Note: The article below is written in a crisp, conversational style focused on clarity and practical value-without imitating any specific individual's voice.
Hamlet Launch Sets a New Bar for Local Government Transparency With AI
Friday, 5 December 2025, 19:32
Hamlet is built on a simple idea: if the public can see what happens in meetings, trust improves and decisions face better scrutiny. The company uses AI to process thousands of hours of city council, planning commission, and school board videos, then turns that footage into information people can actually use.
The spark came from Sunil Rajaraman's 2022 run for city council in a small California town. He lost, but the experience left a mark. "I wanted to understand how my city really works, which decisions were made, why, who said what. And I couldn't understand it. It's a complete black box, and almost deliberately opaque," he said, as reported by TechCrunch.
From One Candidate's Frustration to a Public Tool
Post-pandemic, more cities began recording and publishing meetings online. Hamlet takes that shift further: "We use artificial intelligence to process thousands of hours of city council and planning commission meeting videos and turn them into useful information that can be applied," Rajaraman notes. Or, as he puts it even more plainly: "Video doesn't lie."
Hamlet on Television
Hamlet TV highlights key moments from local meetings and distributes them where people already watch: TikTok, YouTube, Apple TV, and Instagram. The aim is simple-make it effortless for residents, staff, reporters, and stakeholders to see what was discussed and how votes happened.
Who's Paying Attention-and Why It Matters
What started as a media concept quickly drew interest from private companies, developers, and political coalitions looking for deeper insight into public meetings. "We want to become the Bloomberg in this space," Rajaraman says.
For government professionals, this is about more than views or clips. It's an opportunity to reduce friction around meeting follow-up, make records easier to parse, and help residents understand decisions without wading through hours of video. "Democracy works better when it is watched; we strive to make viewing possible."
Practical Uses for Agencies
- Publish indexed highlights of agenda items so residents can jump directly to what they care about.
- Give staff quick access to who said what during deliberations to support follow-ups and briefings.
- Offer local journalists easy-to-share clips to improve coverage and context.
- Use concise recaps to prepare councilmembers and department heads ahead of votes and workshops.
- Make meetings easier to watch on phones and TVs to boost participation without adding staff workload.
Implementation Tips
- Start with one board or commission to prove value, then expand.
- Align with your records retention policy and clearly label unofficial summaries vs. official minutes.
- Confirm captioning quality for accessibility and ensure language access workflows are documented.
- Publish a simple metadata standard (agenda item, timestamp, speakers) to keep everything searchable.
- Create a one-page "How to Watch Our Meetings" guide and link it across city channels.
Funding, Partners, and What's Next
Hamlet has raised about $10 million from Slow Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Bana Capital, and Kapor Capital to accelerate growth. The company plans to partner with government affairs teams, lobbying organizations, and renewable energy developers to expand access to meeting records and encourage active public oversight of local authority.
A core part of the roadmap is to make viewing city business as convenient as possible and support local journalists with free tools. The goal is consistent: turn long meetings into clear, useful outputs the public can actually watch and share.
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