The Pulse
Former Meta AI Director Builds Ndoc to Challenge Office Suites
Rohit Patel is leaving Meta after eight years to build Ndoc, an AI-native alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. The startup combines analysis, presentations and underlying data and code in a shared workspace.
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“Companies are basically attaching AI to spreadsheets and it fills your cells for you,” Patel said. “It just sort of kills my soul.”
Rohit Patel, former director at Meta Superintelligence Labs, quoted by TechCrunch
Rohit Patel is leaving Meta after eight years working on AI to build Ndoc, a startup he describes as an AI-native alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. Rather than add a chat assistant to familiar documents, Ndoc aims to bring data, analysis and finished work into a shared workspace.
Patel was a director at Meta Superintelligence Labs, where his work focused on reinforcement learning and evaluating whether AI outputs could be trusted. His new product carries that emphasis into office software: users can inspect the Python scripts behind generated documents and ask the AI to explain how a formula works.
Ndoc puts findings, explanations and code together
The product divides work among three areas. Stage holds presentations of results, including slide decks, dashboards, simulations and small apps; Narrative presents analysis, numbered citations and generated figures; Model stores the underlying datasets and Python scripts.
Users can upload a dataset and ask Ndoc to analyze it and write an account of the findings. They can also supply context for a document, such as its intended audience and tone. Patel says the system keeps memory at the individual, document, team and company levels.
The design targets a routine that now crosses spreadsheets, word processors, presentation tools, analytics software and AI chat windows. Ndoc is meant to let colleagues view the resulting work even if they do not have accounts, according to Patel’s description to TechCrunch.
Patel wants an open format, not another file silo
Ndoc’s larger ambition extends beyond combining familiar office tasks in one interface. Patel says users can export documents as a single “.ndoc.html” file that opens in a browser, and he plans to open-source the format so outside developers can build compatible applications.
He says the prospect of agreeing on an open file format inside a large company helped motivate his departure. At Meta, he said, that process could involve “hundreds of people and opinions on how the format should look.” The startup’s approach would let Patel set the format and move faster, though the company has yet to show that other developers will adopt it.
Ndoc is built and fine-tuned with a mixture of open-source models, Patel told TechCrunch. He says developing the platform from scratch makes it less expensive to run than products built on frontier models.
A three-person team is testing demand before fundraising
Ndoc has a team of three and has not raised funding. It is running an enterprise pilot and opening an alpha to a limited number of customers who join its waitlist. Signing up is free, but customers will pay for usage and tokens.
Patel says he wants evidence that customers love the product before raising money. That is a demanding test for a startup asking companies to change how they produce and share work, even as Ndoc builds connectors to import data from tools customers already use.
The company faces competitors pursuing a less disruptive route: connecting AI models to existing office applications. Patel argues that filling spreadsheet cells with AI misses the chance to rethink the workflow; he compares that approach to putting lights on oxen instead of building a tractor. He hopes to release a beta in the coming weeks and plans a full launch next year.