Marketing Against The Grain: Everything You Need To Know About AI Voice Agents in 2025

Hosted by Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Zapier’s CMO)
Release Date: March 4, 2025

Introduction to AI Voice Agents

In this episode of Marketing Against The Grain, Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan delve into the transformative impact of AI voice agents on businesses. They welcome Flo Crivello, CEO and founder of Lindy AI, to explore the burgeoning landscape of AI-driven voice technology and its practical applications for scaling businesses.

The Explosion of AI Voice Use Cases

[02:30] Flo Crivello emphasizes the rapid growth in AI voice applications, likening it to the evolution of email autoresponders and chatbots:

“We're seeing an explosion of use cases and usage around AI voice agents. It's like having automated phone calls that are actually effective, unlike the old press-one-to-navigate systems.”

Flo highlights how the advent of sophisticated AI voice agents allows businesses, especially small ones like plumbers and restaurants, to handle calls efficiently without dedicating human resources. This shift not only boosts ROI by automating routine interactions but also ensures that businesses don’t miss potential opportunities due to unanswered calls.

Live Demonstration of Lindy AI's Platform

[05:00] A pivotal moment in the episode is Flo’s live demo of the Lindy AI platform. He showcases how easy it is to create an AI voice agent, exemplifying with the creation of a scheduling agent:

“We've basically created my AI voice agent right here. It's four steps, it's like two minutes.”

Flo demonstrates setting up Lindy to handle a demo booking call, integrating with Google Calendar to find available times and making a phone call using a selected voice model. The agent efficiently schedules appointments, showcasing the platform's ability to automate and streamline business processes seamlessly.

Addressing Technical Challenges and Latency

[14:50] Flo discusses the current technical limitations, particularly latency and interruption handling:

“Latency right now is the name of the game for these AI voice agents. We're doing an insane amount of work to reduce this latency to a minimum.”

Despite these challenges, advancements like speculative generation are significantly reducing response times, making AI voice interactions nearly as fluid as human conversations. Flo anticipates further improvements within the next year, aiming for a more natural and seamless interaction experience.

Consumer Reception and Business Integration

[17:58] Flo notes that while the technology is robust, integrating AI voice agents with existing internal systems remains a hurdle:

“The bigger issue we're meeting is technical. Integrating with internal APIs can be challenging, especially with large and old organizations.”

He acknowledges that while customer acceptance is generally positive, the primary obstacles lie in the technological integration and ensuring that AI systems can communicate effectively with existing business infrastructure.

Strategic Advice for Businesses Implementing AI Voice Agents

[20:04] Flo offers strategic insights for businesses looking to adopt AI voice agents:

“Start small and start fast. Define one problem you want to solve and iteratively build from there.”

He advises businesses to begin with specific, manageable tasks that can deliver immediate value, gradually expanding the AI’s responsibilities as they gain experience and confidence in the technology. This approach mitigates risks and fosters a smoother integration process.

Common Mistakes and Managing Expectations

[21:40] Flo warns against overhyping AI capabilities and setting unrealistic expectations:

“The field of AI agents is guilty of a little bit of hucksterism. AGI is not here; you can’t do everything yet.”

He stresses the importance of understanding the current state of AI technology, focusing on task-level automation rather than expecting full job-level automation. Educating stakeholders about the realistic potentials and limitations of AI ensures more effective and manageable implementations.

Frameworks for Understanding AI Agents

[22:56] Flo introduces the “intern” analogy to simplify the concept of AI agents:

“Think of these agents as an intern. You wouldn’t ask your intern to own an entire demand engine program. You ask them to grab coffee.”

This framework helps businesses conceptualize the role of AI agents as assistants handling specific tasks, making it easier to integrate them into existing workflows without expecting them to replace human roles entirely.

Scaling with AI: Efficiency and Consistency

[24:47] Flo highlights the scalability and consistency benefits of AI voice agents:

“Machines are much cheaper and infinitely horizontally scalable compared to humans.”

He illustrates how tasks like researching leads and writing outreach emails can be automated at scale, freeing up human resources for more complex and strategic activities. Additionally, AI agents provide consistent performance, reducing variability inherent in human labor.

Closing Insights and Future Outlook

In wrapping up, Kipp emphasizes the dual benefits of AI voice agents—enhanced efficiency and improved customer experiences. Flo concurs, noting that while perfection is still on the horizon, the current capabilities of AI voice agents are more than sufficient for the majority of business needs.

“Once you've iterated on it and found the right prompt, the AI agent will consistently follow the prompt and scale to infinity.”

This sentiment underscores the transformative potential of AI voice agents in modern business operations, advocating for their adoption to unlock new levels of productivity and customer satisfaction.

Notable Quotes

• Flo Crivello [02:30]: “We're seeing an explosion of use cases and usage around AI voice agents. It's like having automated phone calls that are actually effective, unlike the old press-one-to-navigate systems.”

• Flo Crivello [05:00]: “We've basically created my AI voice agent right here. It's four steps, it's like two minutes.”

• Flo Crivello [20:04]: “Start small and start fast. Define one problem you want to solve and iteratively build from there.”

• Flo Crivello [21:40]: “The field of AI agents is guilty of a little bit of hucksterism. AGI is not here; you can’t do everything yet.”

• Flo Crivello [22:56]: “Think of these agents as an intern. You wouldn’t ask your intern to own an entire demand engine program. You ask them to grab coffee.”

• Flo Crivello [24:47]: “Machines are much cheaper and infinitely horizontally scalable compared to humans.”

Conclusion

This episode of Marketing Against The Grain offers a comprehensive exploration of AI voice agents, blending insightful discussions with practical demonstrations. Flo Crivello’s expertise and Lindy AI’s innovative platform provide listeners with actionable strategies to harness AI voice technology, driving efficiency and scalability in their businesses. As AI continues to evolve, embracing these advanced tools will be pivotal for businesses aiming to stay competitive and deliver exceptional customer experiences.