Summary Bullets:
- New Zoom Workplace features are emblematic of the advent of agentic AI and the rise of Zoom as a competitor.
- A rapid accumulation of Workplace features provides Zoom with the challenge of drafting clear messaging regarding security and market positioning.
Earlier this month Zoom continued its steady drumbeat of enhancements to the Zoom Workplace platform with the latest round of new features. As with previous rounds, the new capabilities enable users to be more productive by saving time during their workday. However, the real headline is that the features are emblematic of the advent of agentic AI and the rise of Zoom as a competitor.
All the new features add value, but two are especially worth noting. With the Custom AI Companion add-on, AI Companion can attend meetings on a user’s behalf held on platforms from three of Zoom’s biggest rivals – Microsoft, Google, and coming soon, Cisco – and automatically transcribe, summarize, and deliver actionable follow-ups. Also with the add-on, users can connect to 16 third-party apps to complete tasks without ever leaving Zoom. For example, resolving customer support tickets with Zendesk and ServiceNow; updating project statuses, assigning tasks, and setting deadlines with Asana and Jira; and expediting recruiting, interviews, and onboarding with Workday.
A common thread running through the announced features is the latest phase of AI – agentic AI. Agentic AI stretches beyond generating content, featuring agents that perform tasks on users’ behalf. Agentic AI can act autonomously, make decisions, and take action without human intervention. It can adjust its approach based upon new information or changing circumstances. Zoom and each of its competitors are leveraging agentic AI in some shape or form.
Most significantly, the new features symbolize a profound metamorphosis taking place at Zoom. After its video meetings capability became renowned virtually overnight in the dark, nascent days of the pandemic, Zoom ignited a steady evolution of its platform. With the October 2023 introduction of Zoom AI Companion, that evolution took a sharp trajectory upward and morphed into a full-blown renaissance marked by the introduction of GenAI features. With the implementation of agentic AI capabilities – both those recently and newly introduced – Zoom has entered yet another chapter. Now, Zoom has taken an important step in that chapter with the integrations between competitor platforms and roster of third-party apps.
Zoom is converting the Workplace platform from an island of collaboration into a centralized hub connecting with external tools. With a critical mass of functionality available from within Zoom, Zoom creates much stickier relationships with users and enables them to get work accomplished much more rapidly. However, there are disadvantages to having extended functionality under one roof.
Within the last few years, Zoom experienced a security incident which made headlines, labeled ‘Zoom bombing.’ The company promptly restored trust, resolving the problem quickly and communicating to the public what types of security measures it had in place. Today, with Zoom Workplace linking into other tools, the issue of security becomes top of mind again. Zoom needs to resurrect the strong security message it previously drafted and remind users what safeguards are in place to reduce the chance of a major breach.
The rapid accumulation of features on the platform over an abbreviated period has resulted in a mosaic of capabilities. Zoom needs to craft a clear ‘identity’ for its suite of tools and send an unambiguous positioning message to the market. Cisco provides a good lead for Zoom to follow. In communicating what its Webex Suite stands for Cisco has erected three pillars: hybrid work, customer experience, and workspaces. Zoom needs to decide what its pillars are and mold a message accordingly.
By continuing to regularly augment the platform while drafting strong messaging regarding security and market positioning, Zoom will be poised to continue its ascent.