How AI Video is Transforming Business Communication: Key Takeaways from HeyGen's Joshua Xu

Inbound

December 9, 2024

How AI Video is Transforming Business Communication: Key Takeaways from HeyGen's Joshua Xu

AI and video are having a moment. Individually, they're powerful. But together? They're reshaping the way we connect, market, and grow businesses.

At INBOUND 2024, Joshua Xu, co-founder of HeyGen joined HubSpot’s Kipp Bodnar (CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing) to explore how AI is changing business communication.

"We live in video... there were a billion hours of video being watched on YouTube everyday and the average person watched seventeen hours of video every week," Xu noted, setting the stage for a discussion that would reveal just how dramatically AI is transforming video creation.

THE VIDEO PRODUCTION PROBLEM

Before looking ahead, Xu took a moment to reflect on traditional video production, acknowledging that it’s been a bottleneck for businesses looking to scale their communication. As Xu pointed out, "The industry rule of thumb of every one minute of video it costs about a thousand dollars." This high barrier to entry has historically limited companies' ability to leverage video effectively across their operations.

That's where AI enters the picture.

If we can remove the barrier of the camera, we will remove the barrier for visual storytelling for businesses.

HeyGen's bold mission? Make video production 10x faster and 10x cheaper than traditional methods, democratizing access to high-quality video content.

THREE KEY USE CASES FOR AI VIDEO

Xu broke down three powerful ways businesses are (and should be) leveraging AI video technology today. And none of them require a production studio or massive budget.

1. Localization at Scale

Gone are the days of spending $5-10K and waiting weeks to localize a single video. With AI video generation, companies can now translate their content into multiple languages (175 with HeyGen, to be exact), quickly and cost-effectively. "The entire translation process is extremely simple," Xu shared. "What we need to do is upload the video, select the target language and click submit and the video will be ready in just one minute."

The impact is huge. Bodnar shared that HubSpot has slashed localization costs to around $500 per video, reducing production time from weeks to just days. For businesses eyeing global markets, this means quicker launches and lower barriers to entry—up to 90% reductions in both cost and time-to-market.

2. Personalized Video Communication

Think email personalization was powerful? AI video is taking it to an entirely new level. "Every single piece of the personalized text content mostly around the email format can be turned into a video," Xu explained. Companies are using this capability in innovative ways, like:

Sending automated welcome videos for webinar registrants
Sharing scalable yet personal thank-you messages in employee communications
Creating customized product demos for prospects
Crafting tailored sales outreach videos

AI-powered video allows businesses to scale personal connections while maintaining authenticity.

3. Interactive AI Avatars

From web forms to chatbots, customer interactions have come a long way. But now? Interactive AI avatars have entered the chat.

These avatars combine multimodal interaction (think fluid switches between text and video), natural language processing, and real-time engagement to create conversations that feel strikingly human. Xu highlighted their versatility:

"The use cases for interactive avatar has been very horizontal ranging from all sorts of customer interaction experiences, like sales, marketing, customer success and support."

What makes them stand out?

Better engagement: Avatars can attend Zoom meetings, answer in real-time, and offer a stronger visual presence.
Smarter interactions: They understand emotional tone and intent, capturing data for better insights.
Unmatched scalability: 24/7 touch points that only get better with time.

THE FUTURE OF AI VIDEO

AI video is just getting started. Looking ahead, Xu predicts even greater leaps in naturalness and emotional intelligence. "The whole large language model is moving to a multi-model... to understand not only the text content about the conversation but also the emotion," he predicted.

Here are some other developments to watch:

Enhanced gesture rendering and body language
Improved emotional intelligence and tone recognition
Deeper integration with CRM data
More sophisticated multimodal interactions

TAKEAWAYS

Want to take the next steps and integrate AI video into your business? Start simple and smart. Xu recommends starting with content that delivers universal value (like product demos or educational materials). These are high-impact areas where video shines, offering scalability and engagement right out of the gate.

Best practices include:

Start with content that has universal appeal across markets
Use CRM data to inform personalization strategies
Test interactive avatars in support or sales contexts
Monitor user responses and adjust accordingly

As AI video technology continues to evolve, companies that embrace these capabilities early will have a significant advantage in creating more engaging, personalized, and scalable communication strategies.

Watch Joshua Xu’s full session here for more insights on how to implement AI video in your business.