Executive summary Foreword Introduction Insights Conclusion Methodology

Insight 1.

From conversations to outcomes for today's businesses

Insight 2.

Agentic voice AI succeeds at high-volume tasks

Insight 3.

Voice AI agents have significant autonomy, but they aren't being let loose

Insight 4.

When voice AI represents the business, brand harm becomes the risk

Insight 5.

Difficult conversations play to voice AI's strengths

Insight 6.

Fear of falling behind competitors drives agentic voice AI adoption

Insight 6

Fear of falling behind competitors drives agentic voice AI adoption

Strong interest in agentic voice AI adoption

Among businesses that have not yet deployed agentic voice AI:

44%

Actively planning an investment

42%

Considering adoption without a firm commitment

14%

Probably will not adopt

Key takeaway: 44% are actively planning an investment, while another 42% are considering adoption without a firm commitment. Just 14% say they probably will not adopt.

Competitive pressure is helping drive that interest. When asked whether underinvesting or over investing poses the greater business risk, non-users frequently point to underinvestment and the possibility of falling behind competitors as voice AI adoption expands.

At the same time, leaders are thinking carefully about how they enter. A poor early deploymentcan carry financial, customer, and brand consequences, leading some businesses to favorpilots, lower-risk use cases, or stronger evidence of safety and effectiveness before expandingtheir investment.

The result is a market with a strong appetite for agentic voice AI, even among businessesthat are still determining the right path to adoption.

Businesses are building confidence through pilots and proof

Key finding

Businesses want evidence that they can deploy voice AI successfully: Leaders still evaluating agentic voice AI point to accuracy, safety, demonstrated results, and examples from similar organizations as factors that can build confidence in broader adoption. In regulated industries, compliance and security requirements can add another layer to that evaluation.

For some businesses, that means starting small. Pilots and lower-risk, high-volume use cases give organizations an opportunity to test performance, measure results, and determine where broader deployment makes sense.

"Probably underinvesting, because [agentic voice AI] is going to take off, and we're going to have to stay competitive with other companies."

— Human Resources Manager, Healthcare on whether over-or underinvesting is the bigger risk

"I believe underinvesting [is the bigger risk], because the potentials are endless."

— Director of Operations, Manufacturing on the risk of underinvesting in voice AI

"I'd rather us underinvest, make sure that it works, roll it out with a few pilot people, and then fully launch."

— HR and People, Banking on piloting before a full launch

"We are not currently looking to initiate [investment in] those AI tools, simply because of HIPAA regulations and security."

— Operations Manager, Healthcare on why regulated industries hold back

"We are in the process of evaluating [voice AI] tools, testing them, prototyping them, with a small group of users, before we go very broadly, because if we go all in out of the gate and it doesn't work very well, it can hurt the brand significantly... could hurt the brand in some customers' eyes forever."

— Digital Strategy and Innovation Team Lead, Urban Development on the brand risk of launching too early

Insight 5: Difficult conversations play to voice AI's strengths

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