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Hi, and welcome to Try AI for Growth, a baby podcast out of Make Space for Growth. Here, I share short and maybe surprising stories of how I’ve used technology to tackle everyday challenges—at home, at work, and in business.
I’m your host, Sara Vicente Barreto, and today I want to dive into a game-changer for anyone drowning in meeting notes: AI-powered meeting assistants.
If you’re anything like me, you take a lot of notes during meetings—whether it’s client calls, project discussions, or brainstorming sessions. But then comes the dreaded follow-up: structuring, summarizing, and actually using those notes efficiently.
I decided it was time to test AI for virtual meeting notes. Could it listen, transcribe, and summarize accurately? Could it replace the endless typing and post-meeting chaos? Spoiler alert: It did, and today, I’ll walk you through my experience.
Why I Needed an AI Meeting Assistant
Like many of you, I wear multiple hats. My days are packed with CEO advisory calls, investor discussions, and charity meetings—each requiring careful attention and follow-ups. While I take my own notes (I am big on paper), sometimes I feel like I barely look at the other side trying to take notes. Or I get so caught up in the conversation that I miss writing things down. I also suffer from a lot of paper accumulated and not a lot of time to transcribe the notes into a digital format and immediately identify action points. As much as I reserve time for debriefing, it is not always possible, and 2 months later I don’t always make sense out of my notes.
So I needed:
✅ Accurate transcription—so I could focus on the conversation, not on typing.
✅ Summarization—to get key points without re-reading an entire transcript.
✅ Action items and insights—to track next steps effortlessly.
So, I turned to AI to see what it could do.
Step 1: Choosing the Right AI Meeting Assistant
With so many tools out there—Otter.ai, Fireflies, Fathom, and more—I wanted a quick comparison to find the best fit.
🔍 My Prompt to ChatGPT:
“What are the best AI virtual meeting note-takers, and how do they compare”
AI quickly gave me a breakdown of options, comparing features like:
📌 Live transcription – How accurate is it?
📌 Meeting summaries – Does it auto-generate key takeaways?
📌 Integrations – Can it sync with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet?
📌 Cost & limitations – Free vs. paid plans?
I followed up with a few questions, including a better description of my needs and my focus on a free plan that was broad enough for me to give it a real go. With this, I was particularly interested in Fathom, which stood out for its free plan, seamless calendar and app integration, and ability to generate highlights and summaries automatically.
Decision made! 5 minutes had passed ✅
Step 2: Setting Up Fathom – the first go
Once I had my tool of choice, the next step was getting it up and running. The experience of installing Fathom was seamless. In 3 steps, I signed up for a free account, integrated it with my calendar and downloaded the desktop app (which is optional but recommended). Another 5 minutes had passed, and I was curious about what would happen next.
On a first glimpse,
📌 I liked: It automatically joined my calls, recorded, transcribed, and even broke things down into key highlights and action points—without me lifting a finger.
📌 I found out: It can send meeting summaries to attendees or not, there is a transcript embedded in each meeting and the free plan has an unlimited number of hours. I also like that it has multi-language support, which was a must for me
Step 3: Pro Tips – Making the Most of AI Meeting Notes
Once I had Fathom working, I wanted to push it a little further.
I asked AI:
“What are some advanced tips for using Fathom effectively?”
Here’s what I learned:
🚀 Highlight key moments live – Instead of reviewing the entire transcript, I can press a shortcut to highlight important sections in real-time. This makes reviewing meeting summaries even faster.
📝 Auto-generated follow-ups – Some AI note-takers, including Fathom, can suggest action items automatically. I’ll be testing this out more!
📤 Instant sharing – It’s super easy to share meeting summaries with attendees immediately after the call—no manual note-sending needed.
Final Thoughts – Will I Keep Using It?
I am now on meeting number 10 and I already know this is here to stay for me. I get the meeting summary and highlights within 5 minutes of the meeting being finished, so I quickly send it to my OneNote (where I keep all my meeting notes) and glimpse at my own piece of paper for any points it may have missed. Yes, I am still taking notes, I didn’t want to go in blind. My first assessment is that it gets 90% of the core, but it is, as with every AI, essential to take a look post meeting and add your 1-2 bullets.
As an example, I just received a pitch from a company. Fathom had a very accurate summary of the business and key points discuss. What it does not know is what I really thought about the business and my key points to watch out for in the future. So I quickly added that and now have an enhanced AI summary.
My experience so far confirms that AI can take meeting productivity to the next level.
✨ The biggest benefits?
✅ More focus in meetings – No more multitasking between listening and typing.
✅ Faster follow-ups – Summaries and action items are done instantly.
✅ Less admin work – One-click sharing and integrations streamline my workflow.
I’m planning to test how well it works for different types of meetings, but for now, I’m impressed. AI isn’t just changing how I run my business—it’s making sure I never miss an important point again.
What You Can Try Today
If you’re looking to upgrade your meeting workflow, here’s how you can get started:
1️⃣ Pick a tool – Try Fathom, Otter.ai, or Fireflies and see which fits your needs.
2️⃣ Integrate it with your video calls – Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.
3️⃣ Test it on a low-stakes meeting – See how well it captures the conversation.
4️⃣ Use real-time highlights – Mark key moments as they happen for better summaries.
5️⃣ Let AI do the admin work – Auto-generate summaries and share notes effortlessly.
My next step will be to test this for in-person meetings. There is an app for that as well!
Conclusion
So, that’s my experience diving into AI-powered meeting assistants. What started as a simple curiosity turned into a big productivity win.
If you’ve ever tried an AI note-taker, I’d love to hear your thoughts! What’s worked for you? Drop me a message, and let’s keep sharing tips.
🎧 Thanks for tuning in to Try AI for Growth! Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share your experiences. Until next time—keep experimenting, keep learning, and keep having fun! 🚀
P.S. – Here is a link to Fathom, my tool of choice. If you use this link, you get a month of premium free and so do I!