Best AI Agents For Business Operations in 2026
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Featured AI Agents For Business Operations At A Glance
Buyer's Guide: AI Agents For Business Operations
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Microsoft Copilot to be incredibly user-friendly, seamlessly integrating into their existing workflows and tools.
Users love how Microsoft Copilot provides significant time-saving, streamlining their workflow and reducing mental clutter.
Users find Microsoft Copilot's ease of integration and useful features significantly boost their productivity and efficiency.
Users often experience inaccuracy in MS Copilot's responses, necessitating double-checking for reliable information.
Users feel that Copilot has inconsistent contextual understanding, often requiring corrections and additional input for accuracy.
Users find Microsoft Copilot expensive, especially for smaller teams needing a proper subscription for full functionality.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the ease of use of Retell AI, highlighting its intuitive design and quick setup process.
Users appreciate the simple and intuitive UI of Retell AI, enhancing usability and overall efficiency.
Users appreciate the helpful features of Retell AI, enjoying seamless integration and an easy-to-use interface.
Users find the limited voice options and flexibility in Retell AI disappointing, especially for international support.
Users find the learning curve challenging due to limited tutorials and unclear instructions for using Retell AI effectively.
Users find the limited features of Retell AI, like fewer integrations and no white label options, disappointing.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the ease of use of Synthflow, finding it intuitive and straightforward for deployment and integration.
Users find the setup ease of Synthflow remarkable, highlighting its intuitive and straightforward interface for deployment.
Users appreciate the easy integrations with platforms like Zapier, enhancing the overall usability and functionality of Synthflow.
Users find the pricing plans expensive, with no reasonable options between starter and pro levels.
Users find the pricing plans steep and feel the trial minutes are insufficient for thorough evaluation.
Users find the learning curve steep due to outdated tutorials and insufficient documentation complicating setup and integration.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use in Jira, enjoying customizable options that enhance project management and collaboration.
Users value the effective task management capabilities of Jira, enhancing their Agile project tracking and workflow flexibility.
Users value the efficient task tracking in Jira, enabling seamless project management and team collaboration.
Users find the learning curve steep, making it challenging for newcomers to fully utilize Jira's capabilities.
Users find Jira to be overwhelming and cumbersome, especially due to its complexity and extensive configuration requirements.
Users find the learning difficulty of Jira challenging due to its complex interface and numerous configuration options.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of Guru, facilitating quick adoption and seamless integration into daily workflows.
Users appreciate how Guru naturally integrates into daily workflows, enhancing efficiency without disrupting their tasks.
Users value the comprehensive information provided by GURU, streamlining their search for answers efficiently.
Users find inefficient searching a challenge, as it complicates managing large knowledge bases effectively.
Users find the search functionality lacking in refinement and speed, making it difficult to manage large knowledge bases.
Users struggle with inefficient search, as outdated cards clutter results and complicate knowledge management.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Podium to significantly enhance ease of use, simplifying customer communication and scheduling processes.
Users find Podium's communication features invaluable, enabling efficient daily interactions and positive customer feedback.
Users appreciate the streamlined and automated communication that Podium offers, enhancing follow-up while saving time.
Users experience messaging issues with Podium, finding it challenging to manage high volumes and retrieve past correspondence.
Users find Podium lacking in essential features, such as proper message organization and bulk messaging options for teams.
Users feel that Podium has limited features, particularly for tracking inquiries and integrating with other systems like Hubspot.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use in Asana, enabling quick project setup and efficient task management.
Users value the visual organization and task management capabilities in Asana, streamlining collaboration for teams effectively.
Users love the ease of project setup in Asana, enabling efficient tracking and collaboration on various tasks.
Users find the steep learning curve of Asana challenging, particularly when adapting to various task views and features.
Users find the missing features in Asana, like limited actions and single task assignments, quite frustrating.
Users feel the limited features of Asana hinder project management and client database handling.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find ClickUp's ease of use exceptional, enabling efficient task management and organization of projects and clients.
Users appreciate the task management capabilities of ClickUp, enhancing structure, visibility, and team alignment effectively.
Users love ClickUp for its all-in-one functionality, enhancing team alignment and simplifying project management.
Users find that many useful features are locked behind a paywall, limiting accessibility and frustrating overall experience.
