Cassidy vs. Glean: AI Automation vs. Enterprise Search

This might be the biggest opportunity in AI right now: take your industry expertise, apply new AI knowledge, and become the AI expert in your industry.

See, a recent McKinsey report stated that AI adoption in the workplace has actually remained stagnant from 2021 to 2023.

I believe that’s because most people have a general understanding of AI, but they have no idea how to use it in their specific industry. There’s a huge opportunity to become the person who shows people how to apply AI to your industry. Focus on teaching use cases actually relevant to their daily work.

The more niche you get, the bigger impact you can have.

How do you become the AI expert in your industry?

First, position yourself as the "AI Person" at your company. Share your learnings and experiments with colleagues and other people in your industry.

There's no shortage of people looking to make their lives easier. Start by helping those around you.

To take it a step further, share your insights online.

You know I love TikTok, but it doesn’t matter which platform you choose. TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, whatever. The steps are simple.

1. Learn about AI
2. Use it in your industry
3. Share online how you’re doing that.
4. Repeat for months-years

If your content is helpful and you do it for long enough, you’ll start to be seen as the AI expert for your industry. You'll have the opportunity to make a significant impact by applying the power of AI to address specific problems within your field.

Remember: every industry needs an AI expert, you can be it.

Research doesn’t have to be an expensive, manual, time-consuming process anymore.

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With Cassidy’s Research Agent, you get real-time, continuous access to the web until it finds the precise answers you need, delivering up-to-date, accurate information quickly and effortlessly.

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Whether you’re after business insights or competitive data to fuel your growth strategy, this tool ensures you get the exact information you’re looking for — no manual research required. 

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Unlike tools like ChatGPT, which handle individual queries, Cassidy’s solution is designed for repeatable, in-depth research. It continuously gathers, processes, and aggregates live web data, making it far more powerful for automating complex tasks that drive business decisions.

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If you’ve been spending hours on research or relying on tools that fall short, it’s time to save both time and money with this powerful solution. 

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Ready to see how it can transform your workflow? Let’s dive in

Simplifying research with limitless reach

Research Agent scours the internet to retrieve real-time data tailored to your needs. Whether you’re conducting in-depth analysis or verifying key information, it eliminates manual effort and helps you make faster, more informed decisions.

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At its core, Research Agent combines custom queries, autonomous web scraping, data analysis, and customizable output options. Here’s how it works:

• Custom Instructions: You define exactly what data you're looking for—whether it’s competitive insights, verifying a company’s online presence, or gathering the latest news. This gives you complete control over the research process.
• Autonomous Web Scraping: The tool automatically scans public online sources like websites and databases, saving you hours of manual searches. It can’t log into private accounts but uses public-facing data to gather insights. For example, you could input a company domain, and Research Agent would analyze accessible websites and compile a list of competitors for you.
• Data Processing and Confidence: After collecting the data, it’s analyzed and presented with confidence scores, detailed reasoning, and a step-by-step breakdown of how the results were gathered. You’ll be able to trust the data and understand exactly how it was sourced.
• Customizable Output: The results are delivered in a format that fits seamlessly into your workflow, allowing you to quickly act on the insights you’ve gathered. Whether you're generating reports, conducting competitive analysis, or validating information, the output is flexible and designed to meet your specific needs.

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As Research Agent continues to evolve, new templates and features will be added, enhancing its research capabilities and allowing you to tackle even more complex tasks.

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For more details, check out this overview video: 

Our pre-existing templates can already help you work magic 🪄

We've created a range of pre-built templates available to simplify common research tasks, helping you get started right away.

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These templates handle tasks such as:

• Gathering Company and Competitor Information
• Analyzing Company ICP and Positioning
• Finding Company's Social Media Profiles
• Identifying Person Names from Work Email Addresses
• Locating Company Executives and Founders
• Searching for Company Competitors
• Verifying Domain Status
• Finding Company Customers
• Getting Company 10-K Reports

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These templates allow you to quickly gather relevant data without having to build workflows from scratch. Whether you’re searching for key contacts or analyzing competitors, the templates are designed to make your job easier.

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But the real advantage comes from customization. While pre-built templates offer convenience, you can design your own workflows tailored to your specific needs. Whether you're automating a series of unique tasks or gathering insights for a highly specialized project, you can create workflows that match your exact requirements.

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By designing custom templates, you not only save time but also open the door to automating complex tasks. This flexibility allows you to streamline operations, make more informed decisions, and focus on using the data to fuel business growth.

Applying Research Agent's insights for your business

The data gathered by Research Agent can be used across different areas of your business to make smarter, more strategic decisions.

• For Sales: Detailed insights on potential customers, including their company background and key contacts, allow you to tailor your outreach for maximum impact.
• For Competitive Analysis: Having access to competitor data in real-time enables you to quickly identify market trends, analyze your competitors’ strategies, and adjust your own.
• For Lead Generation: By automating research, you can quickly build lists of high-quality contacts and leads, giving your team more time to focus on outreach.
• For Market Research: Gain access to industry trends and customer preferences to make strategic business decisions faster, putting you ahead of the competition.

