Yuan began using his AI avatar in an earnings call with investors this year, demonstrating the technology’s potential and ability to push the “boundaries of communication,” he said.

At Disrupt, the exec emphasized spending a lot of time talking about AI and the right products to bring to market.

When asked about what he’s investing in, he responded, “AI, AI, and AI.” The technology is the subject of multi-hour strategy meetings, as Zoom believes in its potential to transform work.

Yuan also suggested there were many more use cases for AI companions, beyond just video conferencing stand-ins. He offered a potential future scenario where two business execs were negotiating a contract over Zoom.

Instead of being on a call for a long time, they could send their digital twins to work together on the plan first, Yuan said.

He also spoke of how AI could assist with email, checking your messages for you and helping you figure out what was important and in need of a response.

Plus, Yuan believes that AI could enhance Zoom’s broader suite of solutions, which includes things like an online whiteboard and collaborative docs.

“Today, I need to manually focus on all those products to get work done. Eventually, AI will help,” Yuan said.

“By doing that, we do not need to work five days a week anymore, right? … Five years out, three days or four days [a week]. That’s a goal,” he said.