Zoom is continuing to step up its game in the AI and machine learning space, announcing a new partnership with Anthropic to bring its Claude chatbot to the Zoom Contact Center. This comes on the heels of a similar move in March when the company partnered with OpenAI to add AI functionality to its products.
Smita Hashim, Zoom’s Chief Product Officer with more than two decades of experience at Microsoft and Google, explained the importance of taking an open approach to AI, where different models can be plugged in for maximum versatility in the rapidly changing industry. The Anthropic partnership, which gives Zoom access to the company’s constitutional AI approach for better customer support, will focus initially on the contact center.
OpenAI and Anthropic models will be used across the Zoom platform, with future plans to potentially bring other open source models into the fold. As part of this, Zoom has made an undisclosed investment in Anthropic through its venture arm, Zoom Ventures.
Anthropic is a startup based in New York that focuses on using AI to create virtual agents that can understand humans natural language conversation. Founded in 2017, the company has developed AI models that make use of artificial neural networks to understand natural language. Their technology can interpret and respond to customer inquiries, reducing the effort and time needed to respond.
Smita Hashim is the Chief Product Officer at Zoom, a role she joined in March 2020. During her time at Microsoft and Google, she gained valuable experience in product development and management, which she has used to help transform Zoom into an innovative technology brand. As chief product officer, she oversees the development, design and architecture of the Zoom products, including the OpenAI and Anthropic integrations.