Users find that ClickUp has a noticeable learning curve which can hinder immediate productivity and experience.
Users find ClickUp's limited features frustrating, particularly regarding forms, mobile functionality, and export options.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the exceptional customer support from Qualified's team, ensuring successful onboarding and ongoing success.
Users value the exceptional onboarding and support from Qualified, ensuring a smooth and efficient implementation experience.
Users highlight the ease of use of Qualified, appreciating its intuitive interface and responsive support team.
Users experience a noticeable learning curve with Qualified, especially for those new to conversational marketing and sales engagement.
Users find the missing features frustrating, as vital tools like hot hand-offs and intuitive dashboards are lacking.
Users experience a steep learning curve with Qualified, requiring time to navigate its complex interface effectively.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Jotform AI Agents to be easy and intuitive, streamlining tasks like form creation and scheduling.
Users value the efficiency of Jotform AI Agents, significantly reducing time, cost, and stress during onboarding.
Users commend the easy setup of Jotform AI Agents, which simplifies onboarding and enhances overall workflow efficiency.
Users experience confusion and frustration due to Jotform AI Agents' inaccuracies and unclear distinction between AI and real agents.
Users find the AI's limited understanding and capabilities frustrating, often leading to incomplete answers or lack of adaptability.
Users face limited customization in agent personality, hindering the ability to create a distinct brand voice.
Written by G2’s researcher using verified user reviews and product data, with no personal bias.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find the ease of use in Kore.AI enhances chat bot development, making it accessible for beginners.
Users love the user-friendly interface of Kore.AI, making bot creation simple and accessible for everyone.
Users appreciate the simplicity and user-friendliness of Kore.AI for easy chatbot development and error rectification.
Users find the platform initially complex and overwhelming, requiring time and training to fully utilize its features.
Users find usage limitations in Kore.AI, such as integration constraints and outdated data type support, frustrating.
Users experience slow performance with Kore.ai, facing delays and occasional lags that hinder smooth interactions.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users love the easy navigation of Fin by Intercom, allowing quick access to helpful features and responses.
Users find Fin to be surprisingly helpful, providing accurate responses and friendly support without the need for human intervention.
Users love Fin's powerful query resolution and efficient integration, enhancing support and client management effortlessly.
Users note the lack of essential features in Fin, which hampers workflow efficiency and integration capabilities.
Users find the limited features of Fin require specific phrasing and lack nuanced support for complex issues.
Users find that AI limitations hinder effective communication, often requiring specific phrasing for accurate responses.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users praise IBM watsonx Orchestrate for its incredible ease of use, enabling effortless automation without developer skills.
Users appreciate the seamless integration of IBM watsonx Orchestrate with existing tools, enhancing efficiency and workflow automation.
Users value the task automation of IBM watsonx Orchestrate, simplifying workflows with natural language and no coding required.
Users experience a steep learning curve that poses challenges, particularly for new users and feature mastery.
Users find the usability complex in IBM watsonx Orchestrate, often facing challenges with setup and integrations.
Users experience integration issues with IBM watsonx Orchestrate, impacting usability and compatibility with other tools.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find HubSpot Marketing Hub's ease of use makes campaign management and performance tracking simple and efficient.
Users love the all-in-one integration of HubSpot Marketing Hub, enabling seamless campaign management and data-driven insights.
Users value the user-friendly email marketing tools of HubSpot Marketing Hub, enabling seamless campaign management and tracking.
Users find missing features in HubSpot Marketing Hub, particularly for social media and integration with Sales Hub.
Users find the learning curve challenging, struggling with technical skills and integration across different hubs.
Users feel HubSpot Marketing Hub has limited features, particularly in reporting, user-friendliness, and integration capabilities.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users praise Tidio for its ease of use, finding setup and integration straightforward and supportive.
Users praise Tidio for its helpful support, enabling quick setup and effective communication with customers.
Users value the seamless integration of chatbots in Tidio, enhancing engagement through a unified communication platform.
Users find Tidio to be expensive and experience performance issues that harm their website's loading speeds.
Users express frustration over missing features, feeling compelled to upgrade for essential automation and analytics tools.
Users are concerned about the high costs associated with Tidio, especially for essential features and short trial periods.
