# Conversational AI (/en/introduction/conversational-ai)

> For AI agents: see the complete documentation index at [llms.txt](/llms.txt).

Conversational AI is the capability layer for products where the primary interface is a live conversation with an AI system. In this category, voice is not just an input channel. It is the product experience itself.

Agora groups several related surfaces under this layer:

* **Conversational AI Engine** for production voice-agent workflows
* **AI developer toolkits** for client and server integration
* **OpenAI Realtime integration** for teams that want to combine Agora transport with OpenAI Realtime-style model interaction

## What this category is good for [#what-this-category-is-good-for]

This category is the right entry point when you need:

* voice-first AI assistants and copilots
* customer service and sales agents
* tutors, role-play systems, and spoken learning experiences
* AI-powered smart devices and hardware endpoints
* multimodal products where an agent participates in a live session

The common requirement is natural turn-taking, low response latency, interruption handling, and a live connection between the user and the AI system.

## Products and paths in this category [#products-and-paths-in-this-category]

<CardGrid>
  <FeatureCard title="Conversational AI Engine">
    The main product path for building real-time voice agents with managed speech, reasoning, interruption handling, and agent lifecycle control.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="AI Developer Toolkits">
    Client and server integration surfaces for web, mobile, and backend teams that need to build custom AI experiences on top of Agora.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="OpenAI Realtime">
    A guided path for teams that want to connect Agora real-time transport with OpenAI Realtime-style voice interaction flows.
  </FeatureCard>
</CardGrid>

## Start here [#start-here]

<OverviewSpotlightGrid>
  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/ai" title="Conversational AI Engine" variant="platform" />

  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/ai/get-started/quickstart" title="AI quickstart" variant="code" />

  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/ai/reference/openai-realtime-integration" title="OpenAI Realtime" variant="platform" />
</OverviewSpotlightGrid>

## Key characteristics [#key-characteristics]

<CardGrid>
  <FeatureCard title="Ultra-low latency">
    Keep spoken interaction responsive enough for natural back-and-forth conversation rather than turn-based chatbot behavior.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Voice-native interaction">
    Combine real-time audio transport with ASR, LLM, TTS, interruption handling, and agent lifecycle control in one interaction model.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Flexible model strategy">
    Start from Agora-managed paths or integrate custom LLM, ASR, and TTS combinations depending on control and quality requirements.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Cross-platform implementation">
    Build across web, mobile, backend, and device surfaces with a shared mental model for sessions, events, and agent behavior.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Extensible to business workflows">
    Add custom data, event subscriptions, server-side orchestration, and downstream analytics without redesigning the whole interaction loop.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Built on real-time transport">
    Reuse Agora's voice path and session model so AI can participate as part of a live system, not only as a detached API call.
  </FeatureCard>
</CardGrid>

## What to read next [#what-to-read-next]

* [Conversational AI](/en/ai)
* [AI quickstart](/en/ai/get-started/quickstart)
* [OpenAI Realtime](/en/ai/reference/openai-realtime-integration)
* [API Reference](/en/api-reference/conversational-ai)