About Ando安堂
When Slack arrived in 2013, no one was actively seeking a new messaging platform. IRC worked fine, Hipchat was popular, Yammer existed. What teams discovered they needed was something that bridged formal email and casual texting. It also helped that Slack had powerful search (it was the ‘Searchable Log of All Company Knowledge’ after all) and elegant visual link sharing.
Today in 2025, we’re at a similar inflection point. While teams may be satisfied with their current tools (Slack, Discord, Signal), a fundamental shift is underway: AI-native companies are rapidly deploying intelligent agents only to discover existing platforms were never designed for non-human teammates.
The question isn’t "Who needs an AI-native Slack?" but "What …
About Ando安堂
When Slack arrived in 2013, no one was actively seeking a new messaging platform. IRC worked fine, Hipchat was popular, Yammer existed. What teams discovered they needed was something that bridged formal email and casual texting. It also helped that Slack had powerful search (it was the ‘Searchable Log of All Company Knowledge’ after all) and elegant visual link sharing.
Today in 2025, we’re at a similar inflection point. While teams may be satisfied with their current tools (Slack, Discord, Signal), a fundamental shift is underway: AI-native companies are rapidly deploying intelligent agents only to discover existing platforms were never designed for non-human teammates.
The question isn’t "Who needs an AI-native Slack?" but "What happens when your digital workforce includes both humans and intelligent agents?" This is the frontier we’re exploring.
Within the next 2-5 years, we believe agents will form a significant portion of many companies’ workforces. These human-agent interactions will naturally occur in messaging platforms - where work discussions happen, decisions get made, and critical context is generated.
About Ando:
- We’re a primarily-San Francisco-based team with expertise spanning software design and memory/tool calling research. Our mission is to build a platform that amplifies human-AI collaboration through thoughtfully crafted software.
- We’re designing the interface that makes it possible for humans to easily hand off work to a network of powerful agents. Ultimately, we want to free people from the mundane and allow them to work on higher leverage work.
- We’re challenging both established players like Slack and Microsoft Teams and the very nature of workplace communication itself. Our vision extends across 5, 10, and 20-year horizons, as we build for a future where human-AI collaboration becomes the norm. We’re seeking teammates who share our insane level of ambition and can think strategically about long-term workplace transformation.
Values:
- At Ando, our values guide how we show up to work and for each other. We aim to create an environment where we can do the best work of our lives alongside the most talented colleagues we can find. We’re committed to growing together throughout this journey.
- Consistency Compounds: We believe in the power of daily commitment. Small positive actions and thoughtful decisions multiply, not just add up. Relationships and shared knowledge are like this too.
- Exceed Expectations: We seek to surprise and delight our partners and customers. We set ambitious goals and are always clear about our commitments when circumstances or timelines change. When we make promises, we not only keep them, but exceed them.
- Pixel Perfect: We obsess over details that others ignore. Every interaction, whether via our product or directly with customers, reflects our uncompromising commitment to excellence.
- Perform Under Pressure: We thrive in discomfort zones, knowing that’s where real growth happens. We cultivate self-awareness, discipline, and poise even under the most extreme pressure, whether from time constraints, customer demands, competitive forces, or stakeholder expectations.
Brand & Design Philosophy:
- The name "Ando" contains the Japanese characters for "peace" (安) and "gathering place" (堂), while also meaning "walk" in Spanish. This captures our essence: a digital space where humans and AI collaborate harmoniously and move work forward together.
- We’re not building "better chat.” We’re rearchitecting the messaging platform for a new world. Inspired by architect Tadao Ando, our design principles include:
- Strip Down to the Essential: We deliberately eliminate noise and distraction to surface only what drives progress: key decisions, essential context, and meaningful outcomes
- Embracing Empty Space: In a world of constant notifications, we create protected spaces where focused work can happen without interruption.
- Building Community Through Architecture: Ando isn’t just a communication tool, but the social fabric of digital organizations, designed to foster meaningful connection.