Summary Bullets:

• Slack has been given a new lease on life from its parent Salesforce, serving as a frontend for the platform.

• It is not yet time to include Slack in the discussion along with rivals, but the company merits keeping a close eye on.

When Slack was acquired by Salesforce in July 2021 for nearly $28 billion, the smart money said that Slack would slide into obscurity. After all, Slack was a second-tier player in the team collaboration space while Salesforce was a premier provider of customer resource management (CRM) technology and a captain of industry at large. Surely, the acquisition would follow the familiar pattern of so many, which preceded it with a ‘big fish’ gobbling up a ‘little fish’ never to be heard from again. For certain, Slack would be stripped of its brand name, and its technology capabilities absorbed into Salesforce’s massive stockpile. Well, quite the opposite happened. Slack has not only survived – it has been granted a new and better life by its parent.

Salesforce has kept busy adding features to Slack, repositioning it as the frontend for Salesforce’s AI ecosystem. The poster child for this transformation is Salesforce Agentforce. It allows users to build specialized, task-specific AI agents that operate directly in Slack, handling everything from simple support queries to executing complex processes. The agents have access to company and customer data stored in Salesforce and are integrated with messages, files, and workflows residing within Slack. As a result, the agents provide responses that are highly tailored to the user’s work environment.

At a higher level, Slack is increasingly becoming embedded into Salesforce’s broader product fabric. For example, Salesforce recently announced a comprehensive update that creates a unified space in which teams can collaborate and act without leaving the flow of work. At the heart of the update is a new type of Slack channel labeled ‘Salesforce Channels’. Salesforce Channels reflect Salesforce’s broader strategy to consolidate applications, workflows, AI agents, and data into a single environment. Salesforce Channels connect directly with Salesforce records such as accounts, opportunities, and custom objects. Because Salesforce Channels are bi-directional, being accessible from either Slack or Salesforce with no loss of context, they reinforce Slack’s evolving role as the default collaboration interface for the Salesforce platform.

Not only has Slack evolved from a product perspective, it has evolved from a management perspective as well. In January 2023, Lidiane Jones, an EVP and GM at Salesforce, succeeded Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield as CEO. Only 10 months later in November, Jones was replaced by Denise Dresser, a long-time Salesforce executive. Dresser departed in late-2025 and Rob Seaman, Slack’s CPO has been acting as interim CEO since.

Slack has come a long way bit by bit since Salesforce purchased it, but it is not yet time to include them in the discussion with competitors such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Zoom. Rival organizations have kept busy accumulating AI-driven features across their platforms, not only for team collaboration but for contact center as well, and they have generated substantial brand equity in the process. However, as a central interface into the Salesforce platform, a foundational tool for corporate America, Slack merits keeping a close eye on.

Summary Bullets:

• Mitel CX 2.0 raises Mitel’s stature in the contact center space and its competitive standing in general.

• Mitel has continued to blossom since completing the acquisition of Unify just over two years ago.

Mitel has launched Mitel CX 2.0, an upgrade to its Mitel CX customer experience (CX)/contact center platform introduced in March 2025. Mitel CX 2.0 is significant for the impact it has on Mitel’s position in the contact center space and the role it plays in Mitel’s evolution as a company.

GenAI virtual agents reside at the core of Mitel CX 2.0. They complement human contact center agents, handling basic requests while funneling off more complex ones to the employee best-equipped to handle them whether they reside within the contact center or back-office. The virtual agents also tackle workflows on behalf of human agents such as ordering items, issuing trouble tickets, sending customer notifications, or initiating approvals. Mitel CX 2.0 can be deployed in private cloud, hybrid, or on-premises environments.

The arrival of Mitel CX 2.0 serves as a contemporary signal of the market momentum Mitel has been steadily generating since completing its Unify acquisition in October 2023.

That acquisition more than doubled Mitel’s customer base to over 75 million, broadened its geographic footprint to north of 100 countries, and married its strength serving mid-market customers with Unify’s expertise in the large enterprise space. Since that time, Mitel has reoriented its go-to-market stance from ‘all things to all people’ to a solutions-led approach. Mitel has also restructured its finances by successfully emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Most significantly, the company has reinforced its governance and leadership by installing a fresh board of directors and onboarding a new CEO, Mike Robinson, who succeeds Tarun Loomba after roughly four years at the helm. Robinson is charged with tapping his experience guiding companies through post-restructuring phases to sustain Mitel’s corporate progression.

In addition to being a notable step in Mitel’s metamorphosis, more importantly it marks a meaningful leap forward for the company in the contact center space. In the last few years, contact centers have profoundly transformed, steadily yielding to the broader concept of ‘customer experience’. Contact centers are converting from featuring live agents to also including AI agents, from reactive to proactive, from transaction-oriented to relationship-oriented, and from generic to deeply personalized. Mitel and its rivals continue to implement capabilities to help their customers make the transition.

