Cisco Acquires EzDubs: What It Means for Event Organisers

The race to build AI-powered multilingual communication took another major turn this month as Cisco finalised its acquisition of EzDubs — the Y Combinator-backed real-time translation startup known for its voice-preserving technology. Cisco had initially announced its intent to acquire the company in November, and EzDubs will now be folded into Cisco’s Collaboration portfolio, including Webex, signalling an acceleration of Cisco’s ambition to make multilingual communication a native feature of its ecosystem.

For event organisers, the move brings both opportunities and new questions — especially as enterprise platforms increasingly bake AI voice translation directly into their products. And for Interprefy, it reinforces the growing need for responsible, platform-agnostic, high-accuracy language solutions that go beyond “AI-only”.

A Rapidly Consolidating Market

Cisco’s acquisition follows two other major consolidation plays this year:

• TransPerfect’s acquisition of Unbabel (July 2025), and

• Palabra AI’s acquisition of Talo (November 2025).

The message is clear: multilingual communication is becoming a strategic capability, not a “nice to have”. Technology vendors are racing to integrate live translation deeply into their platforms, not as an add-on, but as a core value driver.

For enterprise event organisers, that means two things:

1. More built-in AI tools will be rolled out across major video platforms.

2. The quality, reliability, and risk profile of each tool will vary widely.

With EzDubs discontinuing its consumer app to focus fully on enterprise use cases, the centre of gravity for real-time AI language translation has unmistakably shifted to the professional and events world — where accuracy, inclusivity, and trust are paramount.

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A Strong Signal from Cisco — but Limitations Remain

EzDubs’ standout feature is its voice-preserving translation: a technology that replicates the speaker’s tone, pacing, and emotional expression across 30+ languages. This has clear appeal in keynote talks, marketing events, and executive communications where authenticity matters.

However, the industry knows that AI-only translation — regardless of how natural it sounds—still carries risks:

• Accuracy gaps in technical, legal, compliance-sensitive, or domain-specific content

• Bias and hallucinations, especially in high-stakes corporate scenarios

• Lack of event-specific context, which human professionals excel at handling

• Inconsistency when dealing with multilingual audiences with varying accessibility needs

For global events, where a single mistranslation can undermine brand credibility or breach compliance, accuracy remains non-negotiable.

This is where event organisers begin to experience the limits of “platform-locked” AI translation: if your chosen meeting platform dictates your translation experience, you inherit its strengths—and its weaknesses.

The Interprefy Perspective: Flexibility, Accuracy, and Responsible AI

As enterprise platforms race towards fully embedded AI, Interprefy continues to take a different approach: one that is platform-agnostic, accuracy-first, and purpose-built for real event complexity.

1. Platform-agnostic by design

Interprefy Agent enables organisers to deliver live translation and captioning on major event platform — Webex included. This ensures that language accessibility isn’t dictated by the roadmap or limitations of a single vendor.

Whether your event runs on Zoom, MS Teams, Webex, On24, or a custom environment, Interprefy integrates seamlessly.

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2. Human-in-the-loop for high-stakes events

AI has reshaped multilingual communication, but even the most advanced models struggle with nuance, technical terminology, and culturally sensitive content. Interprefy offers both, responsible AI and professional interpreters wherever accuracy and context matter most. This hybrid model is increasingly the preferred choice for organisers who cannot afford translation risks.

3. Unmatched language coverage

With more than 6,000 language combinations, Interprefy supports global audiences at a scale that built-in platform AI tools — typically limited to a few dozen languages — cannot match.

4. Responsible AI rather than AI-only

AI can enhance multilingual experiences, but only when deployed responsibly. Interprefy prioritises:

• ISO 27001-certified information security

• GDPR-compliant data processing

• Bias-mitigated language models

• Human oversight whenever required

• Quality assurance tailored to each event

Unlike embedded AI features within enterprise platforms, Interprefy offers organisers transparency, configurability, and full control over how language services are delivered—avoiding the risks of opaque, platform-locked AI.

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What Event Organisers Should Take Away

Cisco’s acquisition of EzDubs is good news for the market: it pushes innovation forward and highlights the growing importance of multilingual experiences in enterprise communication.

But it also reinforces a crucial point:

Event organisers need flexibility — not a one-size-fits-all solution tied to a single platform’s roadmap.

As more platforms embed AI translation, organisers will face strategic decisions:

• Do we rely on built-in AI, even if it sacrifices accuracy for convenience?

• Do we need interpreter involvement for sensitive or technical sessions?

• How do we maintain consistent quality across multiple event platforms?

• Are we choosing a meeting platform that limits our language capabilities or one that expands them?

These are increasingly high-stakes choices — and this is precisely where Interprefy adds value: offering choice, control, and quality in a landscape drifting toward vendor lock-in.

Conclusion: Innovation Is Accelerating—But Choice Matters

Cisco’s acquisition of EzDubs confirms what the market has known for years: multilingual communication is no longer optional, and AI will play an expanding role in shaping how global audiences engage.

But while platform-native AI will become more common, event organisers need solutions built around accuracy, inclusivity, and flexibility, not limited by the capabilities of any single ecosystem.

Combining responsible AI, human expertise, and platform-agnostic deployment will be paramount to support events of any scale, in any language, anywhere.