Zoom no longer wants to be known for video calls

But now the $19 billion video calling giant no longer wants to be known for the very thing that made it famous.

Zoom is “so much more than just video conferencing,” said Graeme Geddes, Zoom’s Chief Growth Officer, Assets. “Video is our heritage – so we will continue to focus on that, driving the market forward. We are very innovative – but we are so much more than that.”

So how does the company best known for enabling its remote workers to connect via a screen want to be known in the future?

“We want to be known as an AI-focused collaboration platform,” Geddes replied.

While jumping on the AI ​​bandwagon has become an Olympic sport for business leaders—companies like Alphabet and Microsoft have each mentioned the term more than 50 times on recent quarterly earnings calls—Zoom’s apparent attempt to reposition itself as an AI company fits well with the company’s concerted efforts to expand beyond video into the broader productivity space.

Earlier this year, the company launched Zoom Workplace, where users can access a variety of tools for hybrid environments, from virtual whiteboards and visitor check-in tools to flexible workstation reservation technology and feedback forms.

Meanwhile, the company acquired Workvivo last year for around 250 million euros (272 million US dollars).

The employee engagement tool, which works like Slack but has a Facebook-like interface, is now used by companies such as Amazon, Bupa and Ryanair – and, as Geddes points out, has “nothing to do with video”.

“We help our customers get to their website by offering a chatbot automation service that can escalate to a phone call,” Geddes added. “Many workflows that don’t involve video.”

Zoom needs a second act if it wants to stay relevant

It is no coincidence that Zoom is losing its reputation as a major video conferencing provider as companies increasingly distance themselves from pandemic-era work styles.

Last autumn alone, around one million employees received an RTO order.

Now, bosses are increasingly requiring employees to come to work five days a week, effectively eliminating the need for them to attend meetings remotely. Zoom stock has subsequently plummeted back to pre-pandemic levels.

In October 2020, Zoom shares rose to a high of $559 – up from around $66 at the end of 2019 – but are now back at around $60.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, I think there were tons of people flocking to Zoom,” says Jacqueline Barrett, economist and founder of Bright Arc Assets.

“There was probably a little bit of over-excitement about the stock because people expected the growth to continue indefinitely. And then I think it was difficult for them to grow or retain all those users given the increasing competition,” Barrett explains.

Not only does the return to the office mean fewer people rely on Zoom’s services on a daily basis, but workers now have more platforms to choose from than ever before.

For this reason, Zoom needs to emphasize that it offers more than just video calling services, she says.

“There are so many other players in the market that are offering these new features, that have already bundled things, or that are constantly introducing new features with generative AI. If it’s not the established players like Google, Microsoft or Cisco, there are so many startups that are focusing on pretty much every little niche you can think of with generative AI,” says Barrett. “So you have to stay on top of things. Otherwise, your product just isn’t going to be as useful.”

Zoom’s next step: Don’t participate in video conferences at all

Of course, Zoom is aware that attending video calls every day may soon be a distant memory reserved for the days of the pandemic – in fact, the company claims to be prepared for this scenario.

“Even when everyone is back in the office, there is still a use case for Zoom,” Geddes said, citing the company’s foray into artificial intelligence.

“We have clients who are in a conference room where there is no remote participant, and guess what? They have an AI facilitator automate the meeting notes and summarize the next steps and action points,” Geddes explained. “No remote participant. No video is used. But the Zoom platform’s participation in that meeting is still valuable.”

Perhaps even more surprising is that the company wants to use this technology to encourage people to stop participating in video conferences altogether.

Earlier this month, Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan announced that the company is developing deepfake avatars — or, as he calls them, “digital twins” — that look like you, talk like you, and make business decisions on your behalf in meetings.

“Today, we all spend a lot of time making phone calls, attending meetings, sending emails, deleting spam emails and answering text messages. We are still very busy,” Yuan said.

But in the future, he added, “I can send in a digital version of myself so I can go to the beach.”

While there is still a long way to go before Zoom’s digital twin technology becomes a reality, Geddes says he is already using the company’s current AI capabilities to manage absences without leaving his team behind.

“I was in Sydney a month ago – I’m based in California, so I’m definitely a few time zones away – and when you travel, there’s one thing that never stops: all the meetings I have to attend,” he said.

Instead of colleagues canceling calls until he returned, business continued as usual – just without him being there. Thanks to the platform’s intelligent summarization, Geddes could take pride in being able to wake up in the morning and respond to everything that was discussed in his absence.

“I had the power, I didn’t attend the meeting. I had a good idea of ​​what was being discussed,” he added. “Now how much time would I have lost if I had waited two weeks to come back and the teams were waiting for me to make that decision?”

“That leads us to the question: If I can get a summary, is there an option for my virtual assistant to appear on my behalf? So that’s a natural evolution of the platform, how we can provide more value to our customers.”