A pulse check on conversational AI in 2026

What most companies get wrong about voice AI with Henry Vaage Iversen, boost.ai

We sit down with Henry Vaage Iversen, Co-Founder and CCO at boost.ai, to explore why voice AI is finally reaching mainstream deployment across banks, insurers, telcos and other regulated industries.We dig into what's changed in the technology, why phone volumes continue to rise and how large language models are reshaping what's possible on the voice channel. Henry shares practical lessons from deploying conversational AI at scale, including how some customers are now achieving 60-75% voice automation. We also discuss why the gap between chat and voice experiences still catches companies off guard, and what it really takes to get voice AI right in terms of testing, latency, and conversation design.We explore why layering AI onto legacy channels only gets you so far, and why the real opportunity lies in rethinking customer journeys from scratch. The conversation wraps with a story about what happens when AI agents start calling other AI agents, something our team recently experienced firsthand. Show notes * Find out more about boost.ai [https://boost.ai] * Follow Henry on LinkedIn [https://no.linkedin.com/in/henry-vaage-iversen-7046ba49 Follow Kane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanesimms] * Take our updated AI Maturity Assessment [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26bf9Rr?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast] * Subscribe to our newsletter [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5aaeW?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast ] * Subscribe to The AI Ultimatum Substack [https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms]

How PolyAI built a voice AI model that handles millions of customer calls with Nikola Mrkšić, Co-founder and CEO

Five years after his ⁠first appearance on the podcast⁠ [https://vux.world/creating-super-human-voice-assistants/], PolyAI CEO Nikola Mrkšić returns to VUX World to discuss how conversational AI has evolved from intent-based systems into enterprise-scale AI agents handling millions of customer interactions. PolyAI began as a research-led spinout from Cambridge University with a singular focus on making automated voice conversations genuinely useful. Since then, the company has grown from a handful of pilot deployments to powering customer service operations for nearly 200 enterprises worldwide, including highly regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance and utilities. In this episode, we explore what it actually takes to build production-ready conversational AI systems at scale. We go deep into PolyAI's proprietary Raven model, the realities of building and training purpose-built language models for enterprise customer service. We also talk about why most businesses underestimate the complexity of deploying AI agents into real-world operations. The conversation also touches on PolyAI's brand campaign starring Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay's restaurants have been a PolyAI client for a few years, and the company launched a campaign timed to the Super Bowl in February 2026 with Ramsay dramatising the contrast between legacy phone menus and PolyAI's voice agents. Nikola explains how the partnership came about and why Ramsay's standards made him a fitting brand ambassador for the company. Show notes  Find out more about PolyAI: ⁠https://poly.ai/⁠ [https://poly.ai/] Follow Nikola on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikola-mrksic⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikola-mrksic]  Follow Kane on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanesimms⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanesimms] Sign up for our upcoming webinar - Cutting headcount isn't an AI strategy: ⁠https://events.vux.ai/getvocal?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast⁠ [https://events.vux.ai/getvocal?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast]   Take our updated AI Maturity Assessment: ⁠https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26bf9Rr?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=audio⁠ [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26bf9Rr?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=audio] Subscribe to our newsletter: ⁠https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5aaeW/?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast⁠ [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5aaeW/?utm_source=podcast_network&utm_medium=podcast]  Subscribe to The AI Ultimatum Substack: ⁠https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms [https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms]

Most AI projects fail. Here's how to pick the ones that don't with Thomas Schaefer, Uniphore

Enterprise AI projects fail more often than they succeed. The MIT figure Thomas Schaefer cites puts that at 95%. The reasons are rarely the model. They are the architecture beneath it, the data that feeds it, and the use case selection that determines whether any of it was worth starting. Thomas Schaefer is Director of Sales Engineering at Uniphore, based in Germany. He has over 20 years in enterprise technology, including 12 years at Jacada across solution architecture, professional services and presales leadership across EMEA and APAC. He joined Uniphore in 2021 and works with enterprise clients on AI transformation, agentic workflow design and the operationalisation of business AI at scale. Show notes Discover more about the CCW UK Summit: https://europe.customercontactweekdig... Find out more about Uniphore: https://www.uniphore.com/ Follow Thomas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-schaefer-4027a611/ Follow Kane on LinkedIn: / kanesimms Take our updated AI Maturity Assessment: https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26b... Subscribe to VUX World: https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5... Subscribe to The AI Ultimatum Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The headless AI enterprise is coming | Are you ready?

