Zoom relentlessly pursued innovation in 2024, which saw a revamped AI Companion product, the release of Zoom Docs and Zoom Clips for asynchronous communications, and a significantly expanded tech stack to position it as a major competitor in the contact centre space. The company is likely to deliver more of the same in 2025, but where will it focus its attention?
Customer Engagement
Zoom will continue working on its image in 2025 to avoid being pigeonholed as ‘that video conferencing company that did well in the pandemic’. Zoom’s continued efforts in the Customer Experience space and its move to drop the word ‘video’ from its name have been telling.
From a market perspective, Smita Hashim, Zoom’s CPO, says, “We will see a class of companies emerge that make customer service much more human through smart use of AI while saving costs. Companies that focus on delivering an exceptional user experience will be best positioned to come out on top. What that looks like: highly personalized, seamless service with quick resolution, and incredibly smart and empathetic customer service agents empowered by AI every step of the way.”
Craig Durr, Chief Analyst at the Collab Collective, said, “By removing ‘video’ from its formal name and focusing on expanding its work stack, Zoom is signalling a broader ambition that could redefine its market position in 2025.”
So, how will this translate into achievements in 2025?
Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst at ZK Research, says, “Zoom will debut on Gartner’s CCaaS Magic Quadrant as a leader. This doesn’t happen very often, but the team there is laser-focused on contact centers. When they debuted on the UCaaS MQ, they emerged as leaders, and I expect the same in 2025.
Craig Durr added, “Zoom will expand its competitive product set and reshape where and when it engages customers, offering functionality that meets them at every turn.”
Dom Black, Research Director at Cavell, says, “Zoom will have an increased focus on CX, but with that an increased execution on delivery. They will continue to build out that go-to-market, especially the channel play, and we will see that channel and partner conversation, which has been happening for a long time, come to fruition.”
AI Developments
AI is going through a super cycle right now, which will likely continue in 2025 and beyond. Zoom’s announcements at Zoomtopia signalled the continued focus on AI innovation, and Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, shared his view that technology could be the answer to making humans happier at work.
Sharing his outlook for 2025, Yuan commented, “The integration of AI into our daily work routines has quickly become less of a novelty and more of a cultural norm. Soon, it will become a necessity—something people will begin to expect from their tools at work. The AI we have today will evolve into intelligent digital assistants that will be able to draft email responses, ready for you to send when you sign on to start your workday, help determine which meetings to join, and even assist in contract negotiations, reducing your overall workload.”
“Over time, AI digital assistants will become fully customized, evolving into a “digital twin,” equipped with your work history and institutional knowledge. This will not only maximize efficiency but also fundamentally change how we work, allowing us to prioritize the creative and strategic tasks that truly require the human touch and thoughtful focus time.
Zoom’s AI Companion tool was upgraded in 2024, but how do our analysts think it will evolve in 2025?
Zeus Kerravala commented “Zoom will decouple AI Companion (AIC) from the workspace and make it a standalone app. Zoom AIC is one of the best AI engines for collaboration and by decoupling it, makes it more valuable as I can now transcribes across other apps.”
Dom Black says, “I think Zoom will continue to be an AI-first company in 2025. It will be interesting from a European standpoint of what that means for them and whether being an AI first company is going to inhibit some of their growth in some of those markets where they may not be as AI friendly.”
Black continued, “Everyone is trying to find an edge on AI and Zoom have a large base of customers and a large data set to build its products on.”
AI Companion featured heavily on the Big UC News show in 2024, find out what our expert guests had to say about it here.
Smita Hashim, CPO, Zoom commented, “Business leaders should be prepared to welcome a new class of AI natives to the workforce—employees who have used generative AI from a young age and naturally incorporate it into their work and personal lives. AI natives will expect AI adoption to be the default rather than a pilot and the best talent will gravitate toward companies that embrace these tools and the people who harness them. This talent should be celebrated and made AI ambassadors for the company.
Channel/ Partnerships Strategy
Zoom’s investment in highly experienced channel people is another shift for the company. The strategy has been building for some time as it works on supporting partners in new and innovative ways.
Recently Zoom announced it is empowering partners with the launch of its new video SDK resale service.
Black commented, “Their strategy is all about channel. When we spoke to them earlier this year, and at their analyst conference, they had a channel-first team. We expect the numbers they’re aiming for (revenue) in 2025 to be delivered through the channel, which is pretty significant. They are starting to mature that side of the business now, which is impressive, and they have created some huge partnerships to support that vision.”
Kerravala thinks there is another partnership to look out for in 2025. He said, “Zoom will double down on Microsoft interop – they have a better story than people realize but become louder about it.”
Final Thoughts
Zoom has consistently managed to leverage its large customer base and take it into new areas.
Aside from AI, in 2024 Zoom proved it is also a credible player in the CX space. As Facebook Workplace shuttered its platform last year and offloaded its customers to their preferred partner Zoom Workvivo, I would expect to hear some more on their EX play, too. When you factor in its Workvivo channel focus and how it has just hit the AWS Marketplace it’s a hard product to bet against.
Too many companies have u-turned on their hybrid working policies over the last 24 months, which is an opportunity for Zoom to become the shining beacon of how to get hybrid right in 2025. Through all the innovation Zoom needs to cut through the hype of AI with tangible products and features that help people perfect their hybrid strategies. Whatever happens, 2025 will certainly be an exciting year for the vendor!
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