The rise of assistive voice agents — and what they're really doing

This is an excerpt from our latest insights report: The Voice AI Reality Check - download the full report.

The generative agent boom of 2024 arrived with ambitious promises. As "AI-first" became the dominant mantra, companies from Klarna to Duolingo raced to announce agent-led interfaces, often to mixed reception.

By 2025, reality has tempered this excitement, with headlines of companies retreating from aggressive rollouts.

The meaningful transformation hasn't emerged through flashy avatars but through behind-the-scenes orchestration that amplifies human capabilities. What works isn’t wholesale replacement, but thoughtful augmentation.

From support role to orchestration

At Content Guru, voice agents function as integrated components of larger systems, orchestrating connections between data, transcription, and decision-making without demanding center stage.

"Our role in AI is as an orchestrator. Customers are using highly skilled, high-cost people — clinicians, auditors — to do repetitive admin. Voice AI lets these professionals focus on what they’re trained for." —Martin Taylor, Content Guru

This orchestration approach yields tangible results in healthcare and public services, where Voice AI liberates skilled professionals from administrative burdens.

These changes translate to measurable outcomes: clinician hours reclaimed, service backlogs reduced, and professional burnout mitigated — all without replacing the essential human expertise.

Human insight remains essential

However, speed alone doesn't create value.

In research and compliance, insight quality depends on sound reasoning and contextual understanding that machines still struggle to provide independently.

This principle applies particularly in compliance, where voice-led tools must meet strict regulatory standards while maintaining complete traceability.

"We're already testing audit tools you can speak to… and yes, agents will become part of compliance workflows. But adoption will lag until regulators lead the way. Compliance is a risk management profession. Risk-averse by nature." 

—Peter Kenny, ACA Group

That caution doesn't preclude innovation, but it reframes the timeline.

In high-stakes environments, the question isn't what's possible, but what's reliable enough to trust.

In adtech, where contextual understanding determines brand safety and campaign effectiveness, Voice AI provides crucial support for human teams. In fact Tamara Zubatiy-Nelson, Cofounder at Barometer, explains that "tech should help us understand what matters, not just what was said".

Across diverse industries, the pattern is clear: the most powerful agents operate in assistive capacities rather than autonomous ones. They empower people to work smarter while maintaining essential control over critical decisions.

Learn how real-world leaders are deploying Voice AI to augment, not replace, their workforce. Download the full report.