Olivia Moore, a16z: Voice as a wedge

Voice AI is having its moment, but pretty soon every company will be a voice company.

Olivia Moore is the author of a16z’s market report on voice AI agents, which is a must-read if you’re interested in the space.

She’s an amazing thinker and we cover a lot in this conversation, including:

* Olivia's thesis that Voice AI is in it’s “internet in 1999” moment

* The "wedge" strategy: using Voice AI to get in the door before transforming broader business operations

* How recruiting became a surprising early adopter of Voice AI (candidates actually prefer it)

* Voice AI's unique ability to handle compliance and stay on-script in regulated industries

* Shifting from per-minute pricing to transaction-based fees or success metrics

* Why big tech platforms (OpenAI, Google) won't dominate vertical-specific voice applications

Links

* Olivia on X: https://x.com/omooretweets (must-follow!)

* Her market report on voice AI agents

* Dr Sbaitso emulator - this was packaged with new Sound Blaster sound cards! Strange stuff.

Chapters0:00 Intro and welcome1:24 Olivia's first AI "aha" moments 3:42 Coolest non-voice AI tools6:29 How Olivia got into the Voice AI space10:03 From consumer to enterprise13:50 DMV-bot16:22 Voice AI as a wedge20:57 Traction in the voice market24:24 Voice AI for recruiting28:59 Why AI doesn't go off-script31:03 Better experiences for candidates and customers33:24 The future of call centers37:02 Bear cases for Voice AI41:25 Open problems44:29 Pricing47:12 Working with twin sister Justine50:11 Three things Olivia's excited about

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