Zoom的下一幕：从视频公司到AI数据平台

Zoom的下一幕：从视频公司到AI数据平台

自其发布以来，Zoom一直被一个单词定义：视频。 客户，消费者，投资者和竞争对手早已知道Zoom是该行业最易使用和最佳视频平台。 然而，即使在大流行病爆发之前，该公司就已经发展成为一个比分析公司所装的统一的通讯-a-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sported composed a-s.

Zoom的第二幕展出，Zoom的“对话到完成”愿景以一个新的统一背景层为基础，将Zoom定位为一个人工智能数据平台，其最宝贵的资产是通过会议、电话、聊天、联系中心互动、事件、访谈和销售电话等渠道流动的对话数据。 视频和其他通信工具是捕获机制。 数据和行动是产品。

Zoom在企业内部可以扮演的角色以及它需要如何上市

为什么对话数据是奖项

称也曾多次表示，将AI与文件，门票和数据库连接起来的问题是，文件记载的知识总是过时的。 决定是在对话中作出的，如果有的话，将在以后写下来。

Zoom的统一上下文层旨在缩小这一差距。 Zoom在分析员的预简报中解释说，它结合了三个来源：模型本身的一般知识，文件记录的知识以及Salesforce,ServiceNow和Workday等相连的应用，以及现场对话的动态上下文。 Zoom绘制一个图表，以映射人，主题和决定，并保持近实时更新。

首席执行官袁艾瑞克(Eric Yuan)在主旨发言中解释说，“ AI模型的威力只有他们对你的业务的理解，而这种背景则会改变一切。

Zoom的战略影响是它不再需要赢得会议以赢得账户。 它需要是一个系统捕捉和理解对话，无论它们在哪里发生。 这就是为什么它把My 指出扩展至其他会议平台和面对面讨论，为什么它现在提供15个MCP服务器，搜索和询问应用程序编程接口，以及Claude,Codex和Copilot的连接。 Zoom将其上下文提供给任何客户喜欢的AI工具，这是一个明确信号，表明它把自己看作一个数据层，而不仅仅是一个应用程序。

对话后进入新的业务单位

这种转变使得Zoom的定位远不止于为狭义受众服务的通信供应商。 一旦Zoom通过对话而不是会议定义自己，可地址的市场扩展。 每项业务职能都靠对话，历史上通信供应商都无法获得一些最有价值的职能。 Zoom利用收购和产品投资跟踪这些对话进入新的购买中心。

收入业务。 Zoom收入加速器(Zoom Information Accelerator)，或称ZRA，捕捉和分析销售谈话，以提供辅导，处理情报和预测。 Zoom 称在会前简报中称，65%的ZRA用户报告对其销售有重大或转型影响。 公司财政2026股东函指出，ZRA 客户全年增长50%.

7月关闭的Common Room的收购将Zoom进一步推向上游。 Community Room统一客户关系管理，产品，营销和接触数据与现实世界购买信号建立人级买方智能，由AI agents处理研究和探矿。 首席战略官阿比什特·阿罗拉(Abhisht Arora)将这笔交易描述为"在上游推行Zoom的行动体系".

在Zomotopia，这种组合是ZRA浓缩和探矿，使尚未加入客户关系管理系统的决策者浮出水面，加上以信号为基础的管弦乐，使市场上的买主能够全面找到合适的代表。 Zoom现在覆盖从第一个购买信号到销售呼叫到预测的收入旅程。 这使得Zoom在与首席收入官和RevOps领袖的对话中，买家从未有太多理由在许可席位之外与Zoom交谈。

人力资源与聘用。 同样的逻辑适用于人才。 2025年12月的Zoom 收购 BrightHire以9800万美元现金发行。 BlightHire记录和转录面试，生成候选人摘要，构建与雇用标准相悖的证据，并与AI面试者进行第一轮自动筛选。 在Zoom上已经进行了数百万次的工作面试，使合适的工作自然而然。 与Workvivo合作，Zoom现在跨越了人才生命周期，从面试到订婚。

BrightHire也证明了Zoom的信任能力如何创造跨函数的价值。 兹Q 1Z的Deepfake风险侦测已经被BrightHire用于面试，Zoom 称将在12月将这一功能扩展到工作场所会议。

我对人力资源软件从未感到兴奋，然而，每个部门都关心招聘过程。 如果销售领导者、首席信息官、营销主管或任何其他人能够更快地雇用更合格的人员，这将在公司之间产生吸引力。

客户经验。 Zoom对客户体验空间来说相对较新，但客户和合作伙伴的反馈绝大多数是正面的，背景故事强化了这一点。 上下文层为虚拟的agent，直播的agent，以及后台专家，因此客户不重复自己。 Zoom引用了Cricut，将客户等待时间缩短了89%.

