Glean is an advanced AI-powered workplace search and knowledge-sharing platform designed to help teams and organizations unlock the full potential of their information. With seamless integration across popular workplace apps like Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and more, Glean instantly lets users locate relevant data, files, and answers, eliminating the frustration of sifting through endless documents or emails.
Its intuitive AI leverages natural language processing to understand search queries in context, ensuring highly accurate and relevant results. Beyond search, Glean fosters collaboration by allowing teams to share insights, create knowledge hubs, and establish a single source of truth within the organization. By simplifying information retrieval and knowledge management, Glean boosts productivity, streamlines workflows, and empowers teams to make informed decisions faster.
Whether you’re searching for a specific document, exploring answers to complex queries, or connecting with experts within your organization, Glean is your go-to solution for efficient and intelligent workplace search.
Key Takeaways
- Glean provides AI-powered tools for unified knowledge management, streamlining workflows, and enhancing productivity.
- It integrates seamlessly with enterprise tools like Slack, Salesforce, and Zendesk to centralize data access.
- Advanced features such as incremental indexing and contextual search deliver precise results and improve decision-making.
- Glean Assist, introduced in 2024, automates customer support tasks, reducing resolution times and increasing efficiency.
- Pricing details are customized based on organizational needs and are available upon request.
- Top alternatives to Glean include Coveo, Lucidworks, and Elastic Enterprise Search, each catering to specific business use cases.
- Coveo specializes in AI-driven personalization for customer experiences, while Lucidworks excels in workplace collaboration and retail integration.
- Elastic Enterprise Search offers scalable, open-source solutions for large teams with extensive data indexing needs.
What is Glean?
Glean is a workplace search tool that uses AI to organize and surface information, making tasks faster and more efficient. It streamlines how teams access and utilize knowledge by connecting data from apps like Google Drive, Slack, and others to create a unified, searchable hub.
Its Work AI understands context to deliver accurate results, while advanced features like Angle query language simplify tasks like code browsing for developers. Launched in August 2021 by Simon Marlow and Pepe Iborra, it effortlessly supports search, analysis, and documentation.
How Glean Uses Work AI to Enhance Productivity
Glean’s Work AI transforms how teams handle workflows, making processes faster, smarter, and more efficient. Its AI-driven tools streamline tasks by delivering intelligent answers, automating ticket resolution, and assisting in content creation.
The introduction of Glean Assist on September 10, 2024, added a powerful layer of functionality for Zendesk and Service Cloud users. This feature automates repetitive tasks like ticket categorization and response generation, allowing customer support teams to resolve issues quickly and focus on more complex queries.
Glean integrates seamlessly with both desktop and mobile applications, ensuring that data from various platforms is consolidated into a single, searchable hub. This integration enhances productivity by refining search results and reducing the time spent hunting for specific information.
AI-powered contextual suggestions further optimize workflows by linking users to the most relevant resources: text notes, documentation, or project files. Teams can access the exact information they need at the right time, ensuring that work progresses without unnecessary delays.
Key Features of Glean
Glean delivers innovative tools designed to simplify workflows and enhance productivity. Its cutting-edge features empower teams to find and use information efficiently and intelligently.
Advanced Enterprise Search Functionality
Glean offers precision in unlocking enterprise data. With incremental indexing, it tracks changes efficiently at a cost proportional to the updates, ensuring faster and more accurate updates to the indexed content.
Cross-language navigation supports remote procedure calls (RPCs) and foreign function interfaces (FFI), making collaboration seamless for global teams working across different programming languages.
This simplifies complex code exploration tasks and accelerates engineering workflows.
These advanced features make Glean an indispensable tool for developers and data-driven teams aiming to streamline technical operations.
Integration with Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Glean integrates cutting-edge Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technologies to elevate search precision. It supports multiple large language models (LLMs), such as Gemini 1.5 Pro on Vertex AI and Claude 3 Sonnet on Bedrock, to provide smarter, context-aware search experiences.
