Zoom has announced a significant expansion of its AI Companion platform, bringing new agentic AI skills and custom AI agents to its services, including Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Docs, and Zoom Contact Center. The announcement, made on March 17 at an event in Orlando, introduced more than 45 innovations designed to boost productivity, streamline workflows, and enhance collaboration.
Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, highlighted that AI Companion is transforming from a basic assistant into a sophisticated AI system capable of addressing real business challenges and increasing workplace efficiency.
Advanced AI Features and Customization Options to Enhance Workflow Efficiency and Collaboration
The new AI Companion features allow for multi-step task execution, incorporating memory and reasoning to optimize workflows. Enhancements include calendar management, clip generation, advanced writing assistance, and customer service workflow automation through Zoom Virtual Agent.
Additionally, AI Companion is equipped with orchestration and decision-making abilities that improve efficiency over time. Businesses can also create customized virtual agents tailored to their needs through AI Studio. These features are currently in beta testing and will be broadly available in the coming months.
Zoom Expands AI Companion with Advanced Automation, Custom AI Agents, and Industry-Specific ToolsTo further extend AI customization, Zoom is introducing a Custom AI Companion add-on in April, priced at $12 per user per month. This add-on enables organizations to tailor AI Companion with industry-specific vocabulary, custom meeting templates, and integration with third-party data sources.
It includes a personal AI coach, meeting summary tools, and the ability to generate custom avatars for Zoom Clips. The add-on will also utilize Small Language Models (SLMs) trained on multilingual data to support specific business functions and enhance AI-driven collaboration.
AI-Powered Productivity and Industry-Specific Enhancements Coming to Zoom in 2024
Zoom is enhancing workplace productivity with AI-powered tools set to launch throughout 2024. Zoom Tasks with AI Companion will debut in late March, allowing users to track and complete tasks directly from meeting summaries, chats, and emails. AI-generated meeting agendas and live notes will roll out in May, while Zoom Phone now includes voicemail summaries.
Additional upgrades include a mobile voice recorder in March, AI-enhanced Zoom Docs in June and July, and the introduction of Zoom Drive, a centralized content repository, in May.
Zoom is also expanding AI capabilities in customer service, marketing, and industry-specific solutions. Zoom Contact Center will integrate AI-driven intent routing and Advanced Quality Management features, with AI-intent routing launching in March and additional upgrades arriving in May.
Zoom Business Services will incorporate AI-powered insights for sales and marketing, while industry-specific offerings include Zoom Workplace for Frontline workers (April), Zoom Workplace for Clinicians (March), and Zoom Workplace for Education (May). Additionally, Zoom is expanding its hardware certification program in April to support specialized equipment for education and healthcare. AI Companion remains free for paid Zoom accounts, though certain premium features and customizations will require additional fees.