‘You can talk quicker than you type’: Jabra’s Calum MacDougall on why voice is the future of AI at work
Jabra's Calum MacDougall says voice will become the default way to work with AI agents, India will be among the first markets to adopt it, and clean audio pickup is what makes it work.
- Oct 6, 2026,
- Updated Oct 6, 2026 5:57 PM IST
Artificial Intelligence has moved from chatbots to agents that do tasks on users’ behalf. With AI agents rapidly entering the everyday workplace, Jabra believes the keyboard will soon start to lose ground in favour of microphones. In a virtual interaction, Calum MacDougall, President of the Enterprise Division at Jabra, told Business Today that voice has become a natural interface for working with agentic AI, and that India will be among the first markets to embrace it.
As enterprises shift from text prompts to voice-based commands, MacDougall emphasised the need for devices that can help users seamlessly interact with and command AI agents through natural voice-based interactions.
Also read: OpenAI agent sparks chaos again; Wikimedia flags millions of requests, unauthorised edits
Why has voice become crucial to interact with agentic AI?
According to MacDougall, the case starts with speed and context. “You can talk quicker than you type, about 3 times, 4 times quicker,” he said. “It's just simpler to be able to talk, and you will be able to give the agent much more context when you talk, because you're not editing yourself.”
He also suggested a simple test: build a PowerPoint presentation with an AI agent twice, once using test prompts and once by giving voice prompts. He said the spoken version gives a better outcome. This shift has become the reason why major AI companies have started to integrate voice into their products.
Accuracy is the key
Voice commands also demand accuracy, as AI will only work if the agent hears you properly. MacDougall said this is where Jabra's new Evolve3 headset range comes in. He claimed that the headset offers 98% accuracy in Microsoft Copilot, compared to 60% on some consumer devices.
He revealed that this was possible because of Jabra's signal-processing heritage and an on-device deep neural network (DNN). This technology helps separate the wearer's voice from background noise. MacDougall called Evolve “the world's most popular enterprise headset.”
MacDougall also revealed Jabra uses AI, and he pointed to three ways:
- To improve audio and video performance in its hardware;
- To link its devices to an AI assistant or large language model a customer chooses; and
- Internally, in R&D and operations
However, the company has no plans to build its own AI models, as it currently focuses on seamless integration based on its customers’ preferences.
From desk phones to AI agents
When asked about the idea behind Evolve3 and the PanaCast U30 range, MacDougall traced the shifts in workplace communication from desk phones in the 1990s, PC-based unified communications from the mid-2000s, to the rise of hybrid work during the pandemic. “Most people work in three different places during the course of a week,” he said.
Due to the reason, he highlighted that enterprise products should work across different work environments, rather than being limited to a traditional office. He highlighted the shift that businesses are now looking for AI-ready devices that are practical, comfortable, and secure enough for everyday use.
For Jabra’s PanaCast U30 room system, MacDougall says simplicity is the biggest priority; the system should be easy for businesses and employees to set up and use without unnecessary complexity.
“What customers care about is rooms that are easy to manage and deploy.” The aim, he said, is that “you can just plug a cable in, and it works straight away.”
India takes the first mover’s advantage
MacDougall also shed light on the future of enterprise AI, saying that he expects teams to include both people and AI agents. “AI workflows will fundamentally change the way we all work,” he said. However, he expressed concerns over data privacy for companies.
Talking about the Indian market, MacDougall said, “India is an important market for us. It's one of our fastest-growing markets,” with demand coming from multinationals, global capability centres (GCCs) and local companies.
According to him, Indian companies are buying audio gear for human-to-human collaboration, but he also said that conversations about AI-ready workplaces are increasing. MacDougall pointed to an internal Jabra study that stated: “In India, knowledge workers are using AI tools more commonly than in the US and Germany and actually all across the world.”
“We expect India to be in the first wave of markets,” he said, when asked where voice AI will take hold in the workplace.
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Artificial Intelligence has moved from chatbots to agents that do tasks on users’ behalf. With AI agents rapidly entering the everyday workplace, Jabra believes the keyboard will soon start to lose ground in favour of microphones. In a virtual interaction, Calum MacDougall, President of the Enterprise Division at Jabra, told Business Today that voice has become a natural interface for working with agentic AI, and that India will be among the first markets to embrace it.
As enterprises shift from text prompts to voice-based commands, MacDougall emphasised the need for devices that can help users seamlessly interact with and command AI agents through natural voice-based interactions.
Also read: OpenAI agent sparks chaos again; Wikimedia flags millions of requests, unauthorised edits
Why has voice become crucial to interact with agentic AI?
According to MacDougall, the case starts with speed and context. “You can talk quicker than you type, about 3 times, 4 times quicker,” he said. “It's just simpler to be able to talk, and you will be able to give the agent much more context when you talk, because you're not editing yourself.”
He also suggested a simple test: build a PowerPoint presentation with an AI agent twice, once using test prompts and once by giving voice prompts. He said the spoken version gives a better outcome. This shift has become the reason why major AI companies have started to integrate voice into their products.
Accuracy is the key
Voice commands also demand accuracy, as AI will only work if the agent hears you properly. MacDougall said this is where Jabra's new Evolve3 headset range comes in. He claimed that the headset offers 98% accuracy in Microsoft Copilot, compared to 60% on some consumer devices.
He revealed that this was possible because of Jabra's signal-processing heritage and an on-device deep neural network (DNN). This technology helps separate the wearer's voice from background noise. MacDougall called Evolve “the world's most popular enterprise headset.”
MacDougall also revealed Jabra uses AI, and he pointed to three ways:
- To improve audio and video performance in its hardware;
- To link its devices to an AI assistant or large language model a customer chooses; and
- Internally, in R&D and operations
However, the company has no plans to build its own AI models, as it currently focuses on seamless integration based on its customers’ preferences.
From desk phones to AI agents
When asked about the idea behind Evolve3 and the PanaCast U30 range, MacDougall traced the shifts in workplace communication from desk phones in the 1990s, PC-based unified communications from the mid-2000s, to the rise of hybrid work during the pandemic. “Most people work in three different places during the course of a week,” he said.
Due to the reason, he highlighted that enterprise products should work across different work environments, rather than being limited to a traditional office. He highlighted the shift that businesses are now looking for AI-ready devices that are practical, comfortable, and secure enough for everyday use.
For Jabra’s PanaCast U30 room system, MacDougall says simplicity is the biggest priority; the system should be easy for businesses and employees to set up and use without unnecessary complexity.
“What customers care about is rooms that are easy to manage and deploy.” The aim, he said, is that “you can just plug a cable in, and it works straight away.”
India takes the first mover’s advantage
MacDougall also shed light on the future of enterprise AI, saying that he expects teams to include both people and AI agents. “AI workflows will fundamentally change the way we all work,” he said. However, he expressed concerns over data privacy for companies.
Talking about the Indian market, MacDougall said, “India is an important market for us. It's one of our fastest-growing markets,” with demand coming from multinationals, global capability centres (GCCs) and local companies.
According to him, Indian companies are buying audio gear for human-to-human collaboration, but he also said that conversations about AI-ready workplaces are increasing. MacDougall pointed to an internal Jabra study that stated: “In India, knowledge workers are using AI tools more commonly than in the US and Germany and actually all across the world.”
“We expect India to be in the first wave of markets,” he said, when asked where voice AI will take hold in the workplace.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine