8 CPaaS Providers Positioned to Power the AI Agent Era

AI agents are about to rewire commerce. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol launched in January 2026. Visa and Mastercard expect agent-led purchases by Q1 2026. Amazon’s Alexa+ is booking appointments through Expedia and Square. But here’s what most marketers are missing: every one of these agent interactions runs on CPaaS infrastructure.

Messaging. Voice. Video. Verification. The platforms that power your 2FA codes and appointment reminders are becoming the nervous system of agentic commerce. And with the CPaaS market projected to reach $80 billion by 2030, the providers who get AI positioning right will capture the next decade of growth.

What’s Covered

1. Twilio: The Data-Driven Agent Infrastructure Play (Best Tip)

Twilio has repositioned from “dumb pipes” to “the brain of the agentic economy.” The key differentiator is Segment. By integrating its customer data platform directly into communications APIs, Twilio enables AI agents to understand context and identity in real-time, not just deliver messages.

At SIGNAL 2025, Twilio launched ConversationRelay for building natural voice AI agents with LLM integration, interruption handling, and real-time streaming. Voice AI grew over 20% in the latter half of 2025. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock with price targets reaching $185.

2. GMS: White-Label AI Infrastructure for Telcos

GMS (Global Message Services) operates 900+ mobile network operator connections and has explicitly positioned as an “AI-driven communications solutions partner.” The Swiss-headquartered company recently announced a diversified business strategy to shift from legacy messaging provider to AI communications platform.

The strategic angle for agentic commerce: GMS provides white-label CPaaS solutions that enable mobile operators to offer AI agent infrastructure under their own brands. As telcos look to monetize the agent era, GMS gives them turnkey infrastructure without building from scratch. The company holds Tier 1 SMS Firewall Vendor status in the ROCCO Survey, critical for securing high-volume agent communications.

Why this matters for agent deployment:

• AI-powered SMS and Voice Firewalls provide fraud protection for automated sending
• Single API unifies SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, and RCS for multi-channel agents
• ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 9001 certified for enterprise compliance
• Strong CIS and emerging market coverage where agent commerce is growing fastest

3. Sinch: Global Carrier Network for Agent Scale

Sinch operates over 600 direct mobile operator connections globally. For AI agents that need to reach customers across 150,000+ business deployments including Google, Uber, PayPal, and Visa, that carrier-grade infrastructure becomes critical. The Swedish company handles billions of transactions annually.

The strategic angle: Sinch’s “super network” enables smart routing for cost and delivery optimization. AI agents making high-volume bookings or confirmations across international markets need reliable delivery without managing carrier relationships in each region.

How to evaluate for agent deployment:

• Check regional coverage for your target markets
• Verify real-time delivery reporting for agent feedback loops
• Assess SMS fraud protection for automated sending

4. Vonage: Enterprise Integration for Complex Workflows

Vonage (now part of Ericsson) differentiates through enterprise tool integration. The Meetings API enables interactive voice and video workflows. For AI agents handling complex customer service scenarios that require human escalation, Vonage’s contact center integration provides smooth handoffs.

The Vonage Communications Platform supports voice, video, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. AI-powered conversational interfaces are built into the platform. For enterprises already invested in Vonage infrastructure, adding agent capabilities means leveraging existing integrations rather than rebuilding.

5. Bird: Omnichannel Messaging for Conversational Commerce

Bird (formerly MessageBird) consolidated over 800 APIs into one platform. The shared inbox pulls SMS, voice, email, and messaging apps into a single view. For AI agents handling conversational commerce, Bird provides the unified interface for managing customer interactions across channels.

Bird’s strength is in Asia where they were first to connect Kakao, Line, and WeChat into a single API. As agentic commerce expands globally, that regional messaging infrastructure becomes a competitive advantage. The platform serves 25,000+ customers including banks, healthcare providers, and service apps.

Key capabilities for agent builders:

• Journey flow management for multi-step agent interactions
• Automated chatbot builders for rule-based escalation
• Number validation for identity verification

6. Infobip: Compliance-First for Regulated Agent Deployment

Infobip operates its own telecommunications infrastructure and data centers, enabling regional compliance for markets with strict data sovereignty requirements. According to Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for CPaaS, compliance differentiation is becoming decisive in enterprise procurement.

For AI agents in healthcare (HIPAA), finance (PSD2), or operating across GDPR markets, Infobip’s compliance-first architecture reduces deployment risk. The January 2025 partnership with NTT Com Online to launch NTT CPaaS in Japan demonstrates their regional expansion strategy.

7. Bandwidth: Carrier Infrastructure for Voice Agents

Bandwidth owns its own telecommunications infrastructure, operating as both a CPaaS provider and carrier. This matters for AI voice agents because network-level control provides lower latency and higher reliability than providers who resell carrier capacity.

For voice-first AI agent deployments like appointment booking systems or customer service bots, Bandwidth’s direct network ownership eliminates a layer of intermediation. The tradeoff is narrower functionality compared to full-stack platforms like Twilio, but the voice infrastructure is enterprise-grade.

8. Plivo: Developer-First for Custom Agent Builds

Plivo targets cost-conscious builders with transparent pricing and no-code agent builders. The platform recently launched AI agents with SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance, supporting LLMs from OpenAI, Google, and Meta. For teams building custom AI agent workflows without Twilio-level budgets, Plivo offers an accessible entry point.

Omnichannel delivery spans SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, voice, and webchat from a single agent interface. Built-in integrations with Shopify, Stripe, and CRM platforms reduce development overhead. The no-code workflow builder means marketing teams can customize triggers and logic without engineering dependencies.

The AI-SEO Positioning Gap

Here’s the strategic opportunity most CPaaS providers are missing: when AI search systems like ChatGPT or Perplexity need to recommend infrastructure for agent development, they’re pulling from training data and web content that positions these platforms as legacy messaging tools.

Ask Claude about CPaaS infrastructure for agentic commerce. Ask Gemini which platforms support Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol. The answers often miss the strategic pivot these companies are making. Twilio’s “CustomerAI” narrative is getting through. Most others are still positioned as SMS and voice APIs.

What’s Next

The Universal Commerce Protocol implementation launched publicly in January 2026. Shopify’s agentic storefront integration is live. Visa and Mastercard are running pilots for agent-led payments. The infrastructure layer that connects AI agents to customers is no longer theoretical.

For marketing leaders evaluating technology investments, CPaaS is no longer just about sending appointment reminders. It’s about building the communications infrastructure that AI agents will use to book, purchase, and confirm on behalf of your customers.

Start with the question: When an AI agent needs to reach your customer, what infrastructure will it use?