共同的线程是，这些产品中的每一款生成对话数据，为上下文层提供素材，并从其他产品产生的上下文中受益。 Zoom正在建造飞轮

上市挑战

科技故事引人入胜。 Zoom的挑战更是一个商业问题。 Zoom的salesforce和频道合作伙伴建立起来，向信息技术和通信购买者出售会议、电话和联系中心。 历史上，Zoom出售的几乎所有东西都是会议关系的附加品。

收入加速器、Workvivo、普通房间和BrightHire不同。 经济买家是首席收入官，RevOps领袖，人才收购主管或首席人民官。 这些买家有不同的优先次序、预算和评价标准，他们已经与诸如Gong、Claria、ZoomInfo和Ghoening等供应商建立了关系。

我在会前简报中直接问道：伙伴们是否在绿地账户中率先使用ZRA等产品，还是大多将其添加到现有的Zoom安装基地中？首席产品官Russell Dicker(以下) 称 Zoom看到两者的混合，他指出，即使是在另一个会议平台上标准化的公司，也常常有销售和招聘小组在Zoom上进行外部对话，从而创造了真正的开放。

Zoom旨在以最好的方式解决问题，在活动中，我问了美洲销售和频道主管克里斯·巴威克(Chris Barwick)关于这一点，他解释说，公司正在围绕具体的购买中心进行销售和合作伙伴授权：知识工人、CX、上市(RevOps和营销业务，包括事件和ZRA)、人才和HR(BrightHire和Workvivo)，以及不断发展的开发者生态系统。

这是正确的办法，向新的业务单位出售需要正确的信息、讲管道覆盖语言和雇用质量的销售者以及这些职能中的参考资料。 Zoom的合作伙伴大多是UC和CX转售商，他们的联系人坐在IT里，所以走进CRO的办公室是一个大跃进。 许多人不会成功，但进行投资的合作伙伴应获得回报：更大的交易涉及大幅粘附的较高利润。

Zoom的顶级转售商之一，在Zomotopia，我和CTP联合总裁Joe Rittenhouse谈过了称 ZRA正在成为账户的门户。 “我们可以先从ZRA开始，然后再做UCAAS或CCAAS, “一旦他们看到无形物和数据，就会有饥饿和渴求，这推翻了传统的Zoom动议，在申请出售后开会而不是带头开会。”

Rittenhouse还坦率地表示，合作伙伴的商业模式必须改变以支持这一模式。 “传统上，我们在那里是为了帮助销售动议，处理执行事宜，并可能卖掉维修合同。 这是断路器，“他称。 “情况已完全改变。 我们必须参与这项事业，签署一份NDA，了解他们想做什么，这种发现延长了销售周期，但正如他所指出的，它也产生了更好的、更具战略性的交易。

Zoom CMO Kim Storin认为Zoom的最佳机会在于业务领域。 当我在Zomotopia和她谈话时，她解释了为什么销售和招聘自然符合核心平台。 称。 她表示，“没有什么比雇用谈话更重要的了。” 她补充说，她和袁将收入组织视为“回到可能正在Teams或Google标准化的这些公司”，而销售、人才或营销领导人则“充当突破这些组织的门户”。 и種

Microsoft公司在CIO的日历上有锁，Zoom不会超过它。 但斯托林也现实地认为，她指出，在过去9个月里，信息技术由于无法预测的征兆和消费成本而加强了采购控制。 这就是治理能力Zoom 宣布成为销售资产的地方。 业务线买方可以开始交易，但Zoom需要给IT一个表示同意的理由。

最后想法

Zomotopia 2026标志着Zoom不再要求被评价为视频公司的时刻。 统一背景图层、无头平台方法以及共同房间和BrightHire的购置，加之一个连贯的战略：拥有对话数据，提供给任何AI，并使用这些数据完成所有业务职能的工作。

战略是正确的。 Zoom是为数不多的能够大规模捕捉到商业对话的公司之一，它越来越多地出现在RevOps和HR中，使得它比以往任何时候都更切合业务需要。

但相关性和收入并不相同。 Zoom公司在未来两年的成功将不取决于它运送什么，而更多地取决于它的salesforce公司和合作伙伴能否与没有将Zoom视为战略供应商的买家一起获得席位。 如果Zoom能够建立这个运动，“视频公司”的标签将最终消失。 如果它做不到，它就有可能有一个只有IT能听到的伟大平台故事。

宙斯·凯拉瓦拉是Kerravala咨询公司下属的一个分部ZK研究公司的主要分析师。 他为SiliconANGLE写了这篇文章。

照片：Zoom/生活流(云南)和宙斯·凯拉瓦拉(迪克尔)

SiliconANGLE联合创始人John Furrier的留言：

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本文由 AI图鉴自动抓取并翻译，版权归原作者所有；如需查看原文请点下方链接。

Zoom’s next act: From video company to AI data platform

Since its launch, Zoom has been defined by one word: video. Customers, consumers, investors and competitors have long known Zoom as the industry’s easiest-to-use and best video platform. However, even before the pandemic, the company had been evolving into something much bigger than the unified-communications-as-a-service and contact-center-as-a-service buckets that analyst firms put it in.

