Building a Private AI Notetaking Platform That Powers Secure Workflows
AI designed for compliance, speed, and control
Knapsack is an AI-powered productivity and workflow platform that enables teams to chat directly with their data and automate complex tasks across internal systems — transforming email, calendar, document, and CRM information into contextual, actionable insights.
Its architecture supports secure, contextual AI chat interfaces embedded into SaaS products through a lightweight SDK, enabling intelligent conversational workflows without compromising privacy or compliance.
Originally focused on financial advisors, Knapsack set out to solve a persistent challenge: enabling accurate meeting transcription and workflow automation in highly regulated environments where mainstream AI tools are not compliant or secure enough.
From local AI limits to hybrid, compliant intelligence
Knapsack’s early prototype relied on fully local AI execution to keep sensitive data protected. While this approach ensured strong privacy, it limited performance and made advanced capabilities, such as multi-speaker transcription and faster automation, hard to scale.
To move beyond these constraints, Knapsack transitioned to a hybrid, privacy-first architecture that preserves data control while delivering the speed and flexibility that modern organizations expect.
Re-architecting for speed, trust, and broader functionality
Cheesecake Labs embedded developers directly into Knapsack’s team, accelerating development and strengthening the product’s technical foundation for broader use cases beyond financial meetings.
The partnership aimed to expand Knapsack into a general AI workflow platform — one that supports internal team productivity tools, context-aware conversational interfaces, and embedded AI chat across SaaS products — without compromising on compliance.
High-performance AI no longer requires privacy tradeoffs
Knapsack evolved from a fully local setup into a hybrid, privacy-first architecture designed to strike a balance between strict data control and real-world performance.
This shift removed earlier technical constraints and unlocked capabilities that were previously difficult to deliver at scale, including:
Role-specific AI agents designed around real workflows
Contextual intelligence that persists across meetings and client interactions
Secure access to knowledge spread across internal systems
Fast, reliable processing without exposing sensitive data
This architectural foundation set the stage for Knapsack to expand beyond transcription into a full AI workflow platform. We also introduced Knaps — modular workflows that connect systems like email, calendars, and CRMs to turn raw operational data into automated actions, reducing manual work and improving responsiveness.
Knapsack Chat is a dedicated AI conversational interface designed for SaaS platforms. It enables product teams to embed AI chat using a lightweight JavaScript SDK in just a few lines of code. This converts internal company data into secure, context-aware conversations within customer applications, while maintaining compliance with SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR.
Baking compliance into every layer
Compliance and privacy remain at the heart of Knapsack’s value proposition:
- SOC 2 Type 1 certification with ongoing efforts toward Type 2
- Full HIPAA compliance for sensitive data handling
- GDPR-aligned practices to meet global privacy requirements
This strong compliance foundation allows organizations to deploy AI workloads safely and with full governance controls, appealing to highly regulated industries and enterprise teams.
Knapsack also offers self-hosted environments, giving enterprises complete control of sensitive data and resilience from third-party service risks.
Core platform improvements at a glance
To balance performance with privacy and expand functionality, Cheesecake Labs helped implement:
01
Hybrid AI architecture
Local-first with secure cloud-based vector databases.
02
Advanced encryption
Applied across all layers to meet SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and SCC standards.
03
Local transcription engine
Multi-speaker capture integrated with Zoom, Meet, and Teams.
04
Modular automations (Knaps)
Custom workflows powered by calendar, CRM, and email data.
05
Real-time productivity tools
AI note-taking, semantic search, context generation, and compliance monitoring.
Proven results: what customers are achieving with Knapsack
Productivity and engagement gains Customers of Knapsack Chat, including enterprises like Sevanta, are reporting measurable improvements in productivity and user engagement after embedding AI workflows — evidence of real business impact from integrating intelligent conversational experiences.
Time savings and operational efficiency Embedding AI directly into SaaS workflows dramatically accelerates users’ ability to extract insights and complete tasks, translating into improved team performance and reduced time spent on manual work.
Productivity, compliance, and scale — delivered
Knapsack now combines the cloud’s speed and flexibility with strict data protections that meet the highest compliance standards.
The improved UX and expanded feature set improved the platform’s day-to-day usability, giving financial advisors tools tailored to their exact workflows — from meeting prep to follow-ups — with none of the privacy trade-offs that come with mainstream tools.
Here’s what Knapsack has to say about working with us.
Knap’s leadership immediately noticed how much simpler and more effective their operations became. Here’s what they think of our partnership:
"We couldn’t have solved some of the complex problems to deliver this product without the support of Cheesecake Labs' team."
Mark Heynen
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer @ Knap
Cheesecake Labs can help you develop and scale your AI application, just like Knapsack.
