How big is the AI voice agent market?

Grand View Research estimates the global AI voice agents market at $2.5 billion in 2025 and $3.5 billion in 2026, growing at 39.0% a year to a projected $35.2 billion by 2033. Inbound agents that answer calls held 52.1% of 2025 revenue, and North America held 38.1%.

What percentage of business calls go unanswered?

Invoca's 2026 analysis of more than 70 million calls found 56% of callers to businesses speak to a person, which means about 44% do not. The rate rises to 65% for calls longer than 15 seconds, and home services businesses answer 52% of calls.

How many businesses use AI voice agents?

It depends on company size. RingCentral found 57% of the 359 business leaders it interviewed have voice AI agents in production, while Vida's 2025 survey of 320 small and mid-sized businesses found 22% use them and 31% plan to invest within two years.

Do customers mind talking to an AI voice agent?

Many are open to it if it is faster: Twilio found 72% of consumers would pick an AI agent over a human for a guaranteed faster fix. But 78% say being able to switch to a human is important, and Gartner found 87% of customers say access to a human is essential.

Will AI voice agents replace receptionists?

Not quickly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 947,500 receptionist jobs in 2025 and projects a 2% decline to 2035, with about 105,100 openings a year. Customer service representative jobs are projected to fall 5% over the same period.

Machine readout · Business & work

AI Voice Agent Statistics 2026

This page collects 54 figures on AI voice agents, AI receptionists and automated phone answering: how big the market is, how fast voice AI companies are growing, how many businesses deploy phone agents, how many calls go unanswered and how callers feel about talking to AI. Sources include Gartner, Grand View Research, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pew Research Center, Twilio, Invoca, Hiya, RingCentral, YouGov and voice AI companies such as ElevenLabs, Deepgram and PolyAI. Most figures describe the United States or global samples in 2025 and 2026.

Figures: 54
Publishers: 27
Updated: Nov 13, 2026

Quotable findings

By the DBotMaker research desk

Finding 012025
$2.5 billion
The global AI voice agents market was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2026, according to Grand View Research.
Source: Grand View Research
Finding 022033
$35.2 billion
Grand View Research projects the AI voice agents market to grow at a 39.0% compound annual rate from 2026 to 2033, reaching $35.2 billion.
Source: Grand View Research
Finding 032026
56%
56% of calls to businesses are answered by a person, according to Invoca's 2026 analysis of more than 70 million calls.
Source: Invoca
Finding 042026
86%
86% of consumers say they will not answer unidentified calls, according to Hiya's 2026 survey.
Source: Hiya
Finding 052026
57%
57% of business leaders interviewed by RingCentral have actively deployed voice AI agents, and another 10% are in early pilots.
Source: RingCentral
Finding 062025
97%
97% of small businesses using AI voice agents reported an increase in revenue in Vida's 2025 survey, a self-reported measure.
Source: Vida
Finding 072025
59%
90% of business leaders believe customers are satisfied with their conversational AI, but only 59% of consumers report satisfaction, according to Twilio's 2025 survey.
Source: Twilio
Finding 082029
80%
Gartner predicts agentic AI will resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human help by 2029, cutting operating costs by 30%.
Source: Gartner
On file54figures in 6 channels, each with the exact source sentence.Browse all CSV

THE BOT'S SHORT ANSWER

The AI voice agents market was worth about $2.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $35.2 billion by 2033 (Grand View Research), while only 56% of calls to businesses reach a person (Invoca, 2026) and just 14% of consumers immediately answer unknown numbers (Hiya, 2026). Adoption is spreading fastest in larger firms: 57% of leaders interviewed by RingCentral have voice AI agents in production, but only 22% of small businesses use them (Vida, 2025).

54 FIGURES · 27 PUBLISHERS · NOVEMBER 13, 2026

Reading the numbers

The case for voice agents starts with unanswered phones. Invoca's analysis of more than 70 million calls found only 56% of callers to businesses reach a person, with home services at 52% and telecom at 51%. Small businesses feel the cost: 42% in Vida's 2025 survey estimated losing more than $500 a month to missed calls, and 87% of Canadian business professionals told Hiya they had lost deals or customers because they could not reach someone by phone.

