Enterprises Transforming Collaboration with AI, ISG Says

Embedded AI becoming key to communication across teams, partners, customers, new research says

Artificial intelligence is turning collaboration software into an orchestration layer that automatically translates human interactions into enterprise decisions and actions, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Collaborative AI and Communications provide the rankings and ratings of 65 software providers and their products for collaboration across distributed enterprise environments and increasingly complex processes. The series includes Buyers Guides evaluating collaboration suites, communication platforms and conversational AI tools. The research finds that the use of AI in collaboration has expanded from summarization and transcription to include agentic systems that can interpret context, recommend actions and execute tasks.

"The focus of collaboration is shifting from communication over specific channels to engagement with workflows across multiple teams, partners and customers," said David Menninger, executive director and distinguished analyst, ISG Research. "AI enables conversations to directly trigger approvals and tasks, which is transforming how work is structured and executed."

AI agents can assign tasks, initiate workflows, update records and coordinate activities based on the content of conversations, guided by organizational policies. If properly implemented, this can reduce friction, accelerate decision-making and improve consistency. To safely integrate AI into collaboration, enterprises are building strong governance frameworks that define what data AI can use, what actions it can take and how outcomes are audited. Making AI transparent and explainable is essential.

Collaboration data is the fuel for AI's new capabilities and an increasingly important source of enterprise intelligence. AI-powered collaboration suites can capture, search and analyze information from conversations, meetings and shared content. This provides a record of how decisions are made and work is executed, allowing enterprises to improve workflows and identify bottlenecks for better organizational performance.

By unifying communications, content and workflows in a single environment, collaborative AI suites overcome the fragmentation that has prevented many enterprises from increasing the efficiency and visibility of interactions. Operating multiple tools often results in duplicated effort and inconsistent experiences as employees continually switch contexts. Effective integration enables more consistent execution across organizations.

Enterprises seeking AI-enabled collaboration and communication software should evaluate its ability to scale globally while meeting requirements for governance, data sovereignty, privacy and cybersecurity, ISG says. To get the most value from collaboration suites and prevent users from reverting to disconnected tools, they should align the priorities and policies of IT, business leaders and functional teams.

For the 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Collaborative AI and Communications, ISG produced five Buyers Guides: Collaborative AI Suites, Communication Platforms, Communication Platforms Emerging Providers, Conversational AI and Conversational AI Emerging Providers. Each covers the essential platform categories and products in the given technology segment. A total of 65 providers were assessed: 8x8, Alcatel-Lucent, Anthropic, Atlassian, Automation Anywhere, AWS, Bandwidth, Bird, CEQUENS, Cisco, Clickatell, CM.com, Cohere, Coveo, Creative Virtual, Dialpad, Exotel, Fractal, Freshworks, Glean, Google, GoTo, Gupshup, HCLSoftware, IBM, iBASIS, Infobip, Inbenta, Kaltura, Kore.ai, LINK Mobility, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Mitto, Monty Mobile, MSG91, Netcore, Notion, Nylas, Omilia, OpenAI, OpenText, Oracle, Plivo, Radisys, RingCentral, Route Mobile, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Sinch, Soprano, SoundHound AI, Tanla, Tata Communications, Telesign, Telnyx, Tencent Cloud, Twilio, Vonage, Yellow.ai, Zendesk, Zenvia, Zoho and Zoom.

ISG rates software providers in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience, Capability, Platform and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those that meet the greatest proportion of our evaluation criteria are named as Overall Leaders.

In the Buyers Guide for Collaborative AI Suites, Microsoft was the top Overall Leader, followed by Google and Zoom.

The Buyers Guide for Communication Platforms found that Infobip was the top Overall Leader, followed by Microsoft and Oracle. In the guide for Communication Platforms Emerging Providers, Telnyx was the top Overall Leader, followed by Exotel and Clickatell.

In the Buyers Guide for Conversational AI, Google was the top Overall Leader, followed by Oracle and Microsoft. The guide for Conversational AI Emerging Providers found that SoundHound AI was the top Overall Leader, followed by Kaltura and Kore.ai.

In addition, the following providers were rated as Exemplary or Innovative in each of the Buyers Guides:

Collaborative AI Suites: Google, Microsoft, RingCentral, Salesforce, Zoho and Zoom were rated Exemplary. Cisco was rated Innovative.

Communication Platforms: 8x8, AWS, Cisco, Freshworks, Infobip, Microsoft, Oracle, RingCentral, Sinch, Tencent Cloud, Twilio, Vonage and Zoom were rated Exemplary. CM.com was rated Innovative.

Communication Platforms Emerging Providers: Clickatell, Exotel, MSG91 and Telnyx were rated Exemplary. Plivo and Soprano were rated Innovative.

Conversational AI: Automation Anywhere, AWS, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, RingCentral, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Zendesk and Zoom were rated Exemplary. Cisco was rated Innovative.

Conversational AI Emerging Providers: Kaltura, Kore.ai, Omilia and SoundHound AI were rated Exemplary. Mistral AI was rated Innovative.

"Enterprises are evaluating collaboration suites based on how well they embed AI into everyday work," said Menninger. "This research looks beyond product features, providing independent insights into the overall AI capabilities of each suite so organizations can identify the solution that delivers the most value."

The ISG Buyers Guides for Collaborative AI and Communications are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.

Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Buyers Guides for Collaborative AI and Communications and read executive summaries of each of the five reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

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Press Contacts:



Laura Hupprich, ISG

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Erik Arvidson, Matter Communications for ISG

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