Those efforts culminated at this week’s Zoomtopia 2026, where Zoom’s second act was on display and about much more than video. Zoom’s “conversation to completion” vision, anchored by a new Unified Context Layer, positions Zoom as an artificial intelligence data platform, with its most valuable asset being the conversational data flowing through meetings, phone calls, chat, contact center interactions, events, interviews and sales calls. Video and other communications tools are the capture mechanism. The data and actions are the product.

That’s a significant shift, and it changes both where Zoom can play within an enterprise and how it needs to go to market.

Why conversational data is the prize

I’ve said many times that AI is only as good as the data it can access, and that data without context can be misleading. The problem with connecting AI to documents, tickets and databases is that documented knowledge is always out of date. Decisions are made in conversations and are written down later, if at all.

Zoom’s Unified Context Layer is designed to close that gap. In the analyst prebriefing, Zoom explained that it combines three sources: general knowledge from the model itself, documented knowledge from files and connected applications such as Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday, and dynamic context from live conversations. Zoom builds a graph that maps people, topics and decisions and keeps it updated in near real time.

During his portion of the keynote, Chief Executive Eric Yuan (pictured) explained, “AI models are only as powerful as their understanding of your business, and that context makes all the difference.”

The strategic implication for Zoom is that it no longer needs to win the meeting to win the account. It needs to be the system that captures and understands conversations wherever they occur. That’s why it’s extending My Notes to other meeting platforms and in-person discussions, and why it now offers 15 MCP servers, Search and Ask application programming interfaces, and connections to Claude, Codex and Copilot. Zoom is making its context available to any AI tool a customer prefers, a clear signal that it sees itself as a data layer, not just an application.

Following the conversations into new business units

This transformation positions Zoom as much more than a communications vendor serving a narrow audience. Once Zoom defines itself by conversations rather than meetings, the addressable market expands. Every business function runs on conversations, and several of the most valuable ones have historically been out of reach for a communications vendor. Zoom has used acquisitions and product investments to follow those conversations into new buying centers.

Revenue operations. Zoom Revenue Accelerator, or ZRA, captures and analyzes sales conversations to deliver coaching, deal intelligence and forecasting. Zoom said in the prebriefing that 65% of ZRA users report a significant or transformational impact on their sales. The company’s fiscal 2026 shareholder letter noted that ZRA customers grew by 50% over the year.

The acquisition of Common Room, which closed in July, pushes Zoom further upstream. Common Room unifies CRM, product, marketing and engagement data with real-world buying signals to build person-level buyer intelligence, with AI agents handling research and prospecting. Chief Strategy Officer Abhisht Arora described the deal as “extending Zoom’s system of action upstream.”

At Zoomtopia, the combination appeared as ZRA enrichment and prospecting that surfaces decision makers not yet in the CRM, plus signal-based orchestration that routes in-market buyers to the right rep with full context. Zoom now covers the revenue journey from the first buying signal through the sales call to the forecast. That puts Zoom in the conversation with chief revenue officers and RevOps leaders, buyers who have never had much reason to talk to Zoom beyond licensing seats.

Human resources and hiring. The same logic applies to talent. Zoom acquired BrightHire in December 2025 for $98 million in cash. BrightHire records and transcribes interviews, generates candidate summaries, structures evidence against hiring criteria, and automates first-round screening with an AI interviewer. Millions of job interviews already take place on Zoom, making the fit natural. With Workvivo, Zoom now spans the talent lifecycle from interview to engagement.

BrightHire also demonstrates how Zoom’s trust capabilities create value across functions. Zoom’s Deepfake Risk Detection is already being used by BrightHire in interviews, where candidate fraud is a growing concern. Zoom said it will extend the feature to workplace meetings in December.

Typically, I’ve never been excited about human resources software because companies rarely invest in transforming this area. However, the hiring process is something every department cares about. If a sales leader, chief information officer, head of marketing or anyone else can hire faster and with better-qualified people, that will appeal across companies.

Customer experience. Zoom is relatively new to the customer experience space, but customer and partner feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and the context story reinforces that. The context layer feeds the virtual agent, live agent, and back-office expert, so customers don’t repeat themselves. Zoom cited Cricut, which cut customer wait times by 89%.

The common thread is that each of these products generates conversational data that feeds the context layer and benefits from the context generated by the others. That’s the flywheel Zoom is building, and it’s what makes the AI data platform positioning more than marketing.

