Executive summary
Key research findings
Agentic voice AI is already delivering measurable value in active deployments.
Among leaders with live voice AI agents who were asked to rate their returns, 82% report positive ROI, citing cost reductions, time savings, and the ability to redirect human staff to more complex work.
Businesses are also handing agents meaningful responsibility.
Among the 191 active deployments whose operating model was described, 92% operate with high or partial autonomy. At the same time, businesses are defining where agents can operate independently and where humans should step in.
Those boundaries are not fixed.
More than a third of leaders say voice AI agents can sometimes be a better option for high-stakes conversations compared with chat-based AI or humans, challenging the assumption that difficult customer interactions should always default to a person.
For businesses that have yet to deploy agentic voice AI, the pressure to make those decisions is growing.
Forty-four percent of non-users are actively planning to invest, while others are weighing the risks of moving too quickly against the possibility of falling behind competitors.
Active deployments report positive ROI
Of the leaders with live voice AI agents asked to rate their returns, 82% report positive ROI.
Agents operate with meaningful autonomy
Of the 191 active deployments whoseoperating model was described, 92% run withhigh or partial autonomy. Only 8% keepagents under close, call-by-call supervision.
Voice AI can be a better option for high-stakes conversations
More than a third of leaders say voice AI agents are sometimes the better option compared with chat-based AI or humans for high-stakes conversations.
Non-users are actively planning to invest
Among non-users of agentic voice AI, 44%are actively planning to invest.
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