Strategic partnerships with Databricks AI/BI Genie and DataStax further bolster its enterprise search capabilities, enabling faster and more accurate insights from vast datasets. These integrations make Glean a powerhouse for organizations needing real-time, context-driven results to support decision-making and data analysis at scale.
Unified Knowledge Management Platform
Glean centralizes scattered enterprise data into a cohesive system, fostering seamless knowledge management. Its distributed indexing with RocksDB ensures fast and efficient information retrieval, reducing delays in accessing critical resources.
The integration of the Glass API allows precise symbol searches and code navigation, significantly enhancing software engineering workflows. AI-powered contextual tools offer smart answers, helping teams quickly locate information stored in files, emails, notes, and other systems—whether on desktop applications or mobile devices.
By unifying knowledge across platforms, Glean saves time and boosts collaboration, enabling teams to work more effectively and focus on their goals. These features make Glean an essential tool for organizations striving to optimize workflows, improve knowledge sharing, and achieve greater productivity.
How Glean Works
Glean leverages advanced AI to connect, organize, and optimize access to your company’s data. Centralizing information from diverse sources simplifies how teams search for answers and provide instant and accurate results tailored to their context.
Connecting and Indexing Enterprise Data
Glean integrates seamlessly with enterprise data sources, including databases, web applications, repositories, and enterprise tools like Slack, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. By connecting these platforms, Glean ensures that all information is accessible from a single hub, reducing silos and improving visibility.
The platform uses AI to automate processes such as indexing and tagging, ensuring data is searchable and well-organized. This enables users to locate files, documents, and other resources effortlessly. For developers, Glean enhances productivity with sophisticated tools like code exploration features, including definition and advanced code browsing capabilities.
Immutable databases help manage data changes effectively, maintaining consistency and reliability in search results.
AI-Powered Contextual Search and Answers
Glean’s AI-driven contextual search provides precise answers by understanding the user’s query in detail. It sifts through text notes, class recordings, emails, and enterprise databases to retrieve the required information. Unlike traditional search tools, it adds value by linking related documents, guides, and resources, presenting results that align closely with the task at hand.
For software engineers, Glean offers advanced capabilities, such as type-on-hover and quick code analysis, making it easier to navigate complex projects. Its contextual AI ensures that even nuanced or deeply nested information is surfaced instantly.
Streamlined Learning and Decision-Making
Glean bridges the gap between disconnected learning resources by connecting training materials, whitepapers, desktop applications, and other data sources. This unified approach saves time, ensuring that employees can quickly locate relevant resources to make informed decisions. Personalized search results adapt to individual needs, delivering insights tailored to specific roles or tasks.
By simplifying access to critical knowledge and enhancing search accuracy, Glean transforms how organizations manage data, solve problems, and collaborate, ultimately driving efficiency and smarter decision-making across teams.
Benefits of Using Glean
Boosted Productivity and Efficiency
Glean transforms workplace productivity with its AI-powered smart search tools. It saves time by quickly retrieving information, eliminating the need for manual searches. Generative AI enhances efficiency, boosting overall productivity by up to 40%.
Teams spend less time searching and more time focusing on critical tasks. With faster data access, decision-making becomes simpler and more streamlined.
Enhanced Collaboration with Intelligent Search Tools
Glean’s AI-powered search platform promotes seamless teamwork. It integrates with enterprise tools like Slack and Salesforce for effortless collaboration.
AI-powered prompts help solve tickets, create content, and retrieve shared knowledge instantly. This ensures faster decision-making and keeps projects moving efficiently.
Personalized Data Retrieval for Smarter Decisions
Glean’s AI adapts to user needs, offering personalized data retrieval. Contextual search ensures the most relevant information is available at the right time.
Teams receive precise answers, improving task alignment and overall accuracy. This reduces the time spent on information searches, allowing smarter choices. Faculty and training resources become accessible instantly, enhancing learning outcomes.
