Zoom's rebrand wants you to forget video because AI is the cool new thing

Calls and text used to be enough. But there are a lot of great alternate ways to communicate nowadays, with video calls being popular among friends, family, and even colleagues. Of course, there are a lot of different options when it comes to services, but Zoom is one of the best video chat apps available, and if you haven’t used it before, you most certainly know about it.

Related

Google Meet and Zoom achieve bilateral interoperability

The basic features of one platform work on the other’s interface now

Of course, there are a lot of competitors now in this space, like Slack and Google Meet, which means the company has faced some stiff competition. With that said, it appears that Zoom is finally ready to break out of its mold and move in a new direction, shedding its old name and rebranding, going from Zoom Video Communications Inc. to Zoom Communications Inc.

A new direction that’s powered by AI

The news was announced through the company blog, sharing that the brand is now “an AI-first company delivering modern, hybrid work solutions that enable you to collaborate seamlessly.” While things will begin to change, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t already been expanding its efforts, adding a wealth of features and services to its portfolio that expand outside video services.

Of course, like most companies, the brand is embracing AI and integrating it into its current and future innovations. The Zoom AI Companion will be the “heartbeat” of the brand’s evolution, according to the website, and it will be “critical in helping our customers uncover new opportunities for greater productivity.” The AI assistatnt will become a constant in the Zoom Workplace.

It will be able to free up users’ time by shouldering the load when it comes to more mundane tasks like “summarizing meeting tasks, drafting email responses, and preparing for meetings.” The main goal here is to free up more time for its users, allowing them to focus on what’s important and also make get extra time out of the work day. The brand is even optimistic, sharing that its AI may even be able to free up an entire day.

For the most part, this is already something lots of companies are doing, and it doesn’t appear that Zoom is doing much that strays from the path when compared to other services. Of course, Zoom’s popularity was at its height during the pandemic, so it only makes sense that the brand would try and evolve in order to stay ahead or at least keep up with the competition.