Why AI Voice Agents Will Replace Every IVR System
67% of customers have hung up on an IVR out of frustration. AI voice agents don't route callers through menus — they resolve the issue directly. The $22B voice AI market is replacing IVR across healthcare, financial services, property management, and legal.
This article is being written.
We're publishing every couple of days through 2026. In the meantime, browse other articles in Comparisons, Guides & Trends.
Rohan Pavuluri builds SIMBA Voice Agents at Speechify. Previously, he founded and led Upsolve, the largest nonprofit in the United States serving low-income Americans through technology. He writes about real-world voice-agent deployments — customer support, outbound sales, AI receptionists — and the practical product, design, and operational lessons that actually move the needle.
More from Rohan Pavuluri
View all →Voice AI for Commercial Real Estate: Leasing, Tenant Services, and Property Operations
Commercial real estate has distinct communication patterns from residential. Voice AI handles leasing inquiries, building ops, CAM questions, and broker qualification across office, retail, and industrial.
Voice Agents for Tenant Communication: Maintenance, Rent, and Lease Management at Scale
Managing tenant communication at scale breaks at about 200 units per property manager. Voice agents handle the entire lifecycle — inquiries, applications, maintenance, rent, renewals, and move-outs.
Voice AI for Mortgage and Lending: Pre-Qualify Borrowers and Book Loan Officers Automatically
Loan officers spend 60% of their time on unqualified leads. Voice AI pre-qualifies borrowers, collects documents, and books consultations — so LOs focus on closeable deals.
Related reading
Why Voice Will Be the Default UX for Enterprise AI
For the last three years, "chat with AI" has been the dominant UX paradigm in enterprise AI products. Type a question, AI types back. This works — it's how most people first encountered large language models, and it's efficient for many workflows.
What Decagon, Sierra, and Fin Get Right About AI Support
Three AI support companies — Decagon, Sierra, and Fin (by Intercom) — have emerged as the most credible enterprise players in the AI customer service space in 2026.
The Economics of AI Voice Agents at Scale
AI voice agents looked economically interesting at small scale in 2024. At medium scale in 2025, they started beating outsourced alternatives on obvious metrics. In 2026, at high scale — millions of calls per month — the economics become genuinely disruptive.
Voice AI, twice a month.
Get the best of the SIMBA resources hub — new articles, trend notes, and operator guides. No spam.