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Overview
Outreach Kaia is a conversation intelligence tool that captures, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls in real time. For revenue teams looking to scale coaching, improve rep performance, and extract actionable insights from every customer conversation, Kaia represents a significant step up from traditional call recording solutions.
This guide walks through Kaia setup, configuration best practices, coaching use cases, and how to integrate conversation intelligence into your broader sales workflow. Whether you are rolling out Kaia for the first time or optimizing an existing deployment, you will find practical guidance for getting the most out of the platform.
What we will cover:
- What Outreach Kaia does and how it fits into your sales tech stack
- Step-by-step setup and configuration
- Key features: real-time transcription, action items, and content cards
- Coaching use cases and best practices
- Integration with CRM and sales engagement workflows
- Common setup issues and how to resolve them
What is Outreach Kaia?
Kaia is Outreach's AI-powered conversation intelligence assistant. It joins sales calls automatically, provides real-time transcription, surfaces relevant content during live conversations, and generates post-call summaries with action items. The name stands for "Knowledge AI Assistant," and the tool is designed to function as a virtual sales coach that captures insights without requiring manual note-taking.
Unlike standalone call recording tools, Kaia integrates directly with the Outreach platform. This means conversation data flows into the same system where reps manage sequences, track engagement, and log activities. The unified data model creates opportunities for deeper analysis, like correlating talk patterns with deal outcomes or identifying which messaging approaches drive the highest conversion rates.
Core Capabilities
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-Time Transcription | Automatic speech-to-text during live calls with speaker identification |
| Live Content Cards | Contextual content surfaces during calls based on topics discussed |
| Action Items | AI-generated next steps extracted from conversation content |
| Call Summaries | Automated post-call summaries synced to CRM records |
| Topic Tracking | Identifies when specific topics (pricing, competitors, objections) are mentioned |
| Talk Time Analytics | Measures talk-to-listen ratio and participation balance |
Traditional call recording captures audio for later review. Kaia goes further by providing real-time assistance during the call, automatically extracting structured data, and feeding insights back into your CRM and sales engagement workflows. The difference is between passive documentation and active intelligence.
Setting Up Outreach Kaia
Kaia setup involves three main phases: enabling the feature at the org level, configuring user permissions and defaults, and connecting your calendar and video conferencing systems. Most organizations can complete the full setup in under an hour, though enterprise deployments with complex permission structures may take longer.
Prerequisites
Before starting setup, confirm the following:
- Outreach subscription tier: Kaia is available on Outreach Voice and certain enterprise plans. Verify your plan includes Kaia access.
- Admin access: You need Outreach admin permissions to enable Kaia at the org level.
- Calendar integration: Kaia joins meetings automatically based on calendar events. Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook must be connected.
- Video conferencing: Kaia supports Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex. Ensure your primary conferencing tool is compatible.
Step-by-Step Setup
Enable Kaia at the Org Level
Navigate to Settings > Voice & Kaia > Kaia Settings in your Outreach admin panel. Toggle the "Enable Kaia" switch to activate the feature for your organization. This makes Kaia available but does not automatically enroll users.
Configure Default Recording Settings
Set your organization's default recording preferences:
- Auto-join: Whether Kaia joins all external meetings automatically or requires manual activation
- Recording consent: Configure whether recordings start automatically or wait for participant consent
- Transcription language: Select the primary language for transcription
Set Up User Permissions
Define which users have access to Kaia and what they can do:
- Recording access: Who can record calls and access recordings
- Visibility: Who can view other users' recordings (team leads, managers, entire org)
- Content library: Who can create and manage content cards that surface during calls
Connect Calendar Integration
For Kaia to join meetings automatically, each user must connect their calendar. Go to Settings > Calendar and follow the OAuth flow for Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook. Once connected, Kaia will detect scheduled meetings with external participants.
Configure Video Conferencing
Enable Kaia for your video conferencing platforms. For Zoom, you may need to grant the Outreach app access to your Zoom account. Similar authorization is required for Microsoft Teams and other platforms.
Test with a Sample Call
Schedule a test meeting with an internal colleague. Verify that Kaia joins, transcription works correctly, and the recording appears in Outreach after the call ends. Check that the summary and action items are generated.
Many jurisdictions require consent from all parties before recording. Configure Kaia to announce its presence when joining calls and display a consent prompt in the video interface. Consult your legal team for region-specific requirements, especially for GDPR in Europe or two-party consent states in the US.
