Ex-Meta AI Director Launches Ndoc to Replace Microsoft Office and Google Workspace
Its three tabs combine presentations, analysis, datasets, and Python scripts in one workspace. Users can inspect and explain generated code, while Patel plans to open-source the .ndoc.html format, designed to open in any browser.
Rohit Patel, a former director at Meta Superintelligence Labs, has left Meta after eight years to launch Ndoc, a startup he is pitching as an AI-native replacement for Microsoft Office Suite and Google Workspace, TechCrunch exclusively reported on October 27, 2026.
Patel’s departure is part of a broader wave of high-profile exits from Meta, which has also seen Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, AI researcher Andrew Tulloch, and Head of Product for AI-for-Work Emily Dalton Smith leave the company.
Ndoc is designed to consolidate tools like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Tableau, and Replit into a single workspace. The platform has three core tabs: Stage, for presentations and dashboards; Narrative, for analysis and citations; and Model, for underlying datasets and Python scripts. Users can upload data, request an AI-generated analysis, and set document-specific parameters including audience, tone, and memory context.
Patel’s background in reinforcement learning and AI evaluation at Meta shaped the product’s emphasis on transparency. Users can inspect the Python scripts behind any generated document and ask the platform’s AI to explain them in plain language. “There’s nothing hidden behind the curtain here,” Patel said.
Ndoc is built on a mix of open-source models, which Patel says makes it cheaper to run than products built on frontier AI models. He also plans to open-source a new file format — “.ndoc.html” — that can be opened in any browser, with the goal of avoiding the kind of platform lock-in associated with Microsoft and Google.
That open-source ambition was a key reason Patel chose to leave Meta rather than pursue the project internally, where he said alignment across “hundreds of people” would have slowed progress significantly.
Ndoc currently has a team of three and no outside funding. As of the article’s publication, the startup is running an enterprise pilot and opening an alpha to waitlisted users at no upfront cost, with usage-based pricing. A beta is planned for the coming weeks and a full launch in 2027.
Patel faces competition from major AI labs including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta itself, all of which have released enterprise AI tools that integrate with existing workplace software. OpenAI launched a shared workspace product called Space last month. Patel argues those approaches are insufficient, saying companies are “basically attaching AI to spreadsheets” rather than rethinking how work gets done.