Outbound calling has the opposite problem. YouMail counted 52.5 billion robocalls to U.S. consumers in 2025, 57% of them telemarketing or scams, and Hiya found only 14% of consumers immediately answer an unknown number. Pew Research Center measured the same habit in 2020, when 19% of U.S. adults said they generally answer unknown callers. This is why inbound agents, which answer calls people chose to make, hold 52.1% of voice agent revenue in Grand View Research's estimate.

Money is moving quickly. Grand View Research puts the market at $2.5 billion in 2025 growing at 39.0% a year, ElevenLabs reported passing $500 million in annual recurring revenue in early 2026, and Deepgram and PolyAI raised large rounds. Gartner found AI spending by service leaders rose 38% in 2026 while total service budgets grew 2%, and it expects agentic AI to resolve 80% of common service issues by 2029. Adoption is concentrated in larger firms: 57% of leaders interviewed by RingCentral run voice AI agents, compared with 22% of small businesses surveyed by Vida.

Callers are open to AI on the phone but want a way out. Twilio found 72% of consumers would choose an AI agent if it solved the issue faster, yet 78% say switching to a human matters and only 15% have experienced a smooth handoff. Gartner found 87% of customers call access to a human essential. The Bureau of Labor Statistics still projects about 289,500 customer service openings a year to 2035, which suggests phone agents are reshaping these jobs rather than removing them quickly.

Facts the bot knows

CH 01How big the voice agent market is

7 figures

#001$2.5 billion
The global AI voice agents market was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2026, according to Grand View Research.
Grand View Research, AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The global AI voice agents market size was estimated at USD 2.5 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 3.5 billion in 2026.
#002$35.2 billion
Grand View Research projects the AI voice agents market to grow at a 39.0% compound annual rate from 2026 to 2033, reaching $35.2 billion.
Grand View Research, AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The global AI voice agents market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 39.0% from 2026 to 2033 to reach USD 35.2 billion by 2033.
#00352.1%
Inbound voice agents, the kind that answer customer calls, accounted for 52.1% of AI voice agent revenue in 2025.
Grand View Research, AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The inbound voice agents segment led with a 52.1% revenue share in 2025, while outbound voice agents is the fastest-growing segment.
#00438.1%
North America held 38.1% of the global AI voice agents market in 2025, the largest regional share.
Grand View Research, AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
North America dominated the AI voice agents market with a share of 38.1% in 2025.
#00517 million
Gartner estimates there are about 17 million contact center agents worldwide, the workforce that voice agents are built to support or replace.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022)
Exact wording at the source
Gartner estimates that there are approximately 17 million contact center agents worldwide today,
#00695%
Labor can represent up to 95% of contact center costs, according to Gartner, which explains why phone automation draws so much investment.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022)
Exact wording at the source
Many organizations are challenged by agent staff shortages and the need to curtail labor expenses, which can represent up to 95% of contact center costs.
#007$1.99 billion
Worldwide end-user spending on conversational AI in contact centers was forecast at $1.99 billion in 2022, an older baseline for the category.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022)
Exact wording at the source
Worldwide end-user spending on conversational AI solutions within contact centers is forecast to reach $1.99 billion in 2022.

Chart

AI voice agents market size, 2025 to 2033

Global market in billions of U.S. dollars, Grand View Research estimates and projections

2025$2.5
2026 (estimate)$3.5
2033 (projection)$35.2

Source: Grand View Research, AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report