Learn More About AI Agents For Business Operations
What is Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software?
Businesses interact with clients, customers, and internal stakeholders across various channels which include telephone, email, websites, and social media platforms. Historically, businesses needed to manually engage with humans, who would provide support and communication. However, in this current age of digital transformation, conversational agents of different flavors have emerged which are helping businesses be available and at the ready 24/7.
One particular instantiation of this technology is chatbots. These tools provide a simple conversational interface where users input text (or speech) and receive a canned or scripted response. With chatbots, a company is enabled to scale its functions, such as IT support and recruitment with limited resources, both in terms of money and time. If a company has more time and energy, as well as fiscal resources, it is wise for them to explore intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs), which provide the same basic capabilities of chatbots and more. With IVAs, users are enabled to have natural conversations via a host of different channels to solve their business problems. In addition, this advanced software has the ability to use the conversations to update systems such as a CRM, an ERP, or human resource management systems.
Key Benefits of Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software
- Provides a solution which is available 24/7 for internal and external stakeholders
- Allow users to have a natural, personalized conversation with a business
- Provides a key tool for automating core business functions, such as customer service
- Updates front end and back end systems effectively with conversational agents
Why Use Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software?
IVAs should be part of a broader automation strategy, one in which a business considers areas where they increase efficiency with minimal effort and expenditure. For example, for a shoe selling business to be successful, they need to look for ways to increase margins, sell more shoes, and hire in a smart manner. They may want automation to streamline processes through tools such as robotic process automation (RPA) software, and make an effort to dynamically change pricing with retail pricing software. A prong in this automation strategy could be IVAs, which could help automate interactions between the business and customers, current or prospective.
The medium of this interaction is variable, depending on the software being used, as well as the particular use case. Thus, the business may choose to provide an IVA on their website as well as via email and telephone. These virtual agents engage with customers across all of these various channels. At times, they are even able to replace legacy systems such as interactive voice response (IVR), engaging customers for the purposes of identity verification, for example. The impact of IVAs vary greatly based on industry and use cases.
Unified and uniform experience — IVAs help maintain consistency across channels and various touchpoints. This presents business users with a unified experience for all support in areas such as IT and human resources (HR).
Cost saving — Businesses looking to cut costs and handle inefficiencies from operations, call centers, internal functions can look to IVAs. With this software, they can scale in a fiscally smart manner.
Customer satisfaction — Net promoter score (NPS) is a core metric which businesses track to keep tabs on how their customers feel about them. Providing a successful conversational solution in the form of an IVA helps businesses maintain customer satisfaction. With their always-on capabilities, IVAs provide a tailored customer experience. This personalization is likely to improve satisfaction.
Who Uses Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software?
IVAs are impacting all industries across various use cases and are affecting any touchpoint where businesses communicate with people. It is beneficial for businesses to explore how it impacts their industry and particular use case.
Banking and finance — IVAs are a hot commodity in the financial sector in which there is frequently a high volume of interactions with customers. For these industries, IVAs interact with customers on the phone, provide information regarding transactions and deals, and verify identity.
Telecommunications — Within the telecommunications sector, IVAs replace outdated automated voice systems in contact centers to improve resolution times and customer satisfaction. This gives customers a more natural interface for communicating with the business.
Hospitality — The hospitality industry is being transformed by IVAs, with businesses using them to increase customer loyalty through on-demand support and personalized service.
Other uses in the hospitality sector include making reservations, enabling personalized services—preferred room features or local restaurant recommendations—supporting customer engagement and retention.
Retail — Retail and e-commerce stands to benefit greatly from the deployment of IVAs to enhance customer engagement and drive sales. They also deliver a personalized e-commerce experience for customers.
Travel — The travel sector is adopting IVAs to assist in customer bookings and provide customer support and complaints resolution, thus acting as a personal assistant to customize a traveler’s itinerary and experiences.
Kinds of Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software
Business leaders of all stripes can reap the benefits of IVAs, transforming their strategy with digital transformation. Focusing on sales and marketing, IT support, HR, and customer service use cases, businesses can communicate with their internal and external stakeholders in a supercharged manner. A successful deployment of IVAs can help businesses scale with the ability to engage in thousands of conversations.
