The Gist
Beyond customer service. Voice AI is already embedded in daily life, with new applications set to drive business growth and enhance CX. Choosing the right provider. A vertical segment breakdown highlights leading voice AI vendors and their strengths in customer service. The next five years. Rapid innovation across multiple sectors makes bold market projections for voice AI adoption increasingly realistic.
Editor’s note: Part 1 of this three-part series on voice AI captured the essence of voice AI and the technologies behind it. Now, Part 2 divulged the three market trends accelerating that growth and how it’s being used in different verticals. In Part 3 today, we assemble market visions on where the voice AI market will take us over the next 10 years, including exhilarating ideas the author hadn’t thought of.
Table of Contents
Where is Voice AI Headed in Years to Come?
This portion is indeed the fun part. When we look down the technology road and shed our predispositions, the potential for voice AI seems limitless. Within conversational AI, the growth rate of voice AI will likely exceed the growth rate of text AI simply as that market is in earlier stages and is now breaking out.
The two will remain complementary, not competitive, with both using NLP. According to analyst Blair Pleasant from COMMfusion, “most consumers prefer voice interactions, and voice AI empowers business to boost users CX and NPS.”
Let’s start with where we see it now, then sit back and imagine where it will be in 10 years. Everywhere!
Related Article: The Acceleration of Voice AI: Where Customer Service Goes From Here
Today: Where Voice AI Is Already a Natural Part of Daily Life
We covered scaling revenue growth over time in the previous article. Actual market estimates in 10 years differed notably in multiple reports from $48B – >$100B, but the CAGR of 25-35% was more consistent. That growth rate means the best is yet to come. A sign of broad market acceptance is to consider how many areas, customer service and beyond, where voice AI lives already. It simply feels natural in many ways.
Think about it. Mobile ecommerce, home security and interfaces, real-time language translation, smartphone maps and searches. It’s already in many lives 10+ times per day. Customer service is common, but by no means exclusive.
Related Article: Why Voice AI Is the Most Natural Customer Experience Channel
Many Have Now Adopted Voice AI and Are Expanding Plans
The permeation bears out in statistics and real-life examples. For shopping, “71% of people use voice assistants to browse and research products before buying,” according to Netomi. It builds brand value as well as “89% of customers say they prefer brands that offer voice AI support, according to PwC. Prominent, market-leading companies already use it and are expanding their use cases.
As voice AI’s capabilities expand, its product and service integration becomes simpler and faster to market, thus better ROI.
Some sample companies:
Automakers: BMW, GM, Tesla and Hyundai are now incorporating voice AI into their vehicles to enhance the driving experience, safety and connectivity.Amazon: Uses AI for order tracking, refunds and delivery queries, with virtual assistant handling high-volume questions.Lufthansa: Utilizes voice AI to manage bookings, rebook flights and provide real-time updates for travelers.Mayo Clinic: Voice AI in virtual assistants for patient support, billing and symptom checking.Apple: One of several smartphone providers that incorporate voice AI into multiple features. It has matured from “new features” to just naturally expected ones across the full user experience.
How Do You Select a Voice AI Provider?
Having worked here and now consulting and writing about generative AI and conversational AI, the business challenge is a serious one. Why? The toughest question is not”‘should we?” or “when will we?,” but the true challenge for commercial ROI and end user CX is choosing the proper solution provider that fits your needs.
As relevant VC firm Madrona says, “How Verticalized Voice AI is Becoming the Next Killer App.”
Choosing the right voice AI provider requires a review of many key variables. Truly matching your needs with their offering, level of customization, track record, time to market, client reviews, user reviews and pricing/ROI requires a deep evaluation.
– Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst
COMMfusion
Many offer it and say that they have one of the best, so we just pick one and go, right? Anyone with serious AI chops knows that all companies claim that theirs is the best, and in fact, they are right … in certain situations. In some ways it may be, but not in all ways.
As Pleasant knows, vendor shopping and proper matching are areas companies often skimp on as they hurry to market. I say spend the extra time early to conduct a proper evaluation, company comparison and even early testing. The effort will pay off 10X when you go to market.
What Does the Voice AI Vendor Market Look Like?
To convey how many choices exist in the voice AI for customer service market, the grid below provides just a snapshot. I will stress that this is not all-inclusive and was based on multiple analyst reviews, industry reports, third party industry articles and my own years of sector knowledge. It could go even deeper, but the goal was a usable starting point. For example, VoIP providers claim solutions here as well. While they may not be sector leaders, per se, they offer solutions that may match your needs.
This vendor market snapshot is broken into labeled categories. Solutions may take different forms. “We’re just beginning to see the potential of how conversational AI can streamline customer engagement and build trust,” said Andy O’Dower, VP of product management for Voice, Video, and Flex at Twilio. “The most effective solutions must be flexible and should remove complexity to deploy and scale AI at the pace that’s ideal for the customer.”
A Snapshot of VoiceAI Solution Providers
Editor’s note: This table provides a categorized overview of voice AI vendors.
Voice AI Direction in the Next 5 Years
Multiple Sectors and New Uses that Push the Edge
Now comes the fun part! We know the market is rapidly expanding. “The number of voice assistant users in the United States is expected to grow to 157.1M by 2026,” according to EMarketer. Some examples below are already in use, but just not yet voice activated like AI analysis of X-rays and MRIs in healthcare.
However, others really stretch our imagination. For example, consider a voice-AI-to-voice-AI dialogue in this speech-to-speech world. It is both futuristic and logical. The roadmap below presents just examples:
Market trends help communicate why firms project rampant growth. Some sectors like auto and robot integration are already under development. Other, longer-term areas will be fun to watch as opinions differ on timing and manifestation. For example, some say voice AI agents will eliminate human agents. I strongly disagree and have outlined the rationale in previous articles. The progression and roles for each, if done properly, will help determine who wins the big race in customer service that right now has so many players.
Voice AI Future Outlook (2025–2030)
Editor’s note: Timeline of projected voice AI developments based on industry forecasts. Source: VoiceAI Wrapper.
YearMilestoneDescription2025Ambient computingVoice AI becomes contextually aware in daily environments.2026XR integrationVoice AI deeply integrated with AR/VR interfaces.2027Autonomous systemsVoice becomes primary interface for robots and vehicles.2028Healthcare diagnosticsVoice biomarkers used for early health condition detection.2029Multi-agent collaborationMultiple AI agents coordinate via voice for complex tasks.2030Regulatory complianceComprehensive voice-specific privacy and ethical regulations emerge.
A Final Thought in Closing: Multiple Ways to Keep CX Your Customers’ Trust
VoiceAI is increasingly capable of human-like emotional nuance, multiple languages and integration with other platforms (which is critical). The increasing automation accelerates the need to maintain customer loyalty, trust and NPS. Early versions without any human agents sent CX scores to dramatic lows, countered by several companies marketing human agents as a selling point (e.g. Discover).
Learning OpportunitiesView all
Developers and companies must stay in the “VoC loop” to verify that they are truly enhancing CX and staying ahead in a world where it’s AI that’s often the one talking back.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.