Capture insights. Discover patterns. Compound knowledge.
Cornelius is an AI insight harvester and second brain partner. It detects original thinking in your conversations, captures it permanently, discovers non-obvious connections across domains, and serves as shared intelligence for your entire agent network.
Your best ideas disappear. Your knowledge stays siloed.
You have original insights during conversations, meetings, and research — then they vanish. Your notes sit disconnected. Patterns across domains remain invisible. The knowledge that makes you irreplaceable lives scattered across tools, conversations, and memory.
Cornelius actively hunts for your unique thinking, captures it in a persistent knowledge graph, and discovers connections across domains that semantic search alone would miss.
Capabilities
Conversational insight harvesting
Detects original thinking, contrarian perspectives, and unique frameworks during natural conversation and captures them as permanent, linked notes.
- •Identifies original insights, contrarian perspectives, and novel frameworks
- •Captures as permanent notes with automatic links to related knowledge
- •Works during natural conversation — no manual tagging or filing
- •Distinguishes your unique thinking from common knowledge
Multi-layer knowledge retrieval
Three-layer semantic search that retrieves not just what matches, but what's relevant in context using spreading activation.
- •Layer 1: Direct semantic matches to your query
- •Layer 2: First-degree associations from connected notes
- •Layer 3: Extended network traversal via spreading activation
- •Retrieves low-similarity, high-value connections that keyword search misses
Cross-domain connection discovery
Finds non-obvious patterns between disparate topics — connections you would never search for but immediately recognize as valuable.
- •Targeted mode: active connections for current research topics
- •Autonomous mode: discovers patterns without prompting
- •Cross-domain linking between unrelated knowledge areas
- •Surfaces insights with explanation of why the connection matters
Deep research pipeline
Autonomous three-phase workflow: research with latest papers, extract insights, connect to existing knowledge graph. Runs without intervention.
- •Phase 1: Research across latest papers, articles, and sources
- •Phase 2: Extract 15-25 insights per research session
- •Phase 3: Connect new knowledge to existing graph with links
- •Full reports generated autonomously — review when ready
Multi-agent knowledge hub
Serves as the central brain for your agent network. Content, operations, and research agents all query Cornelius and feed learnings back.
- •Ruby (content) queries knowledge base for thought leadership material
- •Corbin (operations) retrieves business context and decision history
- •Specialized agents feed research findings back into the graph
- •Shared intelligence layer that makes every agent smarter
How Cornelius works
Think out loud
Have natural conversations. Cornelius detects and captures your original insights, frameworks, and perspectives automatically.
Discover patterns
The agent finds connections across your accumulated knowledge — even low-similarity, high-value links that semantic search misses.
Compound over time
Every insight, connection, and research session makes the knowledge graph denser and more valuable. Your agent network gets smarter.
Results
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Ideas lost in conversations | Permanent, linked notes |
| Research: Hours of reading | 15-25 extracted insights per session |
| Manual, obvious connections | Autonomous cross-domain discovery |
| Stateless AI tools | Shared memory across agents |
Industry benchmark
Unlike black-box AI systems, Cornelius uses an observable architecture — every note, connection, and reasoning chain is visible and editable in plain markdown. 3,018 notes with 10,565 connections averaging 14.3 links per note.
Technology
Tech stack
Build time
4-6 weeks
Use cases
Thought leadership and writing
CEO or founder building public authority
Pull from your knowledge base to create articles, presentations, and frameworks grounded in accumulated insights
Strategic decision-making
Executive facing high-stakes decisions
Retrieve past decisions, relevant research, and contextual analysis before making critical calls
Multi-agent intelligence
Organization running multiple AI agents
Central brain for content, operations, and research agents — all benefit from shared knowledge
What our clients say
"Working with Ability.ai helped us streamline parts of our customer support and community management. Their automation tools saved our team time and made our processes more efficient."
Boiko Dmytro
COO
HOLYWATER
"Omg this is insane what you've done with the MVP without much direction from me. I appreciate the depth of your work and see so much long term work together."
Erik
NutraDirect
"From day one, Ability.ai brought a thoughtful, results-first approach to our partnership. They quickly understood our goals, proposed pragmatic solutions, and moved implementation forward with minimal friction. Their responsiveness and domain expertise have improved both our team’s efficiency and the impact of our campaigns."
Mike Rizzo
CEO
MarketingOps
Ready to get started?
Book a strategy call. We will scope your project in 30 minutes.
How we get there
Discovery call
30-minute conversation to understand your pain points and current workflow.
Scoping & proposal
We define the deliverables, timeline, and fixed cost for your starter project.
Build & iterate
We build, test, and refine with your team. You see progress every week.
Handover & scale
You own the system. No subscriptions. Scale to more solutions when ready.
Fixed-cost starter project. No platform fees. You own everything.
Questions about Cornelius
How is this different from RAG or a regular knowledge base?
Most AI tools use single-layer retrieval — match a query, return results. Cornelius uses spreading activation across three layers, finding connections that are low in direct similarity but high in conceptual value. It discovers patterns you would never think to search for.
How is this different from a note-taking app?
Note apps store what you manually write. Cornelius actively detects original thinking during conversation, captures it automatically, and continuously discovers connections across your entire knowledge base. It's a research partner, not a filing cabinet.
Am I locked into a proprietary platform?
No. All knowledge is stored as plain markdown files in a git-tracked Obsidian vault. You can read, edit, and export everything. If you stop using Cornelius, your knowledge graph remains fully accessible.
Does it actually get smarter over time?
Yes. Every insight, research session, and connection makes the graph denser. More connections mean richer retrieval. Autonomous discovery runs improve as the graph grows — the value compounds with every interaction.
How does multi-agent integration work?
Other agents in your network (Ruby, Corbin, etc.) query Cornelius via MCP protocol for relevant context. They also feed learnings back. Your content agent pulls from your knowledge for articles; your operations agent retrieves decision history.
Can I edit or correct what Cornelius captures?
Absolutely. Every note is a markdown file you can read and edit directly in Obsidian. You can correct facts, update beliefs, delete notes, or restructure connections. Full transparency and control over your knowledge base.