Voice AI has transitioned from experimental to mainstream, with companies like Thoughtly and Gladia leading the charge in creating production-grade voice agents for enterprise use. In a discussion between Alex Casella from Thoughtly and Jean-Louis Quéguiner from Gladia, they explored the technical and operational intricacies of building effective voice agents, emphasizing the importance of optimizing latency, creating robust evaluation frameworks, and scaling infrastructure wisely. As the voice AI market matures, the speakers highlighted the necessity of selecting the right vendors, maintaining compliance, and fostering a culture that balances rapid iteration with technical discipline. They also discussed the diminishing advantage of self-hosting AI models due to improved performance of modern APIs, suggesting that companies should focus more on orchestration and customer experience. Both Casella and Quéguiner advised new startups to concentrate on delivering tangible value within specific verticals to achieve product-market fit and capitalize on the vast opportunities in the voice AI landscape.