Zoom expands AI Companion with agent functionality. The AI tool will be able to process more complex tasks independently. More personalization of AI capabilities is also possible, but not included as standard.
Zoom introduces new AI skills and agents for Zoom AI Companion. The agents are designed to help users automate tasks and collaborate more efficiently. The updates include improvements for Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Docs, and Zoom Contact Center.
Step-by-Step Reasoning
The agent functionalities for AI Companion use memory and reasoning to perform and coordinate tasks. The AI can independently execute actions based on multiple steps and make decisions based on context.
Zoom is thus following in the footsteps of almost every company expanding its solutions with AI functionality. Salesforce has been strongly focusing on this since last year and is somewhat claiming ownership of the trend. In practice, we now find semi-autonomous AI bots almost everywhere, from NTT Data to Google and Snowflake to Microsoft.
In other words, Zoom cannot lag behind with an AI agent-related announcement. New features include:
- Automatic calendar and task management: AI Companion can schedule meetings, track action items, and automatically generate summaries.
- Zoom Virtual Agent for customer service: The AI can understand and handle customer inquiries, with improved contextual interactions.
- Customized AI agents: Companies can develop tailored virtual agents for specific tasks, such as sales and IT support, using AI Studio.
Additionally, Zoom AI Companion integrates with external AI agents, such as ServiceNow AI Agents, and offers organizations the ability to build their own custom agents.
The AI Companion receives various expansions within Zoom Workplace:
- Zoom Tasks: Automatic detection and management of tasks from meetings, chats, and emails. This feature will launch at the end of March.
- Live notes for Zoom Meetings and Phone: Real-time summaries and notes during conversations, available from May.
- AI-driven workplace reservation: Employees gain insight into office occupancy and can automatically reserve workspaces.
(Largely) Free, for Those Who Pay
An additional Custom AI Companion add-on, available from April for twelve dollars per user per month, allows organizations to tailor AI Companion to their specific needs. This add-on includes a digital personal AI coach and custom meeting summary templates, among other features. The AI Studio is also exclusively part of the add-on.
This is a clever move by Zoom. The company has been emphasizing since the introduction of AI capabilities that the Zoom AI Companion is included for paying Zoom customers. Thanks to the add-on, AI Companion technically remains free, while Zoom can still charge extra for certain applications.