Buyers Guides for Collaborative AI and Communications

2026 Software Provider and Product Assessment

The ISG Buyers Guides for Collaborative AI and Communications are the distillation of continuous market and product research. They are an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings address enterprises’ requirements for platforms software. The Value Index methodology is structured to support a request for information (RFI) for a request for proposal (RFP) process by incorporating all criteria needed to evaluate, select, utilize and maintain relationships with software providers. The ISG Buyers Guide evaluates customer experience and the product experience in its capability and platform.

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Collaborative AI and Communications evaluate leading software providers across five platform industry areas: Collaborative AI Suites, Communication Platforms, Communication Platforms Emerging Providers, Conversational AI and Conversational AI Emerging Providers. Each guide delivers unique research, detailed ratings and rankings and in-depth analyses to help enterprises assess and select the digital business software that best fits their requirements.

• The Collaborative AI Suites Buyers Guide evaluates 13 software providers offering products that support communication, collaboration, AI-driven workflow orchestration, interaction analytics, governance, security and enterprise integration. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Atlassian, Cisco, Dialpad, Google, GoTo, HCLSoftware, Microsoft, Notion, RingCentral, Salesforce, Zoho and Zoom.

• The Communication Platforms Buyers Guide evaluates 27 software providers offering products that support API-driven communication, workflow orchestration, AI-enabled interaction management, analytics, governance and enterprise integration. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Alcatel-Lucent, AWS, Bandwidth, Bird, Cisco, CM.com, Freshworks, Gupshup, Infobip, LINK Mobility, Microsoft, Netcore, Oracle, Radisys, RingCentral, Route Mobile, Sinch, Tanla, Tata Communications, Telesign, Tencent Cloud, Twilio, Vonage, Yellow.ai, Zenvia and Zoom.
  
  
• The Communication Platforms Emerging Providers Buyers Guide evaluates 11 software providers offering products supporting API-based communication, interaction orchestration and workflow-connected engagement. The guide assesses the following providers: CEQUENS, Clickatell, Exotel, iBASIS, Mitto, Monty Mobile, MSG91, Nylas, Plivo, Soprano and Telnyx.
  
  

• The Conversational AI Buyers Guide evaluates 23 software providers offering products that support natural language interaction, generative and agentic AI, workflow execution, analytics, governance and enterprise integration. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Anthropic, Automation Anywhere, AWS, Bandwidth, Cisco, Dialpad, Fractal, Glean, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenAI, OpenText, Oracle, RingCentral, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Tencent Cloud, Vonage, Zendesk and Zoom.

• The Conversational AI Emerging Providers Buyers Guide evaluates 10 software providers offering products that support natural language interaction, generative and agentic AI, workflow execution, analytics, governance and enterprise integration. The guide assesses the following providers: Cohere, Coveo, Creative Virtual, Inbenta, Kaltura, Kore.ai, Mistral AI, Omilia, Soprano and SoundHound AI.

To view the executive summaries of the research, please select the report below.

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