • COMPETITION: Market share pressure from integrated platform solutions
  • INTERNATIONAL: Slower than expected growth in non-English markets
  • ENTERPRISE: Sales cycle length increased by 22% for large accounts
  • COSTS: AI infrastructure costs increased 28% impacting gross margins

Learnings

  • DIFFERENTIATION: Need stronger differentiation from free alternatives
  • VERTICALS: Industry-specific solutions show 3x higher conversion rates
  • INTEGRATION: API-first approach critical for platform expansion plans
  • PERFORMANCE: Mobile performance optimization directly impacts retention
  • EFFICIENCY: AI model compression essential for managing cloud costs

Action Items

  • ROADMAP: Accelerate development of proprietary multimodal AI features
  • PLATFORM: Launch developer platform with communication-focused APIs
  • EFFICIENCY: Implement model compression to reduce inference costs 30%
  • VERTICALS: Develop specialized solutions for legal and academic sectors
  • INTEGRATION: Expand partnerships with document and CRM platforms
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To build AI-powered systems that improve communication by delivering real-time writing assistance that's contextually aware and impactful

Strengths

  • FOUNDATION: Early AI adopter with established ML infrastructure
  • DATA: Massive proprietary dataset of writing corrections and styles
  • TALENT: Strong AI/ML engineering and research teams
  • DEPLOYMENT: Proven ability to deploy AI at scale across platforms
  • PERSONALIZATION: AI systems that adapt to individual writing styles

Weaknesses

  • MULTIMODAL: Limited capabilities beyond text-based communication
  • INFERENCE: High computational costs for real-time AI processing
  • CUSTOMIZATION: Limited domain-specific AI models for industries
  • RESEARCH: Smaller AI research team compared to tech giants
  • INTEGRATION: Siloed AI systems requiring better orchestration

Opportunities

  • GENERATIVE: Leverage new LLM capabilities for enhanced assistance
  • MULTIMODAL: Expand into voice, image, and video communications
  • VERTICALIZATION: Create specialized AI for industries like legal
  • EFFICIENCY: Optimize AI models for better mobile performance
  • PERSONALIZATION: Deeper contextual understanding of user intent

Threats

  • COMMODITIZATION: Core NLP becoming commoditized by open models
  • COMPETITION: Tech giants investing heavily in communication AI
  • EXPECTATIONS: Rising user expectations for AI capabilities
  • PRIVACY: Balancing AI training with data privacy requirements
  • COST: Rising computational costs for advanced AI capabilities

Key Priorities

  • DIFFERENTIATION: Develop proprietary AI beyond open-source models
  • MULTIMODAL: Expand AI capabilities to voice and visual content
  • EFFICIENCY: Optimize AI for performance across all platforms
  • PERSONALIZATION: Enhance contextual and domain-specific assistance