What is Zoom AI Companion?
Zoom AI Companion is Zoom's integrated artificial intelligence assistant designed to enhance productivity across the Zoom platform. Unlike third-party meeting AI tools that require separate installations and integrations, AI Companion is built directly into Zoom's ecosystem.
The AI Companion leverages generative AI to help users before, during, and after meetings. It can draft messages, summarize conversations, create meeting agendas, and even catch you up on meetings you missed. For organizations already invested in the Zoom ecosystem, it offers a streamlined way to add AI capabilities without managing additional vendor relationships.
Launched in 2023 and continuously updated, Zoom AI Companion represents Zoom's strategy to compete with standalone meeting AI tools by offering comparable features as part of the core Zoom experience.
Key Features of Zoom AI Companion
AI-Generated Meeting Summaries
After every meeting, Zoom AI Companion automatically generates a comprehensive summary that includes key discussion points, decisions made, and action items. These summaries are shared with participants and can be accessed from the Zoom app or web portal.
Summaries are typically available within minutes of meeting end and include next steps with assignee suggestions.
Smart Recording with Chapters
Smart Recording automatically organizes meeting recordings into chapters and highlights, making it easy to navigate long recordings. The AI identifies topic changes and creates a table of contents so viewers can jump directly to relevant sections.
Real-Time Transcription
Live transcription displays captions during meetings in real-time, supporting accessibility and allowing participants to follow along even in noisy environments. Transcripts are saved automatically and can be edited after the meeting.
Supported Languages
Zoom AI Companion supports transcription in over 30 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and many more. Translation features are also available for real-time caption translation.
AI Chat Assistant
The AI Companion chat feature helps compose messages, summarize chat threads, and answer questions about meeting content. You can ask it to draft emails, summarize what you missed in a channel, or help prepare for upcoming meetings.
Example: "What were the main decisions from yesterday's product meeting?"
AI Companion will search your meeting history and provide a concise answer with context.
Meeting Preparation & Agendas
Before meetings, AI Companion can help create agendas based on previous meeting notes and current topics. It reviews past conversations and suggests relevant discussion points, helping hosts prepare more effectively.
Catch Me Up Feature
Joined a meeting late? The "Catch Me Up" feature provides a real-time summary of what's been discussed so far, allowing latecomers to quickly get up to speed without interrupting the flow of the meeting.
This feature runs during the meeting, so you can request a catch-up summary at any point without waiting for the meeting to end.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- No Additional Cost: Included with paid Zoom Workplace plans at no extra charge
- Seamless Integration: Built directly into Zoom - no third-party apps or bots to manage
- Multi-Language Support: Transcription and translation in 30+ languages
- Enterprise Security: Benefits from Zoom's existing security infrastructure and compliance certifications
- Unified Experience: Works across Zoom Meetings, Phone, Chat, and Whiteboard
Cons
- Zoom Lock-In: Only works with Zoom meetings - no support for Google Meet, Teams, or Webex
- Limited Advanced Features: Lacks some specialized features found in dedicated meeting AI tools like conversation intelligence or CRM integration
- Requires Paid Plan: Not available on Zoom's free Basic plan
- Feature Rollout: Some features may not be available to all users immediately as Zoom continues development
- Admin Controls Needed: IT admins must enable AI Companion features for users
Zoom AI Companion Pricing
Zoom AI Companion is included at no additional cost with paid Zoom Workplace plans. Here are the plans that include AI Companion features:
Zoom Workplace Basic
- 40-min meeting limit
- No AI Companion
- 100 participants
Zoom Workplace Pro
- AI Companion included
- 30-hour meetings
- 100 participants
- 5 GB cloud storage
Zoom Workplace Business
- AI Companion included
- 300 participants
- SSO & admin controls
- 10 GB cloud storage
Zoom Workplace Enterprise
- AI Companion included
- 1000 participants
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Custom integrations
Add-On: AI Companion Add-On
For enhanced AI features like advanced meeting analytics and custom AI models, Zoom offers an AI Companion Add-On at an additional cost. Contact Zoom sales for pricing details.
How to Enable Zoom AI Companion
Admin Enablement
Account admins must enable AI Companion in the Zoom admin portal under Account Settings > AI Companion.
Feature Selection
Choose which AI Companion features to enable: meeting summaries, smart recordings, AI chat compose, etc.
User Adoption
Users can access AI Companion features directly within the Zoom app - look for the AI Companion icon during and after meetings.
Privacy Settings
Configure data retention and privacy settings according to your organization's policies. AI Companion data can be managed separately from regular Zoom data.
Zoom AI Companion vs. Alternatives
| Feature | Zoom AI Companion | Third-Party Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Zoom only | Multi-platform (Zoom, Meet, Teams) |
| Pricing | Included with paid Zoom plans | $10-30/user/month typically |
| CRM Integration | Limited | Extensive (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) |
| Conversation Intelligence | Basic analytics | Advanced (sentiment, coaching, etc.) |
| Setup Complexity | Simple (built-in) | Moderate (integration required) |
Who is Zoom AI Companion Best For?
Great Fit
- Organizations already using Zoom Workplace
- Teams wanting AI features without additional costs
- Companies prioritizing vendor consolidation
- IT teams preferring built-in security over third-party apps
Consider Alternatives
- Teams using multiple video platforms
- Sales teams needing deep CRM integration
- Organizations requiring advanced conversation analytics
- Users on Zoom's free plan