Key Features and Configuration
Once Kaia is enabled, several features can be customized to match your sales methodology and workflow. The following sections cover the most impactful configuration options.
Real-Time Transcription
Kaia transcribes conversations as they happen, with speaker identification that distinguishes between your rep and the prospect. Transcripts are searchable and can be shared with team members who did not attend the call.
Configuration options include:
- Speaker labels: Customize how speakers are identified in transcripts
- Custom vocabulary: Add industry-specific terms, product names, and acronyms to improve transcription accuracy
- Transcript access: Control who can view transcripts (call participants only, team, org)
Content Cards
Content cards surface relevant information during live calls based on topics being discussed. When a prospect mentions a competitor, for example, Kaia can display a battlecard with positioning guidance. When pricing comes up, it can show current rate cards or discount policies.
To maximize content card effectiveness:
- Create content organized by topic (competitors, objections, product features)
- Define trigger keywords that activate specific cards
- Keep card content concise, as reps need to absorb it quickly during live conversations
- Review card usage analytics to identify which content gets viewed and which is ignored
For teams building sophisticated playbooks, this is where conversation intelligence connects to your broader persona and messaging strategy. The content surfaced during calls should reflect the same positioning you use in your outbound sequences and marketing materials.
Action Items and Follow-Ups
Kaia automatically extracts action items from conversations. These might include commitments made by either party ("I'll send over the proposal by Friday"), questions that need follow-up research, or scheduling requests for future meetings.
Action items can be:
- Synced to your CRM as tasks
- Added to Outreach sequences for automated follow-up
- Emailed to the rep as a post-call summary
Topic and Tracker Configuration
Trackers let you monitor when specific topics come up across your team's conversations. Common use cases include:
| Tracker Type | Example Keywords | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor mentions | Competitor names, "alternative," "currently using" | Identify competitive deals for targeted messaging |
| Pricing objections | "Too expensive," "budget," "discount" | Flag deals needing pricing conversations |
| Buying signals | "Timeline," "decision maker," "next steps" | Prioritize deals showing purchase intent |
| Feature requests | Specific feature names, "roadmap," "integration" | Feed product feedback to development |
Trackers aggregate data across your team, making it possible to spot patterns. If competitor X is mentioned in 30% of lost deals but only 10% of won deals, that's actionable intelligence for your competitive positioning.
Coaching Use Cases
Conversation intelligence transforms sales coaching from sporadic call shadowing to systematic skill development. Instead of relying on occasional ride-alongs or self-reported call outcomes, managers can review actual conversations, identify patterns, and provide targeted feedback.
Individual Rep Coaching
For one-on-one coaching sessions:
- Review specific call segments: Jump to moments where objections were handled, discovery questions were asked, or the deal advanced (or stalled)
- Analyze talk time ratios: Reps who dominate conversations often miss buying signals. Use talk-time data to coach more balanced conversations
- Compare against top performers: Identify what your best reps do differently and create coaching content based on those patterns
The goal is moving from subjective impressions ("I think you talked too much") to data-backed coaching ("Your talk time averaged 72% across discovery calls this week, compared to 55% for reps who convert at the highest rate").
Team-Level Analysis
Aggregate conversation data reveals team-wide patterns:
- Which objections are most common and how well are they being handled?
- Are reps consistently covering key qualification criteria?
- How do conversation patterns differ between deals that close and deals that stall?
This connects to broader sales coaching initiatives. Conversation intelligence provides the data; the coaching framework determines how you act on it.
Onboarding and Ramp
For new reps, Kaia recordings serve as training material. Instead of theoretical training, new hires can:
- Listen to real customer conversations from top performers
- Review how experienced reps handle specific objections
- Practice with role-plays that mirror actual customer scenarios
Organizations that leverage conversation intelligence for onboarding often see reduced ramp time, since new reps can accelerate learning from dozens of recorded calls rather than waiting months to encounter each scenario organically.
Create a curated library of exemplary calls organized by scenario: great discovery calls, effective objection handling, successful closes, challenging negotiations. Tag and categorize recordings so reps can find relevant examples when they need them. This turns individual call recordings into institutional knowledge.
Integration with Your Sales Workflow
Conversation intelligence is most valuable when it connects to your other sales systems. Kaia's integration with the broader Outreach platform provides a foundation, but there are additional integration patterns worth considering.
