In a world of virtual calls, brainstorming and fast-paced work environments, I use Zoom's AI Companion to capture my message and keep me and my team informed -- particularly for those who, like me, may struggle with time management.
Founded in 2011 by Eric Yuan, Zoom launched its original service in 2013. The tech company's AI Companion was added over a decade later in September 2023 as a meeting, chat, mail and calendar integration. It was built as a "smart assistant" without having to leave Zoom and use another app.
Zoom AI Companion is included in all of its paid plans -- prices start at $13.32 per month -- under Personal, Business, Education, Healthcare and Developer divisions.
AI Companion is a toggle that can be switched on via Zoom. Once this feature is activated in your virtual call, Zoom will take notes in real time and share action items.
If you're curious about Zoom's competitors, Microsoft Copilot is the closest match. The tools are quite similar in that they both summarize meetings, help you write emails and chat with you thanks to the power of generative artificial intelligence (read our hands-on reviews of more gen AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini on CNET's AI Atlas hub).
While you can use Copilot across more tools, it's going to cost you. Microsoft 365 Copilot costs an extra $30 per month on top of the Microsoft apps you pay for, while Zoom's Companion AI is free with any paid service.
How to get a summary of your Zoom call
Summarizing meetings is one of Zoom's many AI-focused features. With the help of its AI Companion, you can turn your meeting into a summary, including the chat threads, as well as a list of next steps and an overall takeaway at the top of the meeting screen. Here's how.
Step 1: During a live meeting, the host can enable Meeting Summary, which is automatically shared with the host and the meeting's participants through Team Chat. Note: An administrator must enable each feature via account and group-level settings.
Step 2: Once the AI Companion is enabled, it can be used to answer questions about the meeting. If you're coming in late, chat with the AI Companion to get real-time responses that will catch you up to the discussion. Note: Each meeting attendee's software must be updated to the latest version.
Step 3: Zoom also offers smart recordings that divide meetings into "chapter" by the topic discussed. Much like a table of contents, this breaks your meeting down easily and efficiently and can be shared and seen by others.
Meeting summaries and questions are supported in 36 languages -- the AI Companion will automatically detect the main language spoken during the meeting, regardless of where you sit in the world.
Of course, the usual caveats apply about making sure to double check it's got the details correct and pulled out the right things to make action points on.
The benefits of an AI-powered assistant
There are various tools within the AI Companion, so I recommend reading through the materials in the AI Companion Onboarding Center.
Beyond getting a helpful (virtual) hand to note what's happening during a meeting, I was eager to use the AI-powered platform to spark creativity. Sometimes I go back into meeting summaries to be reminded of what was discussed. Teammates inevitably drop words of wisdom or note something significant to implement within a strategy or creative output. Thankfully, AI Companion will track those moments too.
AI Companion's chapter mode also helped me understand the connection between team dialogue and topic matters. The high-level chapter synopsis provides a "storyline" for each meeting I enter -- and sometimes a throughline -- between what's continually discussed and resolved (or ignored).
If you're a pattern seeker or are curious to understand connections, the AI Companion will be a useful and interesting resource to help with the day-to-day. If nothing else, it makes things easier for all its users, regardless of your schedule or location.
Isn't it interesting that by doing less, in turn, you connect to more? A(I) good companion, indeed.