The go-to-market challenge

The technology story is compelling. The challenge for Zoom is more of a commercial problem. Zoom’s salesforce and channel partners were built to sell meetings, phone and contact center to information technology and communications buyers. Historically, nearly everything Zoom sold was an add-on to the meetings relationship.

Revenue Accelerator, Workvivo, Common Room and BrightHire are different. The economic buyer is a chief revenue officer, a RevOps leader, a head of talent acquisition or a chief people officer. Those buyers have different priorities, budgets and evaluation criteria, and they already have established relationships with vendors such as Gong, Clari, ZoomInfo and Greenhouse.

I asked about this directly during the prebriefing: Are partners leading with products like ZRA in greenfield accounts, or mostly adding them to the existing Zoom installed base? Chief Product Officer Russell Dicker (below) said Zoom is seeing a mix of both but didn’t share numbers. He noted that even companies standardized on another meeting platform often have sales and recruiting teams running external conversations on Zoom, creating a real opening.

When I followed up on whether there’s a prescriptive guide for the field and channel, Dicker emphasized that Zoom aims to solve problems in a best-of-breed way and isn’t trying to force customers into a wall-to-wall suite. At the event, I asked Chris Barwick, head of Americas sales and channel, about this, and he explained that the company is orienting sales and partner enablement around specific buying centers: knowledge workers, CX, go-to-market (RevOps and marketing ops, including events and ZRA), talent and HR (BrightHire and Workvivo), and a growing developer ecosystem.

That’s the right approach, but it understates the difficulty. Selling to a new business unit requires the right messaging, sellers who speak the language of pipeline coverage and quality of hire, and references in those functions. Most Zoom partners are UC and CX resellers whose contacts sit in IT, so walking into the CRO’s office is a big leap. Many won’t succeed without specialist overlay teams, new incentives or new partner types, such as RevOps consultancies and HR tech integrators. But partners that do invest should reap the rewards: bigger deals with higher margins that are significantly stickier.

One partner that has made the leap is Converged Technology Professionals, one of Zoom’s top resellers. At Zoomtopia, I spoke with Joe Rittenhouse, co-CEO of CTP, who said ZRA is becoming a gateway to accounts. “We may start with ZRA before we do UCaaS or CCaaS, just replacing Gong,” he told me. “As soon as they see the intangibles and the data, there’s a hunger and a thirst for more, and that’s how we get into notes and the other aspects of the platform. That flips the traditional Zoom motion on its head, with the meetings business following an application sale rather than leading it.”

Rittenhouse was also candid that the partner business model must change to support it. “Traditionally, we were there to help with the sales motion, handle the implementation, and probably sell a maintenance contract. It was break-fix,” he said. “That has completely changed. We have to get involved with the business, sign an NDA, understand what they’re trying to do and where the low-hanging fruit is, and put together a pragmatic plan.” That kind of discovery lengthens sales cycles, but, as he noted, it also produces better, more strategic deals.

Zoom CMO Kim Storin believes Zoom’s best opportunity lies in the line of business. When I spoke with her at Zoomtopia, she explained why sales and recruiting naturally align with the core platform. “When you think about conversations that matter, nothing matters more than your customer conversations and sales,” she said. “Nothing matters more than your hiring conversations.” She added that she and Yuan see the revenue organization as “the wedge back into these companies that may be standardizing on Teams or Google,” with the sales, talent, or marketing leader serving “as the gateway to break through into those organizations.” I agree.

Microsoft Corp. has a lock on the CIO’s calendar, and Zoom won’t outmuscle it there. But Storin was also realistic that going around IT isn’t a free pass. She noted that IT has been tightening purchase controls over the past nine months because of unpredictable token and consumption costs. That’s where the governance capabilities Zoom announced become a sales asset. The line-of-business buyer may start the deal, but Zoom will need to give IT a reason to say yes.

Final thoughts

Zoomtopia 2026 marked the moment Zoom stopped asking to be valued as a video company. The Unified Context Layer, the headless platform approach and the acquisitions of Common Room and BrightHire add up to a coherent strategy: Own the conversational data, make it available to any AI, and use it to complete work across every business function.

The strategy is right. Zoom is one of the few companies with the reach to capture business conversations at scale, and its growing presence in RevOps and HR makes it more relevant to the business than ever.

But relevance and revenue aren’t the same thing. Zoom’s success over the next two years will depend less on what it ships and more on whether its salesforce and partners can earn a seat at the table with buyers who haven’t considered Zoom a strategic vendor. If Zoom can build that motion, the “video company” label will finally fade. If it can’t, it risks having a great platform story that only IT hears.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

Photos: Zoom/livestream (Yuan) and Zeus Kerravala (Dicker)

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