CRM Synchronization
Kaia can sync call summaries, action items, and key topics to your CRM records. This creates a more complete account history that includes not just email activity and meeting timestamps, but actual conversation content.
Configuration considerations:
- Field mapping: Decide which CRM fields receive Kaia data (notes, next steps, custom fields)
- Sync frequency: Real-time sync vs. batch updates at end of day
- Access control: Who in the CRM can view call summaries and transcripts
For teams using HubSpot, the integration connects conversation data with your broader prospecting and qualification workflows. Salesforce users can link conversation insights to opportunity records for more accurate forecasting.
Sequence and Workflow Integration
Action items extracted from calls can trigger automated follow-up sequences. If a prospect requests a specific piece of content, Kaia can log that action item, which then triggers an Outreach sequence to send the requested material.
This creates a closed loop between conversation and action:
- Rep has call with prospect
- Kaia extracts action items
- Action items sync to Outreach as tasks or sequence enrollments
- Follow-up happens automatically or with rep approval
Analytics and Reporting
Conversation data feeds into Outreach's analytics, enabling reports that correlate call patterns with outcomes. Questions you can answer include:
- Which topics are most associated with closed-won deals?
- How does talk-time ratio correlate with deal progression?
- Which content cards are viewed most frequently during calls?
For GTM teams focused on A/B testing and optimization, conversation intelligence adds another dimension of data. You can correlate not just whether an email got opened, but what was said in the subsequent call and whether the deal moved forward.
Best Practices for Kaia Deployment
Organizations that get the most value from conversation intelligence share several common practices. The following recommendations are based on patterns from successful deployments.
Start with Clear Objectives
Before configuring trackers and content cards, define what you want to achieve:
- Coaching improvement: Focus on talk-time analytics and call scoring
- Competitive intelligence: Configure competitor trackers and battlecard content
- Process compliance: Set up trackers for required discovery questions and qualification criteria
- Knowledge sharing: Build a call library with curated examples
Trying to do everything at once often results in doing nothing well. Pick one or two primary use cases and configure Kaia to support them before expanding.
Invest in Content Card Quality
Content cards are only useful if the content is relevant and actionable. Common mistakes include:
- Cards that are too long to absorb during a live call
- Generic content that does not address specific objections or questions
- Outdated information that confuses rather than helps
The best content cards are specific, concise, and regularly updated. Assign ownership for card maintenance and review usage analytics to identify what's working. This is similar to the discipline required for content personalization at scale: the content itself matters as much as the delivery mechanism.
Balance Automation with Human Review
Automatic transcription and summary generation save time, but they are not perfect. Build in human review for:
- Action item verification: Confirm AI-extracted action items are accurate before syncing to CRM
- Transcript correction: Fix transcription errors for important calls that will be used for training
- Summary editing: Refine automated summaries before sharing with customers or executives
Establish Clear Usage Guidelines
Recording conversations raises legitimate privacy and trust concerns. Establish clear guidelines for:
- When recording is appropriate (all external calls, customer requests, specific scenarios)
- How recordings can be used (coaching, training, never for punitive purposes)
- Who has access to recordings and transcripts
- Retention policies and data deletion procedures
Transparency with both reps and customers builds trust. Reps should understand that recordings are for improvement, not surveillance. Customers should be informed when calls are recorded and given the option to decline.
Connect to Broader GTM Strategy
Conversation intelligence generates insights that should feed back into your broader go-to-market motion. If calls consistently reveal a gap in your messaging, that is signal to update your value propositions. If prospects frequently ask about a feature you do not have, that is product feedback worth escalating.
For teams using tools like Octave to manage GTM context centrally, conversation intelligence becomes another input into your positioning and messaging strategy. What you learn from actual customer conversations should inform the personas, use cases, and competitive positioning you use across all channels.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Even with careful setup, you may encounter issues during Kaia deployment. The following table covers the most common problems and their solutions.
| Issue | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Kaia does not join scheduled meetings | Calendar not connected or sync issue | Verify calendar integration in Settings. Check that the meeting has external participants (Kaia typically does not join internal-only meetings). |
| Poor transcription quality | Audio issues, accents, custom terminology | Ensure good audio quality. Add custom vocabulary for product names and industry terms. Consider enabling noise cancellation. |
| Content cards not appearing | Trigger keywords not matching or cards not assigned to user | Review card trigger configuration. Ensure the user has access to the content library. Test with exact trigger phrases. |
| Action items not syncing to CRM | Integration configuration or permission issues | Verify CRM integration settings. Check that the user has permission to create records in the CRM. Review field mapping. |
| Recording not appearing after call | Processing delay or recording failure | Recordings can take several minutes to process. If not appearing after 30 minutes, check that the call was successfully recorded (verify Kaia joined). |
| Consent prompt not displaying | Configuration or platform-specific issue | Review consent settings in Kaia configuration. Some video platforms handle consent differently; consult platform-specific documentation. |
For persistent issues, Outreach support can help diagnose problems. Provide details about the specific call (date, participants, video platform) to expedite troubleshooting.
