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Glean CEO Arvind Jain says he wants Glean to be easy to replace

October 15, 2026 Emily Chen Clock

Glean CEO Arvind Jain: Making AI Easily Replaceable

Arvind Jain, CEO of Glean, shared with TNW's Cristian Dina why Glean chooses not to use Claude for most enterprise tasks. He also emphasized the importance of companies owning the learning of their AI agents.

October 15, 2026

Glean's Future:

  • No current plans for fundraising or IPO, according to Jain.
  • Glean is preparing internally for a potential listing, but the AI industry's rapid evolution makes stability less appealing right now.

Glean's Origin and Growth:

  • Founded in early 2019 by Arvind Jain, who previously co-founded data security company Rubrik and led R&D at Google.
  • Reached $300m in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in May 2026, 15 months after hitting $100m.

Jain's Interview at HumanX:

  • Discussed in an episode of the TNW Podcast, held on September 23, 2026, with Cristian Dina.
  • Guests previously included Jim Lanzone (Yahoo), XD Huang (Zoom), and Tom Eggemeier (Zendesk).

Glean's AI Strategy:

  • Started as a search engine for company data, connecting to systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, GitHub, and HR/IT tools.
  • Utilizes models from various labs, prioritizing cost-effectiveness and context.

Choosing Alternative Models:

  • Cost: Glean prefers models other than Anthropic's Claude, which Jain considers very expensive. Some GPT models are significantly cheaper and handle most tasks.
  • Context: Glean creates knowledge graphs of company data, enhancing AI performance. Claude, when using Glean as a context layer, is twice as fast, uses fewer tokens, and is preferred five times more often.

Avoiding Lock-In:

  • Glean aims to be easily replaceable, ensuring AI tools learn based on user preferences.
  • Stores user memory in a standard, company-owned format, ensuring data privacy.

Privacy and Data Ownership:

  • Glean respects existing company permissions, preventing unauthorized access to employee inboxes.
  • Personal data, like LinkedIn messages, remains with the employee and never becomes company data.

Embracing Human Context:

  • 80-90% of work is done in people's heads, not in databases or documents.
  • Glean leverages conversations between employees to understand work dynamics and pass that context to AI systems.

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