Meet Katja Danilina, the Founder Making AI Collaborative

Katja Danilina

I’m Katja, CEO of Mantle Chat. My experience spans product design, company strategy and AI-supported development. We are building Mantle Chat together with Ilia, CTO of Mantle Chat.

Katja Danilina

Mantle Chat is a collaboration platform where teams can work with AI together.

Katja Danilina

We solve the fragmentation of teamwork with AI. Teams use AI in isolated private chats, while communication, knowledge, files, and workflows are scattered across disconnected tools. As a result, context gets lost, and teammates cannot easily collaborate on, continue, or reuse each other’s AI-assisted work, or build, share, and use AI agents together.

Katja Danilina

We had talked about building something of our own for years, but we wanted it to be useful and in a field we understood. When AI started changing the way we worked, it felt like the right moment to finally try. As we used AI more in our own work, we noticed a disconnect: AI was becoming part of everyday work, but mostly through private, individual chats. Meanwhile, teamwork was happening across messages, documents, files, project tools, and meetings. Useful context was often left behind in one person’s AI chat. Also we had seen a similar pattern before. Many tools became much more useful once they became collaborative: from Google Docs for writing to Figma for design. Instead of passing files back and forth, people could work together in the same place. That led us to a simple idea: AI will become collaborative too. We started Mantle Chat to explore what that could look like: a shared AI workspace where people can communicate with each other and with AI, share context, and build, share, and use AI agents together. We surveyed more than 60 IT professionals and used their feedback to develop the product through prototype, alpha, and beta. In less than a year, while building Mantle Chat as a side project with limited resources, we brought it to market and reached #4 Product of the Day on Product Hunt. It was also encouraging to see multiplayer AI becoming a broader direction in the industry. Now we are focused on the next stage: learning which teams benefit most from Mantle Chat and where collaborative AI is most useful in real work. It has already become clear to us that Mantle Chat is especially useful when several people work on the same tasks, need shared AI context, continue each other’s work, or use the same agents and knowledge. We are now exploring where these needs are strongest. This may lead us toward a particular type of team or workflow, or we may find that the need is broader. We want to stay flexible while keeping our main direction clear: making it easier for people to work with AI together.

Katja Danilina

I would like to see tools that make it easy for people to work with AI together, not only individually.

Katja Danilina

Our biggest challenge is balancing limited time and resources with how much there is to learn and build. As a small team, we are constantly learning across product, sales, marketing, and company building while deciding where to focus our attention.

Katja Danilina

Our goal is to make working with AI together as natural as collaborating in Google Docs or Figma. We want Mantle Chat to grow into a place where people can work with AI together, share knowledge, use agents, and automate repetitive work when it makes sense. If we are successful, my bigger dream is to build a broader ecosystem around Mantle Chat. I have many ideas for where it could go, but I’d prefer to keep the details for now.

Katja Danilina

I expect the overall impact of AI to be mixed, as often happens with major technologies. It will bring useful opportunities and real benefits, but also new risks, mistakes, and unexpected consequences. Some uses may strengthen human thinking and collaboration, while others may weaken skills and increase inequality. The final outcome will probably be somewhere between the most optimistic and most pessimistic predictions.

Katja Danilina

I am optimistic about the next 20 years, not because I think progress is guaranteed, but because historically humanity has been able to improve many things that once seemed impossible to change. We live longer, fewer people live in extreme poverty, and education and knowledge are far more accessible than they used to be. I hope technology, including AI, will continue that trend — making education and important services more accessible and helping more people meet their basic needs. If people have more security and opportunity, I hope they will also have more space for relationships, creativity, personal growth, and kindness. What also gives me hope is the younger generation. I often find younger people open, energetic, and free in the way they think. That does not mean every generation automatically becomes better, but I like the idea that each one can learn from what came before. I cannot predict what the world will look like in exact numbers, and progress is never guaranteed. But looking at how much humanity has already changed, I find it easier to believe that the world 20 years from now can be better rather than worse. I cannot give exact predictions, and of course there will be challenges. But overall, I do not believe we are moving toward a worse world. I believe the future can be more thoughtful, more compassionate, and more human.

Katja Danilina

Big AI companies may control the main models and infrastructure, but AI may also make it easier for small teams to build useful products and start companies. We may see more small, focused businesses serving specific users and markets.

Katja Danilina

I do not expect one company to win the entire AI race. Different companies may lead in models, infrastructure, enterprise software, and open AI. I think the companies selected above will continue to be major leaders in different parts of the market.

Katja Danilina

I don’t know if we will ever reach AGI, but I would really like to be around if it happens.

Katja Danilina

Katja Danilina

Katja Danilina

Katja Danilina

I don’t think software engineers will disappear, but their role will likely change significantly, as has happened with many professions before. AI will probably take over more of the coding itself, while engineers focus more on defining problems, designing systems, reviewing results, making trade-offs, and taking responsibility for what gets built.

Katja Danilina

The future of AI will not be single-player. The most valuable AI products will help people think, decide, and create together, not only make individuals faster.

Katja Danilina

Katja Danilina

Katja Danilina

I would highlight AutoSend, an email platform for transactional, marketing, and automated emails. Although we do not actively use it in our work yet, I think it is a very promising product, and we are considering migrating to it in the future.

Katja Danilina

Codex is currently the tool we use most for software development.

Katja Danilina

I’d like to meet founders, potential early customers, mentors, investors, and potential partners interested in building useful integrations with Mantle Chat.

Katja Danilina

I’m happy to share my experience, support launches and encourage other founders. Building a startup can feel uncertain, so I’m glad to listen, exchange ideas, and celebrate small wins together.

Katja Danilina

Being afraid is normal. Bugs are normal too. Even the biggest companies have them. Show your product anyway, listen to feedback, and keep improving. Trying to build something is already an achievement, and every attempt teaches you something. And try to get enough sleep.

Katja Danilina

If you’ve read this far, I have one small challenge for you: ask an AI, “What do you think about humanity?” It can be interesting to look at ourselves from a slightly different perspective. Then share the answer with someone else and discuss it together. That small moment is actually close to the idea behind Mantle Chat: AI becomes more valuable when it becomes part of a shared discussion, not just a private conversation. And if you ever want to continue that conversation with me, feel free to write :)