In a small or mid-sized business, many important decisions aren’t born in an official report. They take shape in a quick chat between coworkers, a voice message, an impromptu meeting or a thread in a team channel.
The problem comes afterward: you have to track down what was decided, figure out who needs to act, dig up information across different apps and turn the conversation into concrete action.
With the new artificial intelligence capabilities unveiled in Zoho Cliq 7.0, Zoho aims to close exactly that gap. On September 1, 2026, the company detailed several features that build AI directly into everyday communication: AI agents, multimedia summaries, live transcription, MCP and smart automations.
Understand what was said, faster
Back from a day of meetings and a Cliq channel has dozens of new messages? Instead of rereading everything, an AI agent can help surface the main topics discussed.
Zoho is also taking this beyond text. Cliq is set to support summaries for different types of content, including voice notes, videos, PDFs and images. Live meeting transcription also makes it easier to follow a discussion and keep its context.
For a small team where everyone wears several hats, this kind of feature can be very valuable. The benefit isn’t just “reading faster.” It’s mainly about cutting the time spent hunting for information that has already been shared.
Turn a conversation into action
This is probably the most interesting part of Cliq’s evolution.
With AI agents and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), artificial intelligence can interact with applications and workflows rather than simply generate text. Zoho’s goal is to let work move forward directly from the conversation.
In other words, the goal is no longer just to ask the AI, “What happened?” It’s closer to asking, “What needs to be done now?” and then carrying out the appropriate actions in the tools the agent is authorized to access.
Zoho is also adding the Deluge Zia bot, which lets you describe the automation you want in plain language to generate Deluge code. Zia tasks built into Deluge can then be used to summarize content, extract information, produce drafts or enhance an existing workflow.
For an SMB, this opens up an interesting possibility: bringing internal communication, automation and business data closer together instead of treating them as three separate worlds.
Multiple AI models, governance to plan for
Another interesting aspect of Cliq 7.0: Zoho lets administrators work with different AI technologies. In addition to Zia, its native artificial intelligence, the environment can support Gemini, Cohere, DeepSeek and Claude.
This flexibility is appealing, but it also makes configuration important. A business shouldn’t simply turn on every option because it’s available. Permissions, the data agents can access and internal AI usage rules should all be thought through in light of the organization’s context.
For Quebec businesses, this is all the more relevant when they handle personal information and must take their data protection responsibilities into account.
From discussion to work done
The biggest change behind Cliq 7.0 may not be any single feature. It’s the direction Zoho is taking.
AI is increasingly built into the places where work already happens. Instead of opening a separate AI tool, copying information and then going back to Zoho, the goal is to let artificial intelligence understand the context and help the team right inside its work environment.
For an SMB, that’s exactly where AI can become truly useful: fewer manual steps, less lost information and more time spent on the work that really calls for the team’s expertise.
Wondering whether Zoho Cliq, Zia, AI agents or MCP could be useful in your organization? Nuagix can guide or help you. Feel free to reach out to André at Nuagix.ca on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andremartin1062, by email at ventes@nuagix.ca or by booking a Zoom meeting directly at https://nuagix.zohobookings.com/#/andre-martin
Main source: Zoho, “AI that moves work forward: Inside Zoho Cliq 7.0,” published September 1, 2026.