With respect to rivals, Mitel CX 2.0 meets but does not exceed what is offered by the likes of Cisco, Zoom, and RingCentral. However, that does not erase the fact that Mitel is a markedly different company than just two years ago, one that continues to mature and blossom. With a new CEO installed, Mitel has officially launched the next chapter in its transformation. To be continued…

Summary Bullets:

• Microsoft Teams is front and center at Microsoft despite a very limited number of related announcements made at the event.

• Pairing team collaboration and productivity tools provides Microsoft a distinct competitive position.

Microsoft has officially closed the doors on its annual ‘Ignite’ event, a showcase of enhancements across the entire Microsoft portfolio. Only a handful of Microsoft Teams-related announcements were made, giving the impression that Microsoft Teams has taken a back seat to other Microsoft initiatives. In reality, much the opposite is true. The features unveiled were merely the tip of the iceberg, a small subset of a lengthy and diverse list of improvements that appeared in a Microsoft Teams blog.

While the actual depth of Microsoft Teams introductions might have come as a surprise, what shouldn’t be a surprise is that the introductions were infused with AI. Some examples bear this out.

The user interface for Microsoft Copilot in Teams AI-powered assistant is being unified across chats, channels, and meetings. Deploying a unified front across different functions is reminiscent of the familiar menu structure that cuts across Microsoft’s productivity apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The power of this approach allows users to quickly learn a new app based upon their experience with an app they are already familiar with. It’s interesting to note that Microsoft is taking knowledge gained during its ‘Microsoft Office’ era and applying it to ‘modern’ times in the form of the AI-infused Microsoft Copilot. On top of the updated interface, Microsoft Copilot in Teams can now also analyze chat history, meeting transcripts, and calendar content and generate recaps, rewrite messages, and surface insights; this experience is generally available for chat and channels and is rolling out to public preview for meetings.

Providing the ability to collaborate with external users is a growing trend. Microsoft has launched a public preview of several features that enhance interaction between Microsoft Teams users and vendors, clients, partners, and the like. Among other features, Microsoft Teams users can launch a chat, share a file in a chat, and view and respond to Microsoft Teams activity in other accounts and organizations.

A persistent collaborative space is now available from within Microsoft Teams chat and channels, helping organize information and co-create content. The space comes in the form of two features, ‘Pages’ in channels and ‘Notes’ in chat. Taken together, the features mimic the Zoom Docs capability from Zoom. So, although Microsoft is not scoring points for originality, it is introducing some very valuable functionality.

One especially intriguing aspect of Microsoft Ignite 2025 lies beyond the inventory of enhancements revealed, exposing something fundamental to Microsoft. Microsoft is taking a holistic approach to providing team collaboration capabilities. That approach spans Microsoft Teams software, device hardware such as video bars, and security, for instance, blocking files that pose a security risk such as executables before they reach a chat or channel. Normally such an ‘all points covered’ approach would provide Microsoft a unique competitive position, however it does not. Cisco mirrors Microsoft in employing deep lineups of software capabilities, devices, and security. Both companies are setting a tone that others will need to follow to compete in the space; rivals certainly have their work cut out for them.

Collectively, all the new features further cement Microsoft’s position as a leading vendor in the team collaboration/hybrid work arena. With AI touching multiple points of its portfolio including the latest Microsoft Ignite announcements, Microsoft has taken the ‘permeate the platform’ approach to AI adopted by competitors such as Cisco, Google, Zoom, and RingCentral. Coupled with its portfolio of ‘Office’ productivity tools, Microsoft has achieved a degree of differentiation that is largely unmatched.

Summary Bullets:

• RingCentral continues to aggressively grow its portfolio of AI-infused features both for team collaboration and communication as well as for contact center.
• The most significant enhancement to RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) is the introduction of a standalone version called AI Receptionist Everywhere (AIR Everywhere).

RingCentral has maintained a very aggressive cadence of compiling AI-infused features in its portfolio. That is true with respect to both its team collaboration and communication platform called RingCentral RingEX (RingEX) as well as its contact center platform known as RingCentral RingCX (RingCX). Mirroring a growing trend, it has also implemented features that link team collaboration/communication and contact center, allowing for employees throughout an organization to influence the customer experience. RingCentral’s latest portfolio fortification has arrived in the form of new features for RingCentral AIR.

RingCentral AIR is an AI phone agent that can answer or route customer calls using natural language capability. RingCentral AIR now includes appointment booking with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, and it now supports British and Australian English, Spanish, and French, including Canadian French. In addition, RingCentral AIR will be available in the UK and Australia by the end of September 2025.

The most significant enhancement to RingCentral AIR is the introduction of a standalone version called RingCentral AIR Everywhere. RingCentral AIR Everywhere is especially intriguing because it brings the capabilities found in RingCentral AIR to third-party telephony systems – and thus to users who are not RingCentral customers. RingCentral AIR Everywhere is currently in controlled availability.