Scale is not the only important factor to keep in mind. Intelligence is also key—the ability for the virtual assistant to respond to queries in a personalized fashion based on past interactions and stored data. Budget holders exploring different solutions should evaluate this level of intelligence through sustained conversations across various areas. Below are some prevalent use cases:
Customer service — Similar to IT virtual assistants, virtual customer service and customer success agents are able to resolve issues, problems, and concerns at scale. By conversing with current and prospective customers, IVAs quickly defuse difficult situations and reach resolutions. Frequently, they interact with both customers as well as human customer support teams. When an IVA does not have an adequate response at the ready, they escalate the conversation to a human agent. All of these benefits lead to faster response time, personalized self-service interactions, 24/7 support, and a unified automated experience across channels.
Sales and marketing — IVAs help engage buyers by initiating contact, empathizing intelligently to interpret replies, and responding with a tailored response. These assistants are useful throughout the entire customer journey, from determining interest to activating unresponsive demand and to winning back former customers.
HR — Businesses are able to deliver immediate, simplified, and intuitive access to HR applications with IVAs to improve employee experiences. They help employees find resources and information quickly, improving efficiency and user satisfaction.
Specific use cases within the HR function include travel and expense management, benefits management, and absence management. For example, an employee can converse with an IVA in a natural manner and ask them about vacation days or benefits. The benefits of this deployment include improving employee net promoter score (eNPS) and allowing the employee success team to focus on higher-level strategic engagements.
IT — Employees always have IT-related problems. In a typical organization, they submit a ticket to an IT professional (whether internal or outsourced), who takes time to evaluate the problem and respond properly. With IVAs, tasks such as password resets, access permissions, server diagnostics for IT support personnel, and more can be automated end to end.
IVAs help eliminate jammed ticket queues and provide quick resolutions for end users. These agents are trained to handle IT services use cases to ensure IT support staff remain one step ahead of the most common issues employees face. They handle queries at any time of day, meeting demand, and improving ticket processing times.
Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software Features
With the use of machine learning and deep learning, IVAs grow intelligently and understand a wider vocabulary and colloquial language as well as provide more precise and correct responses to requests. In addition, IVAs are able to provide personalized answers based on segmentation or other information provided. Below are some features:
Personalization — IVAs provide personalized responses to interlocutors based on segmentation or past responses.
Route to humans — The software has tools (e.g., dashboards and reports) to better understand conversations IVAs have had.
Natural language understanding (NLU) — With NLU features, the software can have a natural, human-like conversation with an interlocutor. The degree of intelligence and understanding differ between IVAs. For example, some providers have built robust sentiment detection capabilities that allow the assistants to communicate in a tailored way based on the person’s sentiment. This gives it some degree of emotional intelligence which is key for a successful conversation.
Conversation editor — This feature allows businesses to edit conversations to meet their unique needs. This includes aspects of process design, along with some tools that empower intelligent process execution to enable more dynamic conversations.
Integration — The integration feature gives users the ability to update systems, like CRM, based on conversations.
Human-in-the-loop — The software allows users to maintain and observe the accuracy and viability of IVAs by keeping human agents in the loop.
Additional Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software Features
Avatars — Some IVAs provide life-like avatars, which communicate in a strikingly human fashion. These avatars come in various forms and formats, such as on-site customer support agents. Some companies even choose to roll out these avatars in store as shopping assistants. In terms of the look of these avatars, some providers provide the ability to customize them to fit a particular business.
Other features of intelligent virtual assistant software: Alexa Capabilities, Google Assistant Capabilities, Microsoft Teams Capabilities, Skype Capabilities, Slack Capabilities, SMS Capabilities, Social Media, Video, and WhatsApp Capabilities.
Potential Issues with Intelligent Virtual Assistants Software
Preference for human agents — Although IVAs are great at many tasks, some contexts, such as those which require a significant amount of empathy, may be better served by a human agent.
Transparency — Despite the fact that IVAs might be better suited for repetitive tasks, users still deserve to know that they are speaking to an IVA, not a human. Legislation is catching up to this human desire and is requiring bots to state that they are not human in certain U.S. states like California.
Effective handoffs to humans — Sometimes, IVAs do not have an answer to a question from the user. It is critical that the system is designed in a way to successfully resolve this problem. Typically, the best way to solve this issue is to transition the user to a human agent.
