ClearWork vs Within (formerly Klarity): Observed Work vs Validated Discovery

ClearWork makes one of the tools in this comparison. We've described Within as fairly as we can from its own site, documentation and public coverage, as of the date above. If something is out of date, tell us at [email protected].

How we evaluated ClearWork and Within

We compared both platforms on seven criteria that matter to private equity operating teams and enterprise transformation leaders:

1. How it captures the current state: interviews, observation, documents or systems data.
2. Depth: how far down it goes on one process area, and whether you can go back for another round.
3. What people have to do: who takes part, and how much of their time it needs.
4. Outputs: what you can hand to a management team, a vendor or an auditor.
5. Traceability and validation: can you see where each step came from, and has anyone confirmed it?
6. Fit for PE work: 100-day plans, add-ons, value creation and exit.
7. Pricing model: how each one charges, where that's public.

Within: observing how work actually gets done

Within, renamed from Klarity in 2026, says it "maps how your company works, then builds dream teams of people and agents." Its documentation describes three ways to capture the current state. Companion is a browser-based screen-share session that writes an activity summary every 30 minutes. The AI Interviewer has a person record themselves doing a task while the AI asks follow-up questions. Teams can also upload documents, spreadsheets and Zoom or Teams recordings.

That evidence builds the Work Brain, a structured map of activities and handoffs. From there, Within's Advisor ranks automation opportunities by ROI, generates SOPs and process definition documents, draws BPMN-style diagrams (exported to PNG, SVG or Visio today), and produces files for building AI agents. A read-only MCP connector makes the context available to tools such as Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot.

Within has a dedicated private equity offer and a named case study with MPE Partners across several portfolio companies. It counts ServiceNow, DoorDash and Tyler Technologies among its customers, and received a strategic investment from Accenture in September 2026.

Best for: enterprises and PE portfolios that want to observe screen-based work at scale and move quickly toward deploying AI agents.

ClearWork: as deep as the process needs

ClearWork is an AI discovery platform for processes and requirements. Its agent, Clarity, runs async AI interviews, by voice or chat in about 20 minutes, with the people who do the work, and people can add screen recordings to show how a task is done on screen. It also ingests the documents that already exist, so interviews fill gaps instead of repeating what's written down.

ClearWork is built for depth. Pick a process area and it goes down to the level of detail the work needs: each step and its variations, the decisions and business rules behind them, exceptions and workarounds, handoffs between roles, and the systems and data each step touches. It covers more than the process map: the same discovery produces the requirements and the system picture a change needs. When a first round leaves gaps, you run another round on the same area, and the process owners validate each one.

Interviews capture what observation alone can miss: why a step happens, the judgment calls, the exceptions, the workarounds, and the work done on the phone, on the floor or in someone's head. Findings then go back to the process owners to validate and sign off, and every step in the map, every SOP line and every requirement is traced to the person or document it came from.

The outputs are current-state process maps, SOPs, requirements, traceability matrices, fit-gap analysis, and improvement and AI opportunities by role. Engagements start with a 30-day focus-area sprint, then move to annual contracts. Discovery takes one to four weeks depending on scope and complexity.

Best for: operating partners and transformation teams who need every step, system and requirement of a specific process area, confirmed by the people who own it.

Where they differ most for PE teams

Depth versus breadth. Within is built to map activity across many processes and feed it to AI agents. ClearWork is built to go as deep as one process area needs: every step, decision, exception and handoff, the systems and data each step touches, and the requirements that follow. When the first round leaves gaps, you run another round on the same area until the picture is complete.

Observation versus conversation. Within builds its picture mainly by watching people work in their tools. ClearWork starts with a conversation about how the work runs and why, and uses screen recordings to show the on-screen steps. Continuous observation is strong for high-volume digital tasks; interviews plus recordings reach judgment-heavy, cross-team and offline work as well.

What you can prove. Within's documentation leaves accuracy to a process-owner review. ClearWork builds traceability and sign-off into every deliverable, which matters when the output feeds an ERP build, an add-on integration or a document a buyer will read at exit.

Both take PE seriously. Within has a mature PE page and a named sponsor case. ClearWork's private equity offer is built around add-on integrations, with 100-day plans, carve-outs and key-person risk as further use cases.

When to choose Within

Choose Within if most of the work you care about happens on screen, you want to map many processes across a large organization, and your next step is building and deploying AI agents. Its enterprise references, including ServiceNow and DoorDash, are a strong signal for large buyers.

When to choose ClearWork

Choose ClearWork if you need to go deep on a specific process area: every step and exception, the systems and data behind it, and the requirements to change it, confirmed by the people who own it and refined over as many rounds as it takes. That's typical for transformation teams heading into ERP or operating-model change. See how ClearWork works.

ClearWork vs Within FAQs

Is Within the same company as Klarity?

Yes. Klarity announced its new name, Within, in 2026, and klarity.ai now redirects to within.ai.

Is ClearWork a process mining or task mining tool?

No. Process mining reads system event logs and task mining records desktop activity. ClearWork interviews the people who do the work, adds their screen recordings and existing documents, and produces validated, traced deliverables.

Does Within interview employees?

Partly. Its AI Interviewer has people record themselves doing a task while the AI asks follow-up questions, and Companion summarizes screen-share sessions. Its marketing stresses observation over long interview programs. ClearWork works the other way round: the interview comes first, and screen recordings add the on-screen detail.

Which is better for a PE 100-day plan?

Both offer one. Within suits portfolios where the key processes are screen-based and the goal is automation. ClearWork suits plans where the operator needs a confirmed, traced picture of specific processes, including work that isn't done on a screen.

How deep does ClearWork go?

As deep as the process area needs: every step, decision, exception and handoff, the systems and data each step touches, and the requirements that follow. You can run further rounds on the same area until the detail is complete, and process owners validate each one.

How do Within and ClearWork price?

Neither publishes prices. ClearWork starts with a 30-day focus-area sprint, followed by annual contracts.

Sources

Within facts were checked on November 13, 2026 at within.ai (home, /platform, /solutions/pe-operating-partners, /trust, /customers/mpe-partners), docs.within.ai, and Accenture's September 23, 2026 announcement.