Zoom pushes AI tools to drive work from talk to tasks

Zoom used its Zoomtopia APAC 2026 event to outline new artificial intelligence features and a broader strategy built around what it calls a system of action. The approach is intended to help users move from conversation to task completion.

At the regional event, executives set out how Zoom is trying to expand beyond meetings and communications into workflow support, customer service and follow-up tasks. The programme was organised around three areas - Conversation, Context and Completion - with demonstrations of note-taking, search, transcription and customer support tools.

Carlos Quaderi, Head of APAC at Zoom, opened the event by highlighting regional activity, including the launch of Zoom Contact Centre in India and AI work in South Korea and Australia. He said the event's focus was on using AI tools to help organisations complete tasks that begin in meetings, chats and customer interactions.

Eric Yuan, Chief Executive Officer of Zoom, described the company's shift from a platform focused on conversations to one intended to support the actions that follow them. He said AI is changing how users handle work that often comes after meetings, including preparing presentations and updating customer relationship management systems.

Yuan also addressed Zoom's approach to underlying AI models. He said the company aims to support multiple models while maintaining security, governance and compliance, adding that it already uses a federated AI approach that brings together more than one model.

Three-part framework

The first part of the framework focused on communication tools. Zoom highlighted meeting updates including Touch up My Voice, Voice Translator and a planned Live Assist function, alongside chat changes such as clearer threads and smarter filtering.

The second part centred on context. Zoom introduced My Notes, which is designed to preserve meeting context and provide transcription across platforms as well as for in-person meetings. It also presented enriched meeting notes and Agentic search, a tool designed to use what Zoom called dynamic context to return broader answers.

The third part dealt with completion, particularly in customer service and operational workflows. Among the new products shown was Zoom Virtual Agent Kiosk, aimed at physical locations where customers need support through a digital interface.

Executives also described a headless approach to Zoom's Unified Context Layer, allowing other AI tools to access the information structure behind the platform. This includes new MCP server connections for external tools, including Claude.

Angela Jiang of Anthropic joined part of the discussion on AI context. She said effective agents need access to knowledge bases, embedded institutional knowledge and memory, describing those elements as necessary for more accurate responses and task handling.

Customer examples

Zoom used customer case studies to show how the products are being deployed. Oracle was presented as Zoom's largest customer in North America, with an 11-year relationship spanning multiple parts of the business.

Christine Sarros of Oracle said the company had scaled its use of Zoom tools to more than 10,000 agents globally while meeting security and compliance requirements. She also pointed to co-development work and the growing use of AI in its operations.

First Bank offered a second example focused on speed of deployment. Christian Wilson said the bank implemented Zoom's portfolio in 100 days across 11 operations teams, using AI functions to support customer service while keeping staff involvement central to interactions.

The event also included a demonstration of how Zoom says its unified context layer can connect information from different departments and channels. In one support scenario, the system identified a pattern of repeated docking station failures across several customer cases, allowing a product team to step in and customer communications to be handled in a more coordinated way.

Wider themes

Alongside the product announcements, Zoom framed the event around decision-making and mission-critical communication. Nayeema Raza introduced the theme "From Conversation to Completion", focusing on the gap between starting tasks and finishing them in a work environment where employees regularly check communication tools throughout the day.

Robin Arzon discussed examples from Peloton, including changes to treadmill pace targets following community feedback and the expansion of her Project Swagger podcast into video and call-in formats after listener responses. Her remarks focused on how user input informs decisions and how AI-based personalisation can sit alongside a human-led community model.

In another discussion, Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman spoke about decision-making in high-pressure environments. He said effective conversations in hierarchical organisations depend on individuals being willing to raise concerns and leaders being prepared to act on them.

The emphasis on context, action and follow-through reflects a wider push among workplace software groups to tie generative AI tools more closely to daily tasks. For Zoom, the message at its APAC gathering was that meetings and messages are no longer enough on their own, and that the next stage of competition will centre on whether software can carry work through to an outcome.

Yuan said the goal is to consolidate what have often been two-step workflows into single actions.