Feature
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan stirred the technology pot during a recent interview on the Decoder podcast when he suggested a future where people would send a digital twin to meetings in their place. Leaving aside the broader questions of what happens when meetings are only attended by digital twins, Yuan's vision is — for the moment at least — far fetched.
Digital Twins in the Workplace
Yuan's comment comes at a time when most AI vendors are doing everything they can to assure people that AI is not coming for their jobs. Yet during the interview, he outlined the many ways an avatar could stand in for a human: "reading and replying to emails, answering phone calls, managing projects and, of course, deciding what meetings to attend."
When we looked at how digital twins might help in the workplace two years ago, we defined a digital twin as a virtual model built to represent a physical world. The objective being to help users understand how the physical object works and how it might react to different circumstances.
The development of generative AI has changed the game, given that digital twins depend largely on the amount of data they ingest and process. Ultimately, digital twins are the same as they have been in the past. But to replicate a human? Even OpenAI’s stated ambitions to develop general AI have not gone as far as this — at least not yet.
Digital Twins Have Their Limitations
AI-powered digital twins are already turning up in a number of professional areas, taking on tasks that usually require human effort, Algocentric Digital Consultancy founder Sergiy Solonenko told Reworked.
These digital copies of people or systems can handle simulations, optimize processes and predict outcomes, he continued. They can take over repetitive tasks, freeing up humans for more complex work.
Digital twins can represent you in virtual settings, attending meetings, managing your inbox, and making decisions based on data. In healthcare, he points out that they predict patient outcomes by analyzing large datasets. This predictive power can be useful in workplaces for project management and performance evaluations.
But there are limits to what they can do, he added. Digital twins struggle with tasks that need a human touch, like nuanced interactions and creative problem-solving. Their success depends on high-quality data. Without good data, their effectiveness is negatively impacted. “While AI can handle many routine tasks, it can't replace roles that require empathy, creativity or ethical judgments."
Garrett Gilkison, principal analyst at Riverbase Cloud Marketing, agreed. He said that despite developments with generative AI, digital twins still face significant limitations. One big one is their inability to grasp context and emotional nuances
As an example, he cites AI working on data. While AI can generate insightful data reports or predictable scheduling, he said, it lacks the situational judgment and emotional intelligence crucial for complex decision-making.
The realistic expectation for digital twins, just like it is with generative AI, isn't the end of work, but a transformation of it where it takes on mundane tasks to free up humans to focus on higher-order tasks like strategic planning, creative problem-solving, and interpersonal negotiations. Gilkison's vision aligns with Zoom CEO Erin Yuan's, but underscores the necessity of human oversight and creativity. He insists AI and digital twins will augment — not replace — the uniquely human aspects of work.
Related Article: The State of Digital Assistants in the Workplace
A Few Hurdles Between Sci-Fi and Reality
While the idea of digital twins in the workplace is promising, it is not yet realistic to expect digital twins to handle all the tasks Yuan outlined autonomously, said Tkxel's Farrukh Sarwar. The technology is still evolving, and achieving such capabilities will require significant advancements.
However, when the technology matures, it still doesn't signal an end to work but rather a shift in how tasks are managed, potentially allowing humans to focus more on in-person interactions and creative work. “The role of generative AI combined with digital twins is an exciting area to watch, but its practical implementation will take time,” he said.
The benefits of having a digital twin are very interesting. To start, consider productivity, Bloomfilter founder and CEO Erik Severinghaus told Reworked. Your twin could manage everyday tasks and find problems before they become major headaches.
However, there are many problems to solve first. The first thing to understand is how exactly these digital twins would copy us. He also raised the question of security, ensuring these AI versions of us cannot be used to create problems in our lives.
Finally, while it is often overlooked, organizations need to keep ethical considerations in mind, Severinghaus continued. Are all employees OK with how their data and images get used by these digital twins? And what about future malicious use cases that no one has even imagined yet?
“Making this sci-fi idea a reality won't be quick,” he said. "We have the essential technology right now, but there is still much to do to make sure it works well and safely in an office or other work areas. It is very exciting, but it will need some time to find out all the details."
Related Article: It Could Be 5 Years Before We See Productivity Gains From Generative AI
Webinar
Sep
25
CMS Briefing: A Live Look at What’s Next in AI-Driven Platforms
Learn how leading organizations are using AI‑driven tools to publish faster, personalize smarter and stay secure.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Ready or Not: How Data-First Organizations Are Unlocking Agentforce Potential
Learn how to cut through the noise, activate Agentforce and build a Salesforce AI strategy that actually delivers.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
AI in Customer Service: Faster Resolutions, Happier Customers
Don’t let rising demand burn out your team. See how to build a smarter, more resilient support org.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
From Hype to High-Impact CX Strategies That Actually Scale
Turn buzzworthy AI and outsourcing trends into measurable CX wins with fresh 2025 data.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Insights to Action Rethinking the Contact Center for Real Business Impact
Join our exclusive webinar to hear CX executives share their innovative strategies for transforming service delivery.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Accelerating Healthcare Ops with AI
Sign up to see how your peers are putting AI to work — and making it stick.
Watch Now
Meetings Are Digital Twin Free – for Now
Zoom is developing UC&C at an astounding rate. Last year, it snapped up Workvivo and at the end of April it introduced new capabilities into Zoom Workplace, including moving Zoom AI Companion for Zoom Meetings and Zoom Team Chat Workplace into general availability.
The company has maintained a high level of development over the last year across all of its platforms which could in part explain CEO Yuan's interest in a technology that still hasn’t been perfected.
While Yuan predicted the use of digital twins at an undetermined future date on the podcast, it clearly is still speculative. Let's just say you're safe from attending a meeting with a digital twin for now. However, given where we were with AI just 18 months ago, we suspect Yuan's vision becoming a reality might not be as far off in the future as you'd think.