Trend Trend 6: healthcare becomes the proving ground for voice AI

Summary

The sixth trend in CB Insights' outlook is that healthcare is becoming the main test for voice AI. The sector's workflows depend heavily on phone calls, giving conversational voice systems a clear path to adoption. Voice AI development platforms have reached commercial readiness thanks to advances in language models and real-time speech synthesis, and deal activity hit a record in 2025. Vendors are shifting hiring and sales toward healthcare, and staffing shortages make automation of scheduling, intake, billing and follow-up attractive. At the same time, trust and safety concerns mean humans remain involved in sensitive conversations. Whether voice AI succeeds in care will therefore test both its capability and its safeguards.