CH 02Funding and growth at voice AI companies

7 figures

#008$350 million
ElevenLabs ended 2025 with $350 million in annual recurring revenue, according to the company.
ElevenLabs, $500M ARR and new investors (2026)
Exact wording at the source
We ended 2025 with $350 million in ARR, and in the first four months of 2026, we have already surpassed $500 million ARR.
#009$500 million
ElevenLabs said it passed $500 million in annual recurring revenue within the first four months of 2026.
ElevenLabs, $500M ARR and new investors (2026)
Exact wording at the source
We ended 2025 with $350 million in ARR, and in the first four months of 2026, we have already surpassed $500 million ARR.
#010$11 billion
ElevenLabs raised a $500 million Series D in February 2026 at an $11 billion valuation, more than three times its valuation a year earlier.
ElevenLabs, ElevenLabs raises $500M Series D at $11B valuation (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
This $500 million funding round values ElevenLabs at $11 billion, more than 3x its valuation one year ago.
#011$1.3 billion
Deepgram raised $130 million in Series C funding in January 2026 at a $1.3 billion valuation.
Deepgram, Deepgram raises $130M series C at $1.3B valuation to power the voice AI economy (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
today announced it has raised $130 million in Series C funding at a $1.3 billion valuation.
#012200,000+
More than 200,000 developers build with Deepgram's speech models, according to the company's 2026 funding announcement.
Deepgram, Deepgram raises $130M series C at $1.3B valuation to power the voice AI economy (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
200,000+ developers build with Deepgram’s voice-native foundational models
#013$200 million
PolyAI raised an $86 million Series D in December 2025, taking its total funding past $200 million.
PolyAI, PolyAI raises $86M to transform how enterprises talk to their customers (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
I couldn’t be happier to share the news that with our Series D, PolyAI has surpassed $200 million in total funding, allowing us to drive this mission forward at an entirely new scale.
#01422%
Companies building with voice made up 22% of a recent Y Combinator class, a figure a16z cited from Cartesia in early 2025.
Andreessen Horowitz, AI Voice Agents: 2025 Update (Jan 2025)
Exact wording at the source
One data point: companies building with voice represented 22% of the most recent YC class, per Cartesia .

CH 03How businesses deploy voice agents

10 figures

#01557%
57% of business leaders interviewed by RingCentral have actively deployed voice AI agents, and another 10% are in early pilots.
RingCentral, The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 2 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Of the leaders we interviewed, 57% have actively deployed voice AI agents across internal and external channels , and another 10% are in early-stage pilot phases.
#01682%
Among leaders with active agentic voice AI deployments, 82% report a positive return on investment, according to RingCentral.
RingCentral, The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 2 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Among leaders with active agentic voice AI deployments, 82% report positive ROI.
#01766%
66% of leaders in RingCentral's research call voice an important operational channel for their organization.
RingCentral, The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 1 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Nearly two-thirds (66%) of leaders cite voice as an important operational channel for their organization.
#01869%
Leaders told RingCentral that voice AI agents handle an average of 69% of an assigned task without human intervention.
RingCentral, The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 3 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
When asked what share of an assigned task voice AI agents handle without human intervention, leaders reported an average of 69% .
#01963%
In healthcare, voice AI agents handle about 63% of assigned tasks without a human, compared with 71% in other industries.
RingCentral, The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 3 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Voice AI agents in healthcare handle about 63% of assigned tasks without human intervention, compared to 71% across other industries
#02063%
63% of organizations surveyed by Twilio in 2025 were in the final or complete stages of developing conversational AI for service and sales.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The report shows rapid adoption of conversational AI for customer service and sales, with 63% of organizations in either the final or complete stages of development, and 85% of consumers reporting interactions with an AI agent within the past three months.
#02122%
Only 22% of U.S. small and mid-sized businesses used AI voice agents in March 2025, while 31% planned to invest within 12 to 24 months.
Vida, 97 Percent of SMBs Using AI-Powered Voice Agents See Revenue Boost (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Only 22% of SMBs currently use AI voice agents for their business, but nearly one-third (31%) plan to invest in AI-powered voice solutions within the next 12–24 months.
#02297%
97% of small businesses using AI voice agents reported an increase in revenue in Vida's 2025 survey, a self-reported measure.
Vida, 97 Percent of SMBs Using AI-Powered Voice Agents See Revenue Boost (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
97% of SMBs using AI voice agents report an increase in revenue.
#02331%
The top uses for AI voice agents among small businesses were inbound sales inquiries (31%) and answering FAQs (20%).
Vida, 97 Percent of SMBs Using AI-Powered Voice Agents See Revenue Boost (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The top applications for AI voice agents are inbound sales inquiries (31%) and answering FAQs (20%) - tasks that often go unattended but directly impact revenue.
#02432%
Among U.S. small businesses investing in AI for customer service in 2025, 32% used voice AI or IVR, behind 74% using chatbots.
Talkdesk, Half of Small Businesses in the United States Already Use Artificial Intelligence to Elevate Customer Service (Oct 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The half of small businesses investing in AI are using it across multiple touchpoints in the customer journey: 74% use AI-powered chatbots 51% rely on AI-driven knowledge bases or help centers 39% equip live agents with AI assistance 38% apply AI analytics for insights 32% use voice AI or interactive voice response (IVR) solutions

