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Its end-user business and the pandemic quickly turned Zoom into the epitome of Unified Communications. Now, with an ever-growing suite of AI-powered features and a strong push through channel partners, the UCaaS provider aims to win over the midmarket in the DACH region – a goal emphasized during a recent press event in Munich.
Zoom today sees itself as an “AI-first platform for human communication.” The Zoom Meetings product, with which the U.S.-based company launched back in 2011, has become a household name like Tesa or Zewa, proudly declared Nadja Risse, Head of DACH and CEE, during a press breakfast on the rooftop of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. She’s not wrong – few brands have achieved such rapid ubiquity that they’ve become generic terms.
The vast opportunities for transformation – “my passion,” as she puts it – and the continuously expanding range of AI-powered tools motivated her to join Zoom Communications at the end of 2024, where she now focuses heavily on advancing the partner business. To support this effort, Risse brought on Jürgen Reintjes as Head of Channel in early July 2025 – an experienced executive with deep roots in indirect sales. Both see significant untapped potential, especially in Germany’s crucial midmarket segment.
Modern Work Over Office Fatigue
As Risse explains, companies today must proactively adapt to the modern world of work. According to recent data from multiple market research firms, 80 percent of employees feel overwhelmed by communication overload; nearly three-quarters (72 percent) report feeling disconnected and demotivated; and 60 percent consider their time spent in the office outright meaningless.
From Zoom Phone to AI Companion – Zoom offers far more than just meetings. Image source: Unsplash / Gabriel Benois.
Moreover, 60 percent of daily work consists of routine tasks – precisely the kind AI solutions like Zoom AI Companion can handle effectively. Originally developed as a translation tool – and still supporting 36 languages in that capacity – the AI Companion now enables, in Risse’s words, “a completely new way of working” at “fantastic speed.”
Many of Zoom’s current offerings were added well after its initial launch: Zoom Phone and Digital Signage, for instance, arrived between 2015 and 2019. The AI Companion was introduced only in 2023 but became significantly more powerful with version 2.0, unveiled in 2024. New additions to Zoom Workspace include Zoom Docs, Workflow Automation, and Clinical Notes – examples of Zoom’s ongoing expansion into vertical-specific solutions.
Zoom Tops UC SaaS Rankings
This evolution helped Zoom Workplace secure a top spot among “Leaders” in Forrester’s The Forrester Wave™: Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), Q3 2025 report. Zoom earned the highest scores primarily due to its user experience, innovation, security, data privacy, reliability, and platform stability – outperforming industry giants like Cisco and Microsoft.
For Jürgen Reintjes, who spent over 25 years in channel sales at Alcatel-Lucent, it was essential that Zoom not only be a brand people admire but also invest heavily in R&D and genuinely believe in the indirect sales model to grow in the UCaaS space. Zoom relies entirely on distribution but avoids “over-distribution,” he notes.
His immediate goal is to grow Zoom’s partner base in Germany from the current 100 to 1,000 potential channel partners to drive midmarket growth through indirect sales. Most of these partners come from the media technology sector – similar to Kern & Stelly.
Partner Training Programs Receive Positive Feedback
Zoom now emphasizes peer-level channel partnerships, as seen here at the Media Brunch in Munich. Image source: Zoom.
Sebastian Menke, Zoom Sales Manager, highlighted during the Munich press breakfast – under the headline “How to Sell 1 Million Licenses” – that Zoom integrates seamlessly and fully compliantly into various verticals, including retail, healthcare, and hospitality. For complex solutions like AI Companion and Contact Center, Zoom offers not only a showroom but also workshops and system house training sessions.
Feedback from partners on recurring topics – such as data sovereignty, transparency, and security – is actively incorporated into product development. For example, partners specifically requested that new features like Notes include robust encryption mechanisms, Reintjes noted.
“The AI Companion was only introduced in 2023, but with the new version 2.0 launched in 2024, it’s become significantly more powerful.”
Security and Growth Remain Top Priorities at Zoom
Even in AI, Zoom prioritizes comprehensive data protection. Reintjes and Risse reiterated that the AI Companion draws its “knowledge” exclusively from third-party content providers – not from the live communications of B2B customers or other enterprises. However, with the new AI Studio, users do have the option to feed in their own data.
According to Reintjes, the renewed focus on indirect sales and the midmarket opens substantial cross-selling opportunities that he and his team intend to leverage. His ultimate ambition is to shift 90 percent of Zoom’s business to indirect channels and move beyond the direct-sales model that fueled Zoom’s initial rise. After all, only in close collaboration with strong partners can Zoom fully unlock its growth potential in the DACH market.
Header Image Source: Evernine
