Getting started
How do I get access to Sidekick Beta?
Currently, Sidekick is available to all mySidewalk customers. As a customer, when you create an account, you’ll have access to Sidekick.
If you've received an invitation to create your account and need information on how to navigate to Sidekick, go here.
If for some reason, you create an account and don’t have access, reach out to [email protected] or your customer relationship manager.
If you’re not a customer and would like information on how to get access to Sidekick, sign up for our waitlist and/or schedule time with our team.
Is there a user guide or tutorial available for new users?
Yes, we’ve made available a how-to guide and prompt library.
After I start using Sidekick, what are my opportunities to provide feedback and stay up to date on developments?
Who should I contact for help if I need it?
If you have a customer relationship manager, please reach out to them for questions. If you do not have a customer relationship manager or have other questions, we welcome all inquiries to [email protected].
Cost, subscriptions, and licensing
Does this impact our current subscription?
If you’re a mySidewalk customer, participation in the beta does not impact your current subscription. We’re excited to welcome you to the beta not only so you can test Sidekick and provide feedback, but also so you and your colleagues can get immediate value from a powerful tool for data analysis.
What’s the cost now and later?
Sidekick will remain in Beta until we’re confident it’s providing users value in every interaction. Building an AI product is a process and we’re making incredible progress, but we have high standards and development will likely continue through the end of 2024. After the Beta ends, we expect Sidekick will be incorporated into every mySidewalk plan with every license, which will impact the overall cost per user license.
We will communicate early and often when the post-beta plan is finalized and customers will not be charged for licenses added during the Beta unless they explicitly choose to add them to their contract.
How many licenses do we get?
The number of Sidekick licenses depends on your current subscription. If you’re on an enterprise plan, you have unlimited Sidekick licenses for employees of your organization. If you’re on another plan, you have 1 Sidekick license per license included in your current subscription (e.g. 3 user licenses = 3 Sidekick licenses), plus an additional 5 licenses to distribute to colleagues.
Can I invite my colleagues?
Yes, if you’re on an enterprise plan, you can invite as many colleagues as you’d like. If you’re on another plan, your organization can add 5 additional colleagues beyond the licenses included in your current plan. To add colleagues, invite them directly from the app; here's how.
Product usage and features
How can Sidekick help me?
Sidekick can help you:
Find relevant data quickly.
Sidekick can analyze your specific project and goals and draw on its knowledge of the mySidewalk data library to provide tailored data recommendations.
Visualize data to uncover insights.
Sidekick can help you uncover actionable insights through mapping, enabling a deeper understanding of community issues like housing affordability, inclusive growth, and the social determinants of health.
Write compelling data stories.
Sidekick can be a strong writing partner, helping to distill complex data topics and turn data findings into stories that inspire action.
Feel confident about results.
Sidekick leverages a thoroughly vetted and verified data library and shows its work so you can verify results.
How does this software differ from similar products in the market?
mySidewalk is the only company offering an AI-powered data assistant that’s fully integrated with a community data library of 4 billion data values from 5,000 datasets sourced from 50+ sources with the mission to amplify Changemaker impact. As we continue to develop Sidekick, we aim to help more people who need direct access to reliable and relevant data for the many consequential daily decisions they make.
Is Sidekick going to work with mySidewalk’s other products?
Yes, in time. In addition to creating a version of Sidekick that can be used on its own, Sidekick will also integrate in various ways with our other products. For example, you’ll be able to send a data suggestion from Sidekick to a Seek workspace and a visualization from Sidekick to a report or dashboard page. Our long-term goal is to build AI-powered workflows that support and elevate your process no matter what stage or product you’re in.
What's on Sidekick's roadmap?
You can see what we’re planning here — but you influence our roadmap! So, if you have an idea and it’s not on the roadmap, we’d love to hear about it via the Sidekick feedback form.
Data and AI Ethics
How is my data being used?
mySidewalk stores all Sidekick messages. We use this data to assess Sidekick’s overall performance and iterate on features to improve results.
As of March 1st, 2023, OpenAI, the vendor mySidewalk uses for LLM integration, retains user data for 30 days but does not use data sent via the API to improve their models. This is how mySidewalk sends data to OpenAI. Here’s their data usage policy.
What’s mySidewalk’s approach to building responsibly with AI?
mySidewalk believes that anyone who cares about a place should be able to use data to create positive change. We also believe that the thoughtful application of AI to community data makes this possible. You can read our AI principles in full here. If you'd like to discuss further, please get in touch with your customer relationship manager or email us at [email protected].