What’s the business value of an AI-first work platform? Measuring the financial impact of Zoom Workplace

What if switching to an AI-first work platform could have a financial impact of over $12,000 per employee per year?

As IT leaders feel the pressure to justify new investments and employees struggle to keep up with more and more transactional tasks in their workday, the value that AI can bring continues to grow. But it all depends on how you use it.

By itself, AI is just a tool - and when it's bolted on as a third-party app, as just another part of your tech stack, it might never rise above that. A solution built with an AI-first approach means AI is woven into how you work every day. It has the potential to become transformational: working for you, instead of waiting for you to take the next step. Imagine a world where AI can help you accomplish more, get better results and connect genuinely, so you build stronger and better relationships at work.

Zoom Workplace is an AI-first work platform for human connection, helping you get more done, achieve better results, and connect authentically with others. Our shift toward an AI-first companyis intentional, designed to help you upend transactional tasks that drain your time and energy and prioritize the stuff you actually care about, the work only you can do. Usually that includes improving processes for your team; building relationships with your teammates, customers, vendors, and partners; and dreaming up new and creative ideas.

But what is the true business value of an AI-first work platform like Zoom Workplace? IT leaders know that evaluating any new platform means examining its costs and benefits together. Read on to find out how Zoom Workplace resulted in a financial impact of $38.7 million on average for five real-life Zoom customers.

Total cost of ownership

Every solution has a price tag, but the total cost of a solution goes beyond the sticker price you pay upfront or on a monthly basis. As I wrote about in a blog breaking down Zoom's TCO, it's also important to factor in the costs of implementing the solution and training employees to use it, as well as the ongoing maintenance you'll need to provide year after year.

When you consider the wide range of products and capabilities found in Zoom Workplace (including AI Companion at no additional cost*), combined with our intuitive, "it just works" experience, Zoom's TCO is often much lower than legacy solutions and competitors.

But price is only one factor in your evaluation. If a solution helps your employees save hours per week, that could ultimately provide more value to your business than one that simply provides the tools you need at the lowest price tag. A platform that is easy to use, resulting in fewer IT support tickets and higher adoption, could provide a greater return on investment than one that employees struggle with. Here's how Zoom Workplace was found to impact these business value drivers.

The business value of Zoom Workplace

We knew an organization deploying an AI-first collaboration platform like Zoom Workplace would extract more value from it by adopting more tools from the platform versus cobbling together many different solutions. We also knew that generative AI capabilities have inherent value, and with AI Companion for Zoom Workplace being included at no additional cost,* that value could be realized at a lower TCO and have a higher ROI. To quantify that, we commissioned 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, to help us put a dollar value on the impact Zoom Workplace can have on an organization's bottom line.

The Technology Impact on Business Reportanalyzed the results of five Zoom customers over five years to measure the business impact of Zoom Workplace.

[Left] According to 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence Technology Impact on Business report, September 2024, commissioned by Zoom. [Right] Time savings estimate calculated with Zoom AI Companion ROI Calculator based on a per-user basis for an employee who averages 20 thirty-minute meetings a week using meeting summaries.

According to the findings in the report, Zoom Workplace provides significant financial impact and business value to organizations, with $12,212 in added value per user annually - or $38.7 million for the composite organization** after five years of deployment. Take a look at the report highlights below.

$33.2 million in increased productivity

Spending less time on mundane tasks and ineffective collaborationcan allow employees to be more efficient and productive in their day. Zoom AI Companion can help employees take notes in meetings, identify their daily to-dos, and quickly get started on project briefs and business plans. You can share and co-edit drafts, meet or chat with colleagues about projects, and brainstorm new ideas - all without leaving the Zoom Workplace app.

The report calculations echoed these findings, citing that Zoom Workplace could add $33.2 million in expected business value to the composite organization. The ability to collaborate instantly, from virtually any location, with cross-functional teams and high-value stakeholders was seen as a significant driver of productivity.

$6 million in top-line growth

Increasing revenue and improving customer satisfaction are key to achieving top-line growth. This could be as simple as using AI Companion to summarize meetings, allowing you to focus more on your customer during the call; hosting webinars and virtual events on Zoom Events as a lead generator or revenue driver; and providing a more reliable communications platform to resolve customer issues.

Zoom Workplace was found in the report to improve customer response times, help employees better serve their clients in meetings and events, and allow employees to collaborate and ideate on new products. That resulted in an additional $1,900 in potential revenue per employee, or $6 million for the composite organization.

$664,000 in operational efficiency

Another area where organizations can realize business value is through operational efficiency. Reducing the time spent on tasks like IT support, facilities management, user training, and dealing with outages, gives IT teams time back in their day for more important work. Customers often find that Zoom Workplace's intuitive experience results in fewer support tickets and requests to set up conference rooms or start meetings. Additionally, according to the S&P report, Zoom Workplace's uptime, continuous performance, and facilities management improvements provide a significant benefit to customers - to the tune of $664,000 for the composite organization.

$129,000 in employee engagement

When employees have the tools they need to connect with their colleagues and do their job, collaboration becomes easier and employees feel more engaged with their work. As a communication and collaboration platform, Zoom Workplace provides the tools for employees to be able to work together effectively and easily by sending a quick chat, jumping on a video call, brainstorming together on a whiteboard, and more. As the report noted, Zoom Workplace's ease of use and ability to connect employees contributed to improved satisfaction and engagement.

Explore AI-first collaboration

Altogether, consolidating your collaboration tools translates to measurable business value and reduced IT costs. Read the full Technology Impact on Business studyfrom S&P Global Market Intelligence for an in-depth analysis of how Zoom Workplace impacted the participating organizations.

Visit our websiteto learn about how Zoom Workplace with AI Companion can help your organization accomplish more, get better results, and transform how you work.

*Zoom AI Companion may not be available for all regions or industry verticals. Included at no additional cost with the paid services in your Zoom user account.

**The composite organization is an aggregation of the five organizations analyzed in the Technology Impact on Business report, with a total employee count of 3,170.

Measuring the business impact of Zoom Workplace