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Here's an example of how you can conduct industry research: 

As many departments in your organization are likely spending significant time or money on research tools, we aim to simplify that—while offering you the most accurate, current insights available from across the web.

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Plus, exporting this data is easy.

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With integrations like OneDrive and Word, exporting your data is seamless, allowing you to put research into immediate use. Some integrations work across both Knowledge Base and workflows, such as Slack, making it easy to store data and send notifications where they’re most useful. No matter where your data is headed, outputs are formatted to fit your exact needs.

Experience Cassidy for yourself

Ready to simplify your workflows and make data-driven decisions with ease? Cassidy offers the tools to automate your research and streamline operations across your business. 

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Sign up for a free trial today.

Overview

Automation has evolved beyond simple “if this, then that” workflows. Cassidy is an AI-native automation platform, built for teams that need automation with human-level judgment—not just rule-based triggers. Zapier, on the other hand, is a traditional automation tool designed to connect apps with simple workflows.

While Zapier is great for basic, repetitive tasks, Cassidy takes automation further by infusing AI into every workflow, integrating deeply with business knowledge, and enabling non-technical users to build advanced automations.

Here’s a quick comparison of Cassidy vs. Zapier:

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AI Integration: Built-in AI vs. “Add-on AI”

Cassidy is AI-first, meaning every workflow uses intelligence at its core. Whether automating sales outreach, drafting RFP responses, or summarizing customer inquiries, Cassidy’s AI understands context and makes informed decisions—just like a human would.

Zapier, on the other hand, treats AI as an add-on. You can add AI as a step in a Zap (e.g., sending data to OpenAI), but AI isn’t natively built into workflows. It’s an external tool you have to configure and integrate manually.

Cassidy makes AI a seamless part of automation, while Zapier simply calls AI when told to.

Cassidy is No-Code & Built for Non-Technical Users

One of the biggest differences between Cassidy and Zapier is who can use it.

• Cassidy is designed for non-technical users. Anyone—sales teams, support reps, marketers—can build and customize AI-powered workflows without writing code.
• Zapier is better suited for technically inclined users. While it offers a simple interface, more advanced automations require complex setup, API configurations, and manual logic building.

For example:

• In Cassidy, a sales rep can automate lead enrichment, and Cassidy will research a prospect, pull insights, and generate a personalized outreach email.
• In Zapier, you’d have to manually connect multiple apps, trigger API calls, and piece together responses with no contextual understanding.

If you want a platform that empowers every team member to build their own AI-driven automations—without waiting on developers—Cassidy is the clear choice.

Automation Logic: AI-Powered vs. Rigid “If-Then”

Zapier follows a strict “if this, then that” model. Every Zap follows a predefined sequence: if a condition is met, a specific action happens. While this works for repetitive tasks, it doesn’t adapt to complexity.

Cassidy enables flexible, AI-driven workflows. Instead of following a fixed set of rules, Cassidy’s automation:

• Understands context and makes real-time decisions
• Learns and improves over time
• Handles complex, text-based tasks that traditional automation tools can’t

For example, Cassidy can automatically process and respond to RFPs, pulling from historical proposals to generate accurate answers. This simply isn’t possible in Zapier.

AI Assistants: Cassidy Provides Real-Time AI, Zapier Doesn’t

Cassidy doesn’t just run background workflows—it also provides real-time AI Assistants that work inside your favorite tools.

• Slack & Teams Assistants – Employees can ask Cassidy questions, pull reports, and get AI-driven insights without leaving chat.
• Chrome Assistant – AI that can analyze webpages, summarize information, or draft content in real time.
• Embedded AI Assistants – Add Cassidy’s AI into your existing apps via API or UI embeds.

Zapier has no AI assistant functionality. It runs in the background, but users can’t interact with AI in real time. If you need AI that works inside the tools you already use, Cassidy is the only option.

Security & Enterprise Scalability

For businesses with security and compliance needs, Cassidy is built for enterprise use.

• SOC 2 Type II, SSO, and granular permission controls
• Knowledge Base permissions so AI can only access authorized data
• Built to scale across teams, with centralized security settings

Zapier, on the other hand, is designed more for individuals and small teams. It offers team accounts, but lacks Cassidy’s granular security controls, making it less ideal for large enterprises with strict compliance needs.

Who Should Use Cassidy vs. Zapier?

Use Cassidy if you need:

✔️ AI-powered automation that understands context
✔️ No-code, enterprise-ready automation for non-technical teams
✔️ Real-time AI Assistants for Slack, Teams, and Chrome
✔️ Advanced security, scalability, and compliance

Use Zapier if you need:

✔️ Simple, rule-based automation for moving data between apps
✔️ A personal productivity tool for repetitive tasks
✔️ A lightweight solution for basic workflows

Both platforms serve different needs. If you need true AI-powered automation that can handle complex workflows and scale across your organization, Cassidy is the better choice.

Final Thoughts: Why Cassidy Wins

Zapier is a great tool for basic, trigger-based automation, but it wasn’t built for AI-first workflows. If you want automation that thinks, learns, and adapts, Cassidy is the future.

Cassidy doesn’t just move data—it automates the impossible. Ready to see it in action? Book a demo today.