AI Sales Agents Compared: UneeQ, Grw.ai, and Tavus.io (2026)

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AI sales agents have moved from novelty to operational tool in the past two years. Three platforms stand out for NZ businesses right now: UneeQ (digital human avatars), Grw.ai (AI sales coaching teammate), and Tavus.io (personalised video generation). They're solving different problems, targeting different price points, and two of the three were founded right here in New Zealand.

This is a straight comparison. Pricing in NZD where available. Use cases framed for NZ business context.

UneeQ: Digital Humans for Enterprise Customer Experience

Founded: Auckland, 2016
Raised: NZ$10M Series A (2019)
Customers in NZ: ASB Bank, Noel Leeming, Vodafone NZ

UneeQ builds interactive AI avatars ("digital humans") designed to replace or augment front-line customer interactions. Think a branded, conversational AI face on your website, kiosk, or app that customers can speak to in real time.

What it does

The platform renders photorealistic avatars that respond with natural speech, facial expressions, and lip-sync in real time. They're built for high-volume, scripted-but-flexible conversations: product queries, FAQ resolution, onboarding flows, and appointment scheduling.

ASB deployed UneeQ's "Josie" as an in-branch digital assistant. Noel Leeming used it for in-store product information kiosks. These aren't chatbots with a face. They're designed to handle the conversational load that would otherwise go to a human agent.

For sales specifically, the use case is top-of-funnel: capturing and qualifying inbound interest, handling product questions at scale, and routing warm leads to human reps.

What you'll actually pay

UneeQ does not publish pricing on their website. Third-party review aggregators (G2, Capterra) cite indicative pricing starting around NZD $1,480/month (~USD $899/month), though enterprise deployments vary significantly. The AWS Marketplace listing for UneeQ shows an enterprise tier at **USD $240,000/year (~NZD $396,000/year)**, which reflects the white-glove integration and SLA support that large deployments require.

If you're a NZ SME exploring this for the first time: the entry-level cost is meaningful, and UneeQ is clear that their target customer is enterprise. They don't have a self-serve trial.

NZ context

UneeQ is a NZ company, headquartered in Auckland, with its engineering roots here. Their existing NZ enterprise relationships mean the platform has been tested against NZ customer expectations. GDPR compliance is documented; the Privacy Act 2020 alignment is not explicitly called out on their site, but given their NZ enterprise customers it would be reasonable to verify directly.

Who this is wrong for

UneeQ is genuinely impressive as a demo. Whether it translates to measurable sales lift depends heavily on your use case, your customer base's comfort with AI interaction, and how well the digital human is integrated into your existing systems. The ROI case is more defensible for high-traffic customer service scenarios than outbound sales. If you're under 50 staff, this probably isn't for you yet.

Grw.ai: AI Sales Coaching for Growing Teams

Founded: Auckland, April 2024
Raised: NZD $2.4M pre-seed (December 2024) at NZD $12M valuation
Customers: TradeWindow, Lumin

Grw.ai is newer and takes a different angle: instead of replacing a sales rep, their AI teammate "Taylor" coaches and assists your existing sales team. Think real-time call coaching, post-call analysis, deal-risk flagging, and rep performance tracking. It's positioned as a