The office is undergoing profound changes. Companies are finding ways to use AI to save time and communicate better. And in this remote-work era, they’re building hardware and software tools to bridge the gaps between coworkers who seldom spend time in the same physical space. These products are making workplaces, from the home office to the factory floor, more efficient, more comfortable, and more equitable.

Andonix
For bringing conversational AI to the factory floor
Andonix aims to let manufacturing workers harness conversational AI with Andi, its digital assistant. Andi contains information on more than 1,000 manufacturing skills and has the ability to answer questions (say, what a particular machine’s error codes mean) and automatically generate training materials and checklists for particular tasks. And when something goes wrong, Andi can send notifications to the right people through text messaging, WhatsApp, or email.

Clockwise
For letting people avoid scheduling headaches through AI conversations
Clockwise‘s AI lets busy people schedule meetings by expressing their availability and preferences conversationally rather than through laborious back-and-forth emails or complex forms. Based on OpenAI’s GPT-4, the AI lets users give commands like “Clear my schedule for tomorrow” or “Find a time to meet on Monday.” The AI, which also includes a handy integration with Slack, can access multiple people’s calendars within a company and understand factors like the urgency and priority of different meetings and events. Clockwise customers include Etsy, Zoom, Atlassian, and Uber.

Datapeople
For using AI to make hiring more equitable
Datapeople‘s AI offers guidance on drafting job posts to attract candidates from a variety of backgrounds. The AI can provide help with inclusive language and compliance with laws on subjects like pay transparency, and it will ensure that postings include basic facts like benefits and location. The tool has been used to edit more than 170,000 job postings since 2022, at companies including Conagra, Twitch, BuzzFeed, and Block.

Logitech
For melding 19th- and 21st-century technology for better videoconferencing
Logitech‘s Project Ghost is a one-on-one videoconferencing booth designed to make people feel like they’re in the same room as the person they’re talking to, even when they’re across the world. It uses unobtrusive cameras and microphones, along with a system of reflections first developed for 19th-century theater, to hide the technology so people can focus on their conversations. The system works with standard videoconferencing software like Zoom and Google Meet.

The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2023. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.