CH 04Answer rates and missed calls

11 figures

#02556%
56% of calls to businesses are answered by a person, according to Invoca's 2026 analysis of more than 70 million calls.
Invoca, Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Across all industries, 56% of calls to businesses are answered by a person.
#02665%
For calls longer than 15 seconds, which filters out misdials and quick hang-ups, the business answer rate rises to 65%.
Invoca, Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
For calls that last longer than 15 seconds (filtering out misdials and quick hangups), the answer rate climbs to 65%.
#02738%
Across industries, 38% of calls answered by a person are sales leads, and 42% of those leads convert on the call, according to Invoca.
Invoca, Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Our data reveals that across all industries, 38% of calls answered by a person are leads, and 42% of those leads convert on the call.
#02814%
When consumers get a call from an unrecognized number, only 14% answer immediately, according to Hiya's 2026 State of the Call survey.
Hiya, Eroding trust is crippling the voice channel (Apr 2026)
Exact wording at the source
In fact, when consumers receive calls from numbers they don’t recognize, only 14% immediately answer
#02986%
86% of consumers say they will not answer unidentified calls, according to Hiya's 2026 survey.
Hiya, Eroding trust is crippling the voice channel (Apr 2026)
Exact wording at the source
86% of consumers say they will not answer unidentified calls.
#03019%
Only 19% of U.S. adults said they generally answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers in 2020, an older baseline from Pew Research Center.
Pew Research Center, Most Americans don't answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers (Dec 2020)
Exact wording at the source
While, at most, a quarter of Americans from any demographic group say they generally answer the phone for an unknown number – and 19% of U.S. adults overall say they do so – men are more likely than women to answer the phone.
#03167%
67% of U.S. adults said their general practice in 2020 was to let unknown calls ring through and check any voicemail.
Pew Research Center, Most Americans don't answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers (Dec 2020)
Exact wording at the source
The majority of Americans (67%) say their general practice is to not answer the phone when an incoming call is from an unknown number but to check a voicemail if one is left.
#03242%
42% of U.S. small businesses estimated losing more than $500 a month to missed customer calls in Vida's 2025 survey.
Vida, 97 Percent of SMBs Using AI-Powered Voice Agents See Revenue Boost (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The Hidden Cost of Missed Calls 42% of SMBs estimate losing more than $500 a month - or $6000 a year - due to missed customer calls.
#03387%
87% of Canadian business professionals said they lost deals or customers because they could not reach them by phone, in a 2026 Hiya survey.
Hiya, Survey: Canadian businesses losing revenue due to unanswered calls (Aug 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Survey shows that 87% of Canadian business professionals have lost out on deals or lost customers because they could not reach them by phone.
#03452.5 billion
U.S. consumers received 52.5 billion robocalls in 2025, down less than 1% from 52.8 billion in 2024, which helps explain why people screen calls.
YouMail, U.S. Consumers Received 52.5 Billion Robocalls in 2025, Over 4.1 Billion in December, According to YouMail Robocall Index (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
consumers with 52.5 billion calls throughout 2025, a decline of less than 1% from the 52.8 billion robocalls recorded in 2024.
#03557%
Unwanted telemarketing and scam calls rose 15.4% in 2025 and made up 57% of all U.S. robocalls, up from 49% a year earlier.
YouMail, U.S. Consumers Received 52.5 Billion Robocalls in 2025, Over 4.1 Billion in December, According to YouMail Robocall Index (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
In contrast, unwanted telemarketing and scam calls surged 15.4%, making up 57% of all robocalls, up from 49% in the prior year.

