This week, I came across something at Spring vCon 2026 that completely changed how I think about conversations in the digital world. It didnโt just stay theoretical for me: I actually experienced a version of this shift myself.
Recently, I went through two AI-driven interview sessions:
A 25-minute video interview
A 15-minute voice interview
At first, it felt unusual to speak to an AI in such a structured, recorded way. But over time, it started to feel normal, almost like a regular part of the hiring process. It even became fun when the AI asked for clarifications and follow-up questions.
Later, when I shared this experience in a tech Discord server, the conversation immediately shifted to a critical concern: ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ๐.
"Iโm not sure what their terms and conditions are. There is no disclaimer whatsoever, and Iโm not sure if they are regulated or not."
That discussion made everything click. Because I had just lived through exactly what vCon is trying to solve.
๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐
Iโve always thought of conversations as temporary, like calls, meetings, or chats that happen and then get stored somewhere as recordings or transcripts.
But between AI interviews and this discussion, I started seeing something different:
๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ฌ.
And we are generating more of them than we can properly organize or reuse.
๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง?
๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง (๐๐จ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ) is an emerging open standard designed to represent conversations in a structured, machine-readable format.
At its core, vCon defines a way to package everything that makes up a conversation into one portable container. Think of it as a standardized ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, similar to how PDF standardized documents or how MP4 standardized video.
Instead of scattered pieces, vCon brings it all together:
๐๐๐๐ข๐: Audio and video recordings
๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ: Full transcripts and AI-generated summaries
๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ: Participants, identities, and timestamps
๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ญ๐: Action items, tags, and behavioral signals
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ
Image taken from Jill Blankenship
To really understand how this works, itโs helpful to look at the flow of data. The "Trusted Source" model illustrates how these interactions move through a secure pipeline:
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ (๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ): On the left, we see the input phase where Voice Calls, Chat, Email, Messaging, and Video are captured.
๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ (๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ค): This purple box in the middle is the vCon Container. It acts as the "Single source of truth" by ensuring every conversation is Complete & Accurate, recorded in a Standardized Format, and kept Secure & Governed.
- ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฌ (๐๐ฌ๐๐ & ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ): On the right, the green arrows show how this trusted data flows into AI & Analytics, Automation, Quality & Compliance, Business Intelligence, and Customer Experience tools.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐
At Spring vCon 2026, one theme kept coming up repeatedly:
๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ญ.
According to industry research from ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ, over 80% ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐, and conversations are the ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ of this information. Yet most of this data is:
- Hard to search
- Hard to reuse
- Locked inside ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
- Difficult to analyze consistently at scale
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง: ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง
When the discussion on Discord turned to privacy, it highlighted a major gap. ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก. By standardizing the format, we can also standardize the ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ง๐๐.
This means that privacy controls and data retention policies are baked into the file itself. Crucially, a vCon container is designed to be ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐'๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ. It allows systems to analyze the context of a conversation for business intelligence while keeping the identity of the person secure.
This architecture ensures that permissions travel with the data, rather than being ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ
Right now, conversations are trapped. A sales call lives in a CRM, a support call lives in a contact center tool, and a meeting lives in a video platform. They donโt connect.
vCon introduces a shared language for all of this. It turns conversations into something you can:
Store consistently
Search intelligently
Analyze at scale
Move across platforms
We are moving from "๐๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ" to "๐๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐, ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐." That shift is powerful because once conversations become structured data, they stop being temporary: they become infrastructure.
๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก & ๐๐๐๐ก๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ฌ
๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐: https://www.forcepoint.com/blog/insights/gartner-2024-world-class-security-unstructured-data-report
๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-vcon-overview-01
Top comments (0)