July 2026 Summaries

The Humanness Index is a pioneering tool designed to evaluate how closely voice AI models resemble human speech, addressing a critical gap in voice AI benchmarking. Unlike traditional assessments that measure speed and accuracy, the Index uses a live, crowdsourced leaderboard where listeners choose between two voice models reading the same line, without knowing which is synthetic, to determine which sounds more human. This innovative approach reveals that leading models, like xAI's Grok TTS and MiniMax Speech 2.5, are now scoring remarkably close to actual human voices, with scores of 95 and 93 respectively, just a few points shy of a real human's score of 100. This near-human quality diminishes the long-standing barrier of voice naturalness in automated systems, allowing for more seamless and engaging user interactions. As these models improve, they promise to transform voice automation by maintaining user engagement through their human-like quality, while handling complex tasks across numerous calls. The Index relies on user participation to refine its accuracy, highlighting the significance of community involvement in enhancing voice AI capabilities.

Jayson Noland has joined Vapi as Chief Financial Officer, bringing extensive experience from his time as a Wall Street analyst and his roles at companies like Cloudflare and HackerOne. With a strong background in tech finance, Noland has been pivotal in taking companies public and scaling their operations. He is particularly drawn to Vapi's focus on AI and voice technology, seeing it as the next major interface between humans and machines. Noland values the opportunity to build from the ground up at Vapi, leveraging his expertise in capital allocation, structure, and scaling to propel the company forward. He emphasizes the importance of a strong team, market potential, and business defensibility, and is excited about contributing to Vapi’s growth while maintaining a balance between work and personal life through activities with family and outdoor pursuits.