At CASA25, we are looking beyond the buzz to focus on the building blocks that will shape the future of programmable communications. One of the most important of those building blocks is vCon—a new open standard for representing conversations.

Why does this matter? Because as AI begins to transform communications, it needs structure. Large language models are powerful, but without a consistent way to capture and exchange conversational data, they struggle to deliver enterprise-grade results. vCon provides exactly that: a standardized “container” for conversations, whether voice, chat, or video.

The Power of a Definition

Last week, we published a guest blog by Thomas Howe, one of the driving forces behind the vCon standard and the vCon Foundation. In his blog, The Power of a Definition, Thomas explained how having a shared definition of what a conversation is can unlock an ecosystem of AI-driven innovation.

At CASA25, Thomas will take the stage for a keynote session to explain why vCons matter, and why they are a cornerstone for agentic AI in communications. His talk sets the tone for a series of deeper dives:

Panel discussions will explore real-world use cases, from customer engagement to compliance and regulatory requirements. A hands-on workshop will give a small group of participants the chance to dig deeper into the standard and its practical implications.

The vCon Foundation and CPaaSAA members are already working together to turn this definition into impact. That means moving from theory to practice—building AI-ready communications that enterprises, service providers, and telcos can trust.

In short: vCon is the missing link. It connects the messy, human side of conversations with the structured, machine-readable world AI needs to thrive.

At CASA25, you’ll hear directly from Thomas and other pioneers shaping this future. Join us in Amsterdam this September to be part of the conversation—and to help shape what comes next!

We’re thrilled to announce that the vCon Foundation is joining CASA25 as an official sponsor—joining the ranks of other ecosystem pioneers like GSMA Open Gateway—to lead the charge on a technology that’s quietly becoming one of the most transformative forces in communications: virtual conversations (vCons).

At this year’s CASA25, the vCon Foundation will be on stage, in the workshops, and in the conversations that matter most—introducing the vCon standard to the CPaaS and cloud communications community, and showing how this deceptively simple innovation could redefine how we store, share, and build on business conversations.

And we’re not exaggerating when we say: this could be as big as SIP, SMS, or CPaaS itself.

What Are vCons—and Why Should You Care?

A vCon is a structured, portable, and machine-readable container for all the data around a conversation: audio, transcripts, participants, metadata, and even AI insights like summaries or sentiment. Think of it as the PDF or vCard for business conversations.

Today, most calls, messages, and meetings are lost to siloed systems, raw audio files, or disconnected transcripts. vCons change that. They allow platforms, enterprises, and AI tools to treat conversations as first-class data objects—with context, structure, and continuity.

And that changes everything.

Why It Matters to the CPaaS Ecosystem

At CPaaSAA, we believe that AI is only as powerful as the data it learns from. And right now, conversation data is mostly unstructured and unusable. vCons unlock that value.

For CPaaS and CCaaS providers, vCons enable:

Plug-and-play conversation intelligence: Any AI model, from any vendor, can read and analyze vCons—accelerating innovation without locking customers in. Unified customer journeys across voice, chat, video, and messaging. Compliance and governance by tracking consent, redacting sensitive data, and storing audit-ready records. Interoperability that breaks down vendor silos and unlocks new business models. And perhaps most importantly: AI with memory.

As we shift from automation to autonomy, the ability to give AI agents persistent, structured memory across interactions becomes the foundation for everything else. vCons are that memory layer.

Why CPaaSAA Is Getting Behind This

As with Network APIs, CPaaSAA believes the real opportunity isn’t just in the tech—it’s in how we connect it to ecosystems, use cases, and adoption at scale.

That’s why we’re excited to welcome the vCon Foundation to CASA25—not just as a sponsor, but as a co-creator of the next wave of programmable communications.

Throughout CASA25, the vCon Foundation will:

Speak on the main stage about the business impact of vCons and real-world use cases already underway. Host a hands-on workshop showing developers and vendors how to build with vCons. Meet with key CPaaSAA members to discuss integration paths, pilots, and co-investment opportunities.

We’ve seen this movie before: standards start quietly, get adopted by a few visionary players, and then become the foundation for multi-billion-dollar ecosystems. That’s what happened with SIP. With SMS. With WebRTC. With CPaaS itself.

vCon is next.

Join Us in Amsterdam

CASA25 is where insiders shape what comes next. We’re proud to have the vCon Foundation as a partner on that journey—and we invite you to come learn, build, and help define the standards that will power the future of voice, video, messaging, and AI.

If you’re building anything in communications, customer experience, or AI-driven engagement—you need to understand vCons.

Let’s make it happen, together.