The addition of new languages to RingCentral AIR coupled with the compatibility of RingCentral AIR Everywhere with third-party telephony systems will allow RingCentral to expand the RingCentral AIR customer base. That is saying a lot because RingCentral AIR has already seen rapid adoption and growth since its release only six months ago. RingCentral AIR boasts more than 3,000 customers at the end of Q2 2025, triple the number compared to Q1 2025.

RingCentral AIR is also noteworthy because it marks RingCentral’s entry into the latest phase of AI, agentic AI. Agentic AI is an advanced form of the technology that stretches beyond merely generating content, featuring agents that perform tasks independently on behalf of users ranging from the mundane to the complex. Agentic AI can act autonomously, make decisions, and take actions without human intervention. It can adjust its approach based upon new information or changing circumstances.

RingCentral is tipping its toe into the agentic AI waters on the early portion of the adoption curve, reversing a tendency to play the role of follower and unspooling a long lag time versus competitors. RingCentral AIR joins the ranks of rival offers such as Agentforce from Salesforce, Copilot Agents from Microsoft, and Webex AI Agent from Cisco.

Although positive on balance, the launch of RingCentral AIR enhancements suffers a blemish, with no expiration date indicated for the controlled availability period for RingCentral AIR Everywhere. RingCentral is losing an opportunity to generate a dash of market momentum. Even a vague launch date such as ‘Q4 2025’ would be preferable over staying mute. Still, once RingCentral AIR Everywhere does become generally available, RingCentral will officially have yet another impactful offer in its portfolio.

Summary Bullets:

• New Zoom Workplace features are emblematic of the advent of agentic AI and the rise of Zoom as a competitor.
• A rapid accumulation of Workplace features provides Zoom with the challenge of drafting clear messaging regarding security and market positioning.

Earlier this month Zoom continued its steady drumbeat of enhancements to the Zoom Workplace platform with the latest round of new features. As with previous rounds, the new capabilities enable users to be more productive by saving time during their workday. However, the real headline is that the features are emblematic of the advent of agentic AI and the rise of Zoom as a competitor.

All the new features add value, but two are especially worth noting. With the Custom AI Companion add-on, AI Companion can attend meetings on a user’s behalf held on platforms from three of Zoom’s biggest rivals – Microsoft, Google, and coming soon, Cisco – and automatically transcribe, summarize, and deliver actionable follow-ups. Also with the add-on, users can connect to 16 third-party apps to complete tasks without ever leaving Zoom. For example, resolving customer support tickets with Zendesk and ServiceNow; updating project statuses, assigning tasks, and setting deadlines with Asana and Jira; and expediting recruiting, interviews, and onboarding with Workday.

A common thread running through the announced features is the latest phase of AI – agentic AI. Agentic AI stretches beyond generating content, featuring agents that perform tasks on users’ behalf. Agentic AI can act autonomously, make decisions, and take action without human intervention. It can adjust its approach based upon new information or changing circumstances. Zoom and each of its competitors are leveraging agentic AI in some shape or form.

Most significantly, the new features symbolize a profound metamorphosis taking place at Zoom. After its video meetings capability became renowned virtually overnight in the dark, nascent days of the pandemic, Zoom ignited a steady evolution of its platform. With the October 2023 introduction of Zoom AI Companion, that evolution took a sharp trajectory upward and morphed into a full-blown renaissance marked by the introduction of GenAI features. With the implementation of agentic AI capabilities – both those recently and newly introduced – Zoom has entered yet another chapter. Now, Zoom has taken an important step in that chapter with the integrations between competitor platforms and roster of third-party apps.

Zoom is converting the Workplace platform from an island of collaboration into a centralized hub connecting with external tools. With a critical mass of functionality available from within Zoom, Zoom creates much stickier relationships with users and enables them to get work accomplished much more rapidly. However, there are disadvantages to having extended functionality under one roof.

Within the last few years, Zoom experienced a security incident which made headlines, labeled ‘Zoom bombing.’ The company promptly restored trust, resolving the problem quickly and communicating to the public what types of security measures it had in place. Today, with Zoom Workplace linking into other tools, the issue of security becomes top of mind again. Zoom needs to resurrect the strong security message it previously drafted and remind users what safeguards are in place to reduce the chance of a major breach.

The rapid accumulation of features on the platform over an abbreviated period has resulted in a mosaic of capabilities. Zoom needs to craft a clear ‘identity’ for its suite of tools and send an unambiguous positioning message to the market. Cisco provides a good lead for Zoom to follow. In communicating what its Webex Suite stands for Cisco has erected three pillars: hybrid work, customer experience, and workspaces. Zoom needs to decide what its pillars are and mold a message accordingly.

By continuing to regularly augment the platform while drafting strong messaging regarding security and market positioning, Zoom will be poised to continue its ascent.