To use Zoom AI Companion in a meeting, the host hovers over the Zoom AI icon in the top-right corner, ticks Meeting summary, optionally ticks Generate transcript, and clicks Start Zoom AI. After the meeting, signed-in participants get the summary by email. It needs a licensed Zoom Workplace Pro or higher account.
Zoom AI Companion's best-known job is the meeting summary: Zoom listens, then sends everyone the key points and next steps afterwards. Used well, it means nobody has to take notes. Used carelessly, it can send a summary of a private conversation to everyone who attended. Here's how to start it, stop it, what participants can do, and the settings worth knowing.
Start a meeting summary as the host
- Start your meeting in the Zoom desktop app.
- Hover over the Zoom AI icon in the top-right corner of the meeting window.
- Tick Meeting summary.
- Tick Generate transcript too if you want a transcript after the meeting.
- Click Start Zoom AI.
Participants can tell it's running because the diamond icon changes colour. On the phone app it's the same idea: tap the Zoom AI icon, switch on the Meeting summary toggle (and Retain meeting transcript if you want it), then tap Start Zoom AI.
Who can use it
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Account | A licensed user on a Zoom Workplace Pro, Business or Enterprise plan, including their Plus versions |
| Who starts or stops it | Only the host or a co-host |
| Who receives the summary automatically | Participants signed in to their Zoom account |
| Where it doesn't work | Breakout rooms |
Zoom also notes AI features may not be available to some industries and some regions, so if you can't see the icon at all, ask your Zoom admin.
As a participant: ask the host
If AI Companion isn't running, any participant can hover over the Zoom AI icon and click Ask host to start Zoom AI. If the host or someone else in the meeting is an admin, they're asked to switch it on there and then. If nobody has permission, Zoom emails the request to the account's admins instead.
Pause it for private moments
This is the habit that saves embarrassment. If the conversation turns to something that shouldn't be in a summary, such as a staff performance chat, a client complaint or a personal matter, the host can hover over the Zoom AI icon and untick Meeting summary, or click Stop Zoom AI. There's also an option to delete the meeting assets when you stop. Zoom says starting and stopping still gives you a summary of the parts where it was running.
Where the summary goes
- By email to participants, if the host chose to share it.
- To the meeting's group chat, if chat before and after the meeting is enabled.
- To Zoom Hub, alongside recordings and other Zoom files.
- To your account owner, who can access meeting summaries.
Zoom adds a point worth taking seriously: anyone who receives the summary can save it and share it. Treat it like minutes you've emailed to everyone, because that's effectively what it is. If you also kept the transcript, you'll find it in the Zoom web portal under your profile, then Recordings and Transcripts, then Transcripts.
Small details that matter
- Set your pronouns in Zoom. If you don't, Zoom says the AI model will choose pronouns when it refers to you in the summary.
- It can run without you: if set to start automatically, the summary begins as soon as someone starts your meeting.
- Use automated captions and set the spoken language to help Zoom identify the language correctly.
Check the summary before you act on it
AI summaries are good at the gist and weaker on the details: who exactly agreed to what, a date said in passing, a name it misheard. Before you forward a summary to a client or turn its action list into tasks, read it once against your own memory of the call, or the transcript if you kept one. Fix anything wrong, then share. A two-minute check stops a confident-sounding summary from becoming the official version of a meeting that went differently.
What about your data?
Zoom says it doesn't use customer audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or similar content to train its own or third-party AI models. That's reassuring, but it doesn't change who receives the summary, so the 'pause for private moments' habit still matters. If you use AI note-takers on client calls, my piece on AI note-takers and NDA risk covers what to agree with clients first.
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Going further
Larger organisations can add Zoom's Custom AI Companion, which brings meeting summary templates, custom dictionaries for company terms, and even lets Zoom AI join Google Meet or Microsoft Teams meetings to transcribe. Zoom lists it as an add-on for Zoom Workplace Pro or higher accounts. For most small teams, the standard meeting summary does the job. If you're weighing up other AI tools for your working day, my guide on using ChatGPT for content creation is a good place to start turning meeting notes into posts and emails.
My verdict
Start Meeting summary at the beginning of the call, tick Generate transcript if you'll need the detail, and get into the habit of stopping it before any sensitive conversation. Tell people it's running, check the summary before relying on it, and remember everyone who receives it can pass it on.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn on Zoom AI Companion in a meeting?
As host, hover over the Zoom AI icon in the top-right corner, tick Meeting summary and click Start Zoom AI.
Who gets the Zoom AI Companion summary?
Participants who were signed in to Zoom receive it automatically if the host shares it, by email and in the meeting's group chat if enabled.
Can a participant start Zoom AI Companion?
No, but they can click Ask host to start Zoom AI. Only the host or a co-host can start or stop it.
Does Zoom use my meetings to train AI?
Zoom says it doesn't use customer audio, video, chat, screen sharing or attachments to train its own or third-party AI models.
Does Zoom AI Companion work in breakout rooms?
No. Zoom says Meeting summary isn't available within breakout rooms.
