Where the phrase comes from In this channel's material, 85% of the way appears as Granola founder Chris Pedregal's shorthand for the ideal division of labor between an AI tool and its user. He describes Granola's goal as taking users 85% of the way — handling the busy work that spawns from a meeting (follow-up emails, scheduling) — while the work itself always comes from you, with your spin on it. How to understand it The phrase is a deliberate contrast to the “AI agents do everything for you” vision. Chris argues that full delegation is not actually what people want: What you want is a better version of yourself. The 85% is the AI's share — remove the busy work so your judgment can be applied on what matters — and the remaining portion is intentionally left to the user so the output still carries their perspective. Why the number matters - It sets an explicit augmentation target: high enough that the tool removes real drudgery, but short of replacing the person. - It reflects Granola's bet that 80% of the value users get comes from handling tasks and workflows spawned from a meeting, with the tool positioned as a stepping stone toward being a professional's core tool — like Figma for designers or an IDE for engineers, but for relationship-centered work. - It pairs with Chris's broader claim that products with a real perspective can't focus-group their way to generic output; the user's last 15% is where their spin lives. - 85% of the way = how far the AI tool should take the work; the user supplies the rest. - Grounded in Granola's thesis: automate meeting-spawned busy work, preserve the user's judgment and spin. - Explicitly opposed to the “agents do everything” framing — the goal is a better version of yourself, not replacement.