By integrating intelligent tools and AI-driven insights, Glean enables teams to work faster, collaborate better, and make data-informed decisions.
Glean Alternatives in 2024
Glean stands out for its unified knowledge management approach when exploring tools to enhance data search and management. However, other enterprise search solutions, such as Coveo, Lucidworks, and Elastic Enterprise Search, offer unique features tailored to specific business needs. Here’s a comparison to help you decide which tool best aligns with your requirements.
Here’s a detailed comparison table for Glean and its alternatives
| Feature | Glean | Coveo | Lucidworks | Elastic Enterprise Search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus Area | Unified knowledge management | AI-driven customer experiences | Intelligent search for workplaces & e-commerce | Scalable, open-source search and analytics |
| Key Features | AI-powered contextual search, seamless app integration, centralized knowledge hub | Advanced personalization, recommendation engines, user engagement metrics | Smart discovery, predictive analytics, e-commerce integration | High scalability, customizable search, cost-effective self-hosting |
| Target Users | Teams needing centralized knowledge access | Businesses enhancing customer journeys | Retailers and collaborative workplaces | Organizations managing extensive data indexing |
| Strengths | Unified search across multiple tools, intuitive interface, enhanced productivity | Improves customer experiences, tailored suggestions | Supports collaboration, excels in retail use cases | Open-source adaptability, cost efficiency, advanced analytics |
| Best Use Case | Knowledge retrieval for cross-functional teams | Personalizing customer interactions | Accelerating data discovery for teams and e-commerce | Indexing and analyzing large datasets efficiently |
| Scalability | Suitable for mid-sized to large teams | Highly scalable for enterprise needs | Scales well for workplaces and retailers | Excellent scalability for large organizations |
| Integration Capabilities | Integrates with Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, and more | Integrates with CRMs and customer-facing apps | Strong integrations with e-commerce platforms | Integrates with multiple apps through APIs |
| Unique Features | Context-driven answers, developer-friendly tools like Angle query language | AI-powered recommendations, real-time engagement metrics | Predictive analytics, smart discovery for retail | Open-source customization, detailed analytics |
| Pricing | Subscription-based | Custom pricing | Custom pricing | Free (open source) or custom enterprise plans |
This table helps compare the tools based on focus, features, scalability, integrations, and pricing, making it easier to identify the best fit for your business needs.
Step-by-Step Guide to Glean
Sign Up and Integrate Tools
Begin by creating an account on Glean and completing the onboarding process. Connect enterprise applications like Google Workspace, Slack, or Salesforce to centralize data access. Integration ensures that all your organizational tools are linked seamlessly. This step sets the foundation for efficient knowledge management.
Index and Organize Data
Once connected, allow Glean’s AI to index your data from integrated tools. The system tags and organizes information to make it searchable and accessible. This process creates a unified database, streamlining data retrieval. With indexed data, your team can quickly find what they need.
Search and Use Work AI Features
Use the search bar to input queries in natural language, and Glean will deliver contextual and precise results. Leverage Work AI features like Glean Assist to automate repetitive tasks and generate summaries. These tools save time by streamlining workflows and improving decision-making. AI-powered insights ensure teams stay productive and focused.
Collaborate and Optimize
Share search results and insights with your team using Glean’s collaboration features. Customize settings and refine search parameters to better align with your workflow. Utilize Glean’s analytics to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement. This continuous optimization enhances productivity across the organization.
Use Cases for Glean
Glean simplifies workflows, strengthens collaboration, and helps teams achieve their goals more efficiently. Here’s how Glean can fit into your organizational needs:
Empowering Customer Support Teams
Glean Assist is a game-changer for customer support teams. Integrating with platforms like Zendesk and Service Cloud delivers quick answers and summaries from enterprise data. Agents can resolve issues faster with instant access to relevant information, reducing customer wait times.
The streamlined process improves overall team productivity and enhances the customer experience. Support teams benefit from automated ticket resolutions and AI-powered suggestions, enabling them to focus on complex tasks.