In this episode, we explore the concept of the "headless enterprise," where AI agents interact with the external world without traditional user interfaces. This discussion delves into the future of ai and its implications for enterprise automation. We consider how such ai technology could drive significant business growth, focusing on scenarios where AI agents handle interactions seamlessly without a traditional user interface, similar to a headless cms. 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFWBkcgBLo] What is the headless AI enterprise? 01:41 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFWBkcgBLo&t=101s] How to prepare 03:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFWBkcgBLo&t=220s] Lipstick on a pig 04:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFWBkcgBLo&t=298s] AI tinkering vs embedding 07:19 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFWBkcgBLo&t=439s] Where to focus your attention Subscribe to VUX AI: https://vux.world/subscribe [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbFNLMWxUTlIwM09GOUZUMUtQczJhMTJxd2c1UXxBQ3Jtc0tuTDU3aWNfcFp6TDl6MDJxS3k2VnhsSENmcVhFbFlVNG9ZcGw2dUQzbmhYbFlvR2lONjVadHFBVVd1TjQ1MlUzaWEtZElWdGx6SWVKUVRURkFZSGdMOTVmNDdOTVNYVVZ4U3VlbEhyV3lGN2xzbnFiWQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvux.world%2Fsubscribe&v=4fFWBkcgBLo] Listen to the VUX Podcast: https://vux.world/podcast [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3VlYl9GeW9LMmx4V3Rvc2c0X2VGY0VoZWpWZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsSkN1MktCZnJ4UVFDM1FCMlBFWFE2eEJyVkFPWFUyNXpiLUNZc2I4ZWgyemo4ZUpmTnNfSmFHek9hN0tFZ0xjeU9abTJTUVB6YUsxUVJuNzJsRlBIdUVTUlFIWkhZRFdqbFdPdnhCU1hQT1RfLTZpMA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvux.world%2Fpodcast&v=4fFWBkcgBLo] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Building enterprise AI agents in hours with Merlin Bise, CTO at Inbenta

Enterprise AI tools can spin up a prototype in an hour. Getting that prototype to production with the accuracy, security, and scale a real business needs still takes months for most companies. Inbenta says its new Encore platform closes that gap in days or even hours. Merlin Bise, CTO at Inbenta, returns to VUX World to walk through how Encore builds production-grade AI agents on the fly when a customer deploys a use case. The platform ingests content from websites, documents, recordings and connected systems like SharePoint, then combines large language models with Inbenta's proprietary NLP, customer-specific lexicons and real-time intent generation to deliver near-zero hallucination rates. The hallucination numbers from raw models remain striking. We discuss a report that shows hallucination rates across different LLMs, including those from companies such as OpenAI, Google, and xAI. Inbenta's approach constrains the model to verified content and context, then layers intent-based NLP on top. In one customer test of 200 questions, they found a single hallucination, caused by a query that fell outside the content boundaries.  We also discuss the broader trajectory of enterprise AI. Most deployments today focus on replacing existing activities or functions. The bigger opportunity lies in using AI to imagine entirely new kinds of value. Merlin predicts that hyper-automation, which combines agentic intelligence with robotic process automation, will be the defining shift in the next 12 months. SHOW NOTES Find out more about The European Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit: https://europe.customercontactweekdigital.com/events-ccw-uk/agenda-mc/?utm_source=VUX%20World&utm_medium=Media%20Partner&utm_campaign=47758.003_VUX_Social_Post_Agenda&utm_term=&utm_content=&disc=&extTreatId=7634824 [https://europe.customercontactweekdigital.com/events-ccw-uk/agenda-mc/?utm_source=VUX%20World&utm_medium=Media%20Partner&utm_campaign=47758.003_VUX_Social_Post_Agenda&utm_term=&utm_content=&disc=&extTreatId=7634824] Find out more about Inbenta: https://www.inbenta.com [https://www.inbenta.com] Follow Merlin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merlin-bise-8277696b [https://www.linkedin.com/in/merlin-bise-8277696b] Follow Kane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanesimms [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanesimms] Take our updated AI Maturity Assessment: https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26bf9Rr?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/a26bf9Rr?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio] Subscribe to VUX World: https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5aaeW [https://vuxworld.typeform.com/to/Qlo5aaeW] Subscribe to The AI Ultimatum Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms [https://open.substack.com/pub/kanesimms] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.