Zoom Unveils AI Companion 3.0 with Meeting‑Skip Suggestions and New Productivity Features
Key Points
- AI Companion 3.0 introduces agentic AI that suggests which meetings to skip or make optional.
- Users must approve any calendar changes before they are applied.
- New AI‑driven note‑taking expands manual notes with meeting insights.
- Slide‑to‑video conversion and live translation enhance meeting accessibility.
- Businesses can create custom AI agents for $12 per month.
- AI Companion provides real‑time Q&A during meetings and post‑meeting summaries.
- Zoom maintains strong accessibility features like automatic captions and translation overlays.
Zoom announced a major upgrade to its AI Companion, now called AI Companion 3.0. The new version adds agentic capabilities that let the AI propose ways to reduce meeting load, including recommending meetings to skip or making invitees optional. Additional features include AI‑generated meeting notes, slide‑to‑video conversion, live translation, and the ability for businesses to create custom AI agents for a fee. The updates aim to help users free up focus time while still requiring final user approval before any calendar changes are made.
Zoom Expands AI Companion Into an Agentic Assistant
Zoom introduced a refreshed AI Companion, branded as AI Companion 3.0, that moves beyond simple note‑taking to more autonomous, “agentic” behavior. The AI can now analyze a user’s calendar and suggest which meetings could be skipped, which attendees might be moved to optional status, and where blocks of meeting‑free time could be inserted for focused work. Users retain the final say, approving any changes before they are applied.
New Productivity Tools Complement the Core AI
Beyond calendar management, the upgrade brings several additional features. An AI‑driven note‑taking tool can expand manually typed notes by pulling insights from the meeting itself. Slides shared during a call can be transformed into short video clips, and a live translation panel helps participants speaking different languages communicate in real time. Zoom also announced a custom AI agent offering for businesses, priced at $12 per month, allowing organizations to build tailored AI assistants within the platform.
Design and Accessibility Enhancements
The refreshed Zoom Workplace home screen showcases the new AI tools, and the platform continues to support built‑in accessibility options such as automatic closed captioning, customizable text appearance, and translation overlays. Users can adjust background settings, mute and video preferences, and rename themselves with pronouns or titles directly within the meeting interface.
How the AI Companion Works in Practice
When a user opens a private chat with AI Companion during a meeting, they can ask questions about topics already discussed. After the meeting ends, participants receive a concise summary of key points, action items, and decisions. The AI does not use video, audio, chat logs, or other meeting materials to train its generative models, and free‑plan users receive one complimentary summary per meeting.
Business Implications and Future Outlook
Zoom’s push toward agentic AI reflects a broader industry trend of embedding generative AI into everyday productivity tools. By offering features that automate administrative tasks—such as meeting scheduling, note generation, and language translation—Zoom aims to help users reclaim time and reduce meeting fatigue. The optional custom AI agent service suggests a potential revenue stream as enterprises look to tailor AI capabilities to specific workflows.