Voice AI is having its moment, but pretty soon every company will be a voice company.
Olivia Moore is the author of a16z’s market report on voice AI agents, which is a must-read if you’re interested in the space.
She’s an amazing thinker and we cover a lot in this conversation, including:
Olivia's thesis that Voice AI is in it’s “internet in 1999” moment
The "wedge" strategy: using Voice AI to get in the door before transforming broader business operations
How recruiting became a surprising early adopter of Voice AI (candidates actually prefer it)
Voice AI's unique ability to handle compliance and stay on-script in regulated industries
Shifting from per-minute pricing to transaction-based fees or success metrics
Why big tech platforms (OpenAI, Google) won't dominate vertical-specific voice applications
Links
Olivia on X: https://x.com/omooretweets (must-follow!)
Dr Sbaitso emulator - this was packaged with new Sound Blaster sound cards! Strange stuff.
Chapters
0:00 Intro and welcome
1:24 Olivia's first AI "aha" moments
3:42 Coolest non-voice AI tools
6:29 How Olivia got into the Voice AI space
10:03 From consumer to enterprise
13:50 DMV-bot
16:22 Voice AI as a wedge
20:57 Traction in the voice market
24:24 Voice AI for recruiting
28:59 Why AI doesn't go off-script
31:03 Better experiences for candidates and customers
33:24 The future of call centers
37:02 Bear cases for Voice AI
41:25 Open problems
44:29 Pricing
47:12 Working with twin sister Justine
50:11 Three things Olivia's excited about
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https://smartspeakers.fm
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