Starting Monday, Zoom users will have the ability to open a documents tool from within the video chat app and create shareable files from their meetings — but they’ll also be asked to employ generative AI to support them write and edit them. The recent feature, essentially Zoom’s version of docs, is the latest effort to compete with Microsoft and Google to become the workplace for all businesses.
Documents show Zoom AI Companiona generative tool built on LLM models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and the company’s own models, introduced last fall. It can take a meeting transcript and organize it into templates or create tables, checklists, and trackers to organize processes and tasks. The documents can then be integrated into Zoom meetings for sharing and editing.
“AI is what makes the experience so different,” says Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer. “The goal is that the mundane, high-effort tasks that take up so much of our time can be done by AI.”
Zoom Docs is the latest update to the company’s collaboration tool Workplace, which was published in MarchIt’s an attempt to attract customers in a crowded market: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 dominate the space and have already added their own AI features to tools and their laptops.
“It’s a very difficult market to compete in,” says Will McKeon-White, senior analyst for infrastructure and operations at Forrester, but it’s not impossible—Google Docs has thrived in a world where Microsoft Word once reigned supreme. Google Workspace has more than 3 billion usersone sec Microsoft Teams has over 320 million monthly busy users.
Here, Zoom is betting on price, which will matter: Its Workplace plans include the company’s AI Companion software (Zoom Workplace Costs between $14 and $19 per user per month for smaller businesses. Microsoft Co-pilot for 365 the add-on costs $30 per month per user, and Twins for businesses from Google costs $20 to $30 per user per month, on top of the basic cost of the service).
Gemini can also support users brainstorm Google Docscreate images, summarize and refine text. I Co-pilot can work in Word, PowerPoint and Excel, analyzing information, rewriting it and creating presentations.
Convincing companies to switch from one workplace technology provider to another is tough, and Zoom can count on the fact that many organizations are already using Zoom alongside another, leaving them open to the switch. Zoom was looking for the next substantial thing that could replicate its rapid growth during Covid-19 lockdowns, as people worked via Zoom and even attended Zoom weddings. By early 2023, the company had reached a tipping point — the number of customers willing to pay for Zoom had already done so, and fewer were turning to it for “fun” Zoom calls with family or friends.
Business fell from the Nasdaq 100 at the end of 2023.and its stock price is down nearly 90 percent from its 2020 peak. Zoom laid off about 15 percent of its staff in early 2023, but apparently aware of the need to expand, it has begun integrating more calendar features and added cartoon avatars. Zoom has also recently seen growth in its Contact Centercustomer service channel for businesses. But to compete with bundled services like Google and Microsoft, which also offer video calls, it needs to do more.