With Glean, customer support becomes more agile and effective.
Enhancing Software Engineering Workflows
Glean boosts software engineering productivity by offering advanced code browsing, search, and analysis tools. It tracks test coverage, builds dependencies, and complexity metrics, saving engineers time on repetitive tasks. The platform integrates seamlessly with enterprise data, providing customized insights for coding projects.
Intelligent searches deliver precise results, helping teams manage intricate workflows more efficiently. By simplifying code exploration and offering contextual answers, Glean ensures smoother collaboration and faster project completion.
Streamlining Operational Management Tasks
Glean’s AI tools simplify management workflows with features like “40+ AI Prompt Examples for Different Department Use Cases” (October 21, 2024) and “30 Best AI Prompts for Operational Management” (November 27, 2024). These prompts assist managers in reducing planning time and improving team coordination.
By integrating enterprise data, Glean accelerates decision-making and ensures better alignment of organizational goals. Work AI-powered search tools help teams effortlessly retrieve guides, text notes, and learning resources. With tools like the Glean research hub and “quiz me” options, teams handle learning and development initiatives more effectively.
Glean’s versatility makes it an essential tool for organizations looking to optimize workflows, enhance collaboration, and achieve faster results across multiple departments.
Glean’s Accessibility and Security Features
Glean prioritizes both accessibility and security, ensuring that its platform is inclusive for all users while safeguarding enterprise data with robust protections.
Designing for Accessibility – Screen Readers and Shortcuts
Glean’s accessibility tools ensure everyone can use its features effectively, regardless of ability. Screen reader support makes the platform accessible for users with vision impairments by providing clear labels, detailed text descriptions, and a logical interface layout. Keyboard shortcuts simplify navigation for users who face challenges using a mouse, making actions faster and more efficient.
These tools support individuals facing challenges such as mental health issues or language barriers, creating a more inclusive digital environment. By removing common obstacles, Glean fosters a platform where all users can participate and thrive.
Ensuring Data Security and Compliance
While accessibility improves usability, security ensures trust. Glean employs top-tier security protocols to protect sensitive data. The platform complies with global standards like GDPR and SOC 2 Type II, meeting stringent legal and privacy requirements.
Data encryption during storage and transmission keeps information safe from unauthorized access. Features like audit logs, user authentication, and role-based access controls provide additional layers of security. This commitment to compliance and data protection makes Glean a reliable solution for managing and safeguarding enterprise data.
By combining inclusive design with strong security measures, Glean creates a platform that is both accessible and dependable for modern organizations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Glean is a transformative tool for modern workplaces. It combines advanced AI-powered search capabilities with robust accessibility and security features. Streamlining workflows, fostering collaboration, and ensuring data integrity empower teams to work smarter, faster, and more inclusively.
Whether it’s enabling seamless knowledge retrieval, enhancing decision-making, or safeguarding sensitive information, Glean delivers a comprehensive solution tailored to organizations’ dynamic needs. As businesses continue to evolve, Glean provides the tools and support necessary to stay ahead, making it an indispensable asset for achieving long-term success.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Glean, and how does it help students?
Glean is a personal study tool that helps students take text notes, access class recordings, and use features like the focus timer to stay organized while studying.
Does Glean offer free resources for students?
Yes, Glean provides free student resources such as guides, whitepapers, and access to its research hub. A free trial is also available for new users.
Can Glean support students facing challenges like balancing study and work or mental health issues?
Glean helps with learning goals by offering tools like “Quiz Me” and accessible desktop and mobile apps to make studying more manageable during tough times.
How can faculty members benefit from using Glean?
Faculty can use a demonstrator account to explore how the platform supports student confidence through accessible learning resources tailored for diverse needs.
Are there alternatives if I don’t want to use Glean in 2024?
Yes—there are other tools available that may suit your preferences better depending on your specific needs, but many still find value in its award-winning features (like Cool Tool Winner 2024).