Advanced Workflows
Once basic Kaia setup is complete, more sophisticated workflows become possible. These approaches are most relevant for teams with mature sales operations and clear process requirements.
Automated Deal Scoring
Combine conversation signals with other deal data to create more accurate opportunity scores. A deal where the prospect mentioned budget approval, timeline urgency, and decision-maker alignment in the call should score higher than one where none of these topics came up.
This builds on the principles of AI-powered lead qualification, extending scoring beyond static firmographic data to include actual conversation content.
Playbook Compliance Monitoring
If your sales methodology requires covering specific topics in discovery calls (pain points, decision process, timeline, budget), trackers can monitor compliance. You can identify which reps consistently cover required topics and which skip critical questions.
Competitive Intelligence Aggregation
Aggregate competitor mentions across all calls to build a real-time view of your competitive landscape. Track which competitors are mentioned most frequently, in which deal stages, and with what outcomes.
This data feeds into competitive analysis and helps prioritize where to invest in competitive positioning.
Context Engine Integration
For teams using a context engine like Octave to manage GTM knowledge, conversation intelligence creates a feedback loop. Insights from calls can inform updates to your Library (positioning, personas, objections). Content cards in Kaia can be populated with messaging from your centralized context, ensuring consistency between what reps say on calls and what appears in outbound sequences.
This pattern addresses a common challenge: ensuring that the messaging reps improvise on calls aligns with the positioning your team has deliberately crafted. By connecting conversation intelligence to your GTM context layer, you create coherence across channels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kaia supports Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Cisco Webex. Support for additional platforms may be available depending on your Outreach plan. Check with Outreach for the most current platform compatibility list.
Yes, if you are using Outreach Voice for calling. Kaia can record and transcribe phone calls made through the Outreach platform. For external phone systems, integration capabilities vary.
Transcription accuracy depends on audio quality, accents, and domain-specific terminology. In good conditions with clear audio, accuracy is typically above 90%. Adding custom vocabulary for your product names and industry terms improves accuracy for specialized terminology.
Yes, and they should be given this option. Configure Kaia to announce its presence and provide a consent mechanism. If a participant objects to recording, the rep should stop the recording. Respecting customer preferences is both a legal requirement in many jurisdictions and a trust-building practice.
Retention periods are configurable by your admin. Common settings range from 90 days to indefinite retention. Consider storage costs, compliance requirements, and training value when setting retention policies.
Outreach provides shareable links for recordings and transcripts. Access can be controlled with expiration dates and password protection. Consider your organization's policies on sharing customer conversations before enabling external sharing.
Kaia supports transcription in multiple languages, though accuracy varies by language. Configure the primary transcription language in settings. For multilingual teams, you may need separate configurations for different regions.
If Kaia does not join automatically, reps can manually invite Kaia during the call (instructions vary by video platform). Check calendar integration settings and ensure the meeting invite includes the video conferencing link.
Putting It All Together
Outreach Kaia transforms sales conversations from ephemeral events into structured data that can be analyzed, searched, and acted upon. For sales teams, this means better coaching, faster onboarding, and more consistent execution of your sales methodology.
The key to successful deployment is treating conversation intelligence as part of your broader GTM infrastructure, not a standalone tool. The insights from calls should inform your sequence strategy, competitive positioning, and product feedback loops. The content surfaced during calls should reflect your best thinking on messaging and personalization.
Start with clear objectives, configure the features that support those objectives, and establish processes for acting on the insights generated. Conversation intelligence is not magic, but it is a powerful capability when deployed thoughtfully.
For teams looking to build a unified GTM context layer that connects conversation intelligence, outbound sequences, and qualification workflows, tools like Octave provide the infrastructure to maintain consistent messaging across all customer touchpoints. The goal is coherence: what your reps say on calls should align with what appears in your emails, landing pages, and marketing materials.