Chart

Share of business calls answered by a person, by industry, 2026

Based on Invoca's analysis of more than 70 million inbound calls to businesses

Travel64%
Consumer services60%
Automotive58%
Financial services57%
Business services56%
Healthcare54%
DTC ecommerce53%
Senior care53%
Home services52%
Telecom51%

Source: Invoca, Call Answer Rate: 2026 Benchmarks and Tips to Improve

CH 05How callers feel about AI voice agents

10 figures

#03659%
90% of business leaders believe customers are satisfied with their conversational AI, but only 59% of consumers report satisfaction, according to Twilio's 2025 survey.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
While an overwhelming 90% of business leaders believe their customers are satisfied with their conversational AI experiences, only 59% of consumers report satisfaction.
#03778%
78% of consumers say it is important to be able to switch from an AI agent to a human, according to Twilio.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
A delicate balance with AI and human agents – 83% of business leaders believe conversational AI can replace human agents, but 78% of consumers say it is important to be able to switch from an AI agent to a human agent.
#03815%
Only 15% of consumers in Twilio's 2025 survey said they had experienced a smooth handoff from an AI agent to a human.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Only 15% of consumers reported experiencing a seamless handoff from AI to human agents.
#03990%
90% of consumers failed to correctly identify AI-generated voice clips in Twilio's 2025 test, even though 72% believed they could spot an AI voice.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In reality, 90% of consumers failed to correctly identify AI-generated voice clips – with older generations being twice as good at spotting the differences.
#04072%
72% of consumers would pick an AI agent over a human if the issue was guaranteed to be solved faster, according to Twilio.
Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Humans over AI, unless it’s faster – 69% of consumers prefer interacting with real people, but 63% believe an AI agent is better at responding faster, and 72% would pick an AI agent over a human agent if the issue was guaranteed to be solved faster.
#04135%
35% of Americans named the phone as their preferred way to contact businesses for service in 2025, the top choice in YouGov's survey.
YouGov, How Americans prefer to contact businesses for customer service (Mar 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Phone calls remain the most preferred method for contacting businesses, with 35% of Americans selecting it as their top choice.
#04252%
52% of U.S. Baby Boomers and 39% of Gen X prefer calling a business for service, according to YouGov.
YouGov, How Americans prefer to contact businesses for customer service (Mar 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Older generations strongly favor phone interactions—52% of Baby Boomers and 39% of Gen X prefer calling.
#04356%
56% of consumers in the U.S., UK and Canada still prefer phone support, according to Five9's 2025 study.
Five9, 2025 CX Study: Meeting Rising Customer Expectations (2025)
Exact wording at the source
While digital channels are growing, 56% of customers still prefer phone support, making voice interactions a cornerstone of customer experience across all generations.
#04480%
80% of Singapore customers prefer to call a service representative, yet only 9% of organizations plan to prioritize phone as a service channel, according to ServiceNow.
ServiceNow, 80% of Singapore customers prefer to pick up the phone for help, but only 9% of businesses are making it a long-term priority (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
80% of customers said they preferred to call a service representative when they had to interact with an organisation, with Singaporeans spending more time trying to resolve issues on the phone than on any other channel.
#04587%
87% of customers say companies using GenAI for service must offer an option to reach a human, according to a 2026 Gartner survey of 3,566 customers.
Gartner, Gartner Survey Finds 87% of Customers Say Companies Using GenAI for Customer Service Must Provide Access to a Human Agent (Aug 2026)
Exact wording at the source
yet 87% of customers say it is essential for companies to provide an option to reach a h

Chart

Leaders vs consumers: satisfaction with conversational AI, 2025

Global survey of 457 business leaders and 4,800 consumers across 15 countries, August to October 2025

Business leaders who think customers are satisfied90%
Consumers who report satisfaction59%

Source: Twilio, Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps

CH 06Automation forecasts and phone jobs

9 figures

#0461.6%
Gartner projects that one in 10 contact center agent interactions will be automated by 2026, up from an estimated 1.6% in 2022.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022)
Exact wording at the source
Gartner projects that one in 10 agent interactions will be automated by 2026, an increase from an estimated 1.6% of interactions today that are automated using AI.
#047$80 billion
Gartner forecast that conversational AI in contact centers will cut agent labor costs by $80 billion in 2026.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022)
Exact wording at the source
By 2026, conversational artificial intelligence (AI) deployments within contact centers will reduce agent labor costs by $80 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.
#04880%
Gartner predicts agentic AI will resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human help by 2029, cutting operating costs by 30%.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Agentic AI Will Autonomously Resolve 80% of Common Customer Service Issues Without Human Intervention by 2029 (Mar 2025)
Exact wording at the source
By 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention, leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs, according to Gartner, Inc.
#04938%
AI spending by customer service leaders rose 38% while overall service budgets grew 2%, in a Gartner survey of 199 leaders in 2026.
Gartner, Gartner Survey Finds AI Spending by Customer Service Leaders Has Surged by 38%, Despite Overall Service and Support Function Budgets Rising by Just 2% (Aug 2026)
Exact wording at the source
A Gartner survey of 199 service and support leaders conducted in April through May 2026 revealed that spending on AI has increased by 38%, while overall service and support function budgets have grown just 2%.
#05090%
PolyAI says 90% of calls are resolved end to end with no human agent on its largest deployments, a vendor figure for best-case accounts.
PolyAI, PolyAI: voice AI agents for customer service (2026)
Exact wording at the source
90% of calls resolved end to end, with no human agent, on our largest deployments.
#0512%
Employment of U.S. receptionists, 947,500 jobs in 2025, is projected to decline 2% from 2025 to 2035.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Employment of receptionists is projected to decline 2 percent from 2025 to 2035.
#052$18.27
The median hourly wage for U.S. receptionists was $18.27 in May 2025, the cost an AI receptionist is usually compared against.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The median hourly wage for receptionists was $18.27 in May 2025.
#0535%
Employment of U.S. customer service representatives is projected to fall 5% from 2025 to 2035, from 2,666,000 jobs in 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Customer Service Representatives (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Employment of customer service representatives is projected to decline 5 percent from 2025 to 2035.
#054289,500
About 289,500 openings for customer service representatives are still projected each year on average over the decade to 2035.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Customer Service Representatives (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Despite declining employment, about 289,500 openings for customer service representatives are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

Chart

Projected change in U.S. employment, 2025 to 2035

BLS Employment Projections, rounded to the nearest whole percent

All occupations3%
Information and record clerks-4%
Customer service representatives-5%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Customer Service Representatives

Asked and answered

Questions readers ask

QHow big is the AI voice agent market?: AGrand View Research estimates the global AI voice agents market at $2.5 billion in 2025 and $3.5 billion in 2026, growing at 39.0% a year to a projected $35.2 billion by 2033. Inbound agents that answer calls held 52.1% of 2025 revenue, and North America held 38.1%.
QWhat percentage of business calls go unanswered?: AInvoca's 2026 analysis of more than 70 million calls found 56% of callers to businesses speak to a person, which means about 44% do not. The rate rises to 65% for calls longer than 15 seconds, and home services businesses answer 52% of calls.
QHow many businesses use AI voice agents?: AIt depends on company size. RingCentral found 57% of the 359 business leaders it interviewed have voice AI agents in production, while Vida's 2025 survey of 320 small and mid-sized businesses found 22% use them and 31% plan to invest within two years.
QDo customers mind talking to an AI voice agent?: AMany are open to it if it is faster: Twilio found 72% of consumers would pick an AI agent over a human for a guaranteed faster fix. But 78% say being able to switch to a human is important, and Gartner found 87% of customers say access to a human is essential.
QWill AI voice agents replace receptionists?: ANot quickly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 947,500 receptionist jobs in 2025 and projects a 2% decline to 2035, with about 105,100 openings a year. Customer service representative jobs are projected to fall 5% over the same period.
QWhy do people not answer calls from businesses?: ASpam and scams. YouMail counted 52.5 billion robocalls to U.S. consumers in 2025, and Hiya found only 14% of consumers immediately answer a call from an unknown number while 86% say they will not answer unidentified calls.

Where these numbers come from

We used primary sources only: a federal statistical agency (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), an independent research center (Pew Research Center), analyst and market research firms (Gartner, Grand View Research), polling firms that ran their own surveys (YouGov), call data companies reporting on their own networks (Invoca, Hiya, YouMail), vendors that published their own survey results (Twilio, RingCentral, Five9, Talkdesk, ServiceNow, Vida), an investor's published analysis (Andreessen Horowitz) and voice AI companies reporting their own results (ElevenLabs, Deepgram, PolyAI). Every quote was checked against the live source page. Samples, regions and definitions differ: answer rates come from call tracking data, adoption figures from vendor surveys whose respondents may favor voice AI, and revenue, funding and resolution figures are self-reported by the companies. Market size estimates depend on each research firm's definition of a voice agent. Some figures are older baselines, such as Pew's 2020 survey and Gartner's 2022 forecast, and are labeled with the year they describe. We store the sentence each number appears in, and a script loads the publisher's page again to make sure that sentence is still there. Our methodology has the details.

Input log

Sources

01Andreessen Horowitz. AI Voice Agents: 2025 Update (Jan 2025).
02Deepgram. Deepgram raises $130M series C at $1.3B valuation to power the voice AI economy (Jan 2026).
03ElevenLabs. $500M ARR and new investors (2026).
04ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs raises $500M Series D at $11B valuation (Feb 2026).
05Five9. 2025 CX Study: Meeting Rising Customer Expectations (2025).
06Gartner. Gartner Predicts Conversational AI Will Reduce Contact Center Agent Labor Costs by $80 Billion in 2026 (Aug 2022).
07Gartner. Gartner Survey Finds 87% of Customers Say Companies Using GenAI for Customer Service Must Provide Access to a Human Agent (Aug 2026).
08Gartner. Gartner Predicts Agentic AI Will Autonomously Resolve 80% of Common Customer Service Issues Without Human Intervention by 2029 (Mar 2025).
09Gartner. Gartner Survey Finds AI Spending by Customer Service Leaders Has Surged by 38%, Despite Overall Service and Support Function Budgets Rising by Just 2% (Aug 2026).
10Grand View Research. AI Voice Agents Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report (2026).
11Hiya. Eroding trust is crippling the voice channel (Apr 2026).
12Hiya. Survey: Canadian businesses losing revenue due to unanswered calls (Aug 2026).
13Invoca. Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026 (Jul 2026).
14Pew Research Center. Most Americans don't answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers (Dec 2020).
15PolyAI. PolyAI raises $86M to transform how enterprises talk to their customers (Dec 2025).
16PolyAI. PolyAI: voice AI agents for customer service (2026).
17RingCentral. The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 2 (2026).
18RingCentral. The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 1 (2026).
19RingCentral. The Rise of Agentic Voice AI: From Conversations to Outcomes, Insight 3 (2026).
20ServiceNow. 80% of Singapore customers prefer to pick up the phone for help, but only 9% of businesses are making it a long-term priority (Mar 2026).
21Talkdesk. Half of Small Businesses in the United States Already Use Artificial Intelligence to Elevate Customer Service (Oct 2025).
22Twilio. Twilio's Latest Report Highlights Conversational AI's Rapid Adoption, Challenges, and Perception Gaps (Nov 2025).
23U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists (2026).
24U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Customer Service Representatives (2026).
25Vida. 97 Percent of SMBs Using AI-Powered Voice Agents See Revenue Boost (May 2025).
26YouGov. How Americans prefer to contact businesses for customer service (Mar 2025).
27YouMail. U.S. Consumers Received 52.5 Billion Robocalls in 2025, Over 4.1 Billion in December, According to YouMail Robocall Index (Jan 2026).

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DBotMaker. (2026, November 13). AI Voice Agent Statistics 2026. https://dbotmaker.io/ai-voice-agent-statistics

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