Zooming ahead with AI

Not content with being the verb for videoconference calls, Zoom wants to be the open work platform for businesses and it is supercharging its push with AI.

Zoom head of EMEA and APAC Steve Rafferty, left, and head of ANZ Bede Hackney

The brand may be the verb for videoconference calls but Zoom wants to be known as an AI-first open work platform that enables people to work from anywhere in the world.

The business, which experienced meteoric growth during the Covid pandemic, has evolved its products to incorporate meetings, phone calls, chat, documents and collaboration tools, all of which is underpinned by artificial intelligence.

The move positions the business against established platforms such as Microsoft Teams and aims to help maintain Zoom’s growth trajectory, particularly as more organisations are pushing for people to return to offices.

“We want to be a platform of action,” Zoom head of EMEA and APAC Steve Rafferty said.

“During Covid we allowed people to work from home, now we want to enable organisations to work from anywhere in the globe, and as part of that we want to enable everyone has access to AI.

“If you look at our business as a whole, we’ve continued to grow after Covid. That’s from a meetings perspective, but also from message, phone, video, contact centre.

“Three and a half years ago, we didn’t have a contact centre platform and now we’ve built our own.

“Our biggest customer deployed is the tax office in Spain, which has over 20,000 users and replaced a legacy platform.

“We have so many more strings to our bow.”

The business claims it wants to offer solo entrepreneurs the same tools and services as a large enterprise organisation, and vice versa.

However, Mr Rafferty said the big opportunity for Zoom was the top end of Australia’s mass of small businesses.

“If you look at a market like Australia, there’s lots of butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and lots of small businesses, and we need to make sure those organisations have the same ability and access to technology as a big pharmaceutical or a big bank,” Mr Rafferty said.

Zoom is banking on its AI Companion tool, which it provides to all customers with a workplace licence, to help attract more customers as the rush to skill up and integrate technology becomes overwhelming for small businesses.

Zoom’s strategic AI focus was showcased by the company’s founder and chief executive, Eric Yuan, who deployed an AI avatar during a Zoom earnings call.

Mr Yuan has predicted that AI will reduce the working week to four days within five years and has suggested that workers will be able to send digital twins to meetings while they go to the beach.

Zoom predicts the impact of AI on telephony will be a strong growth area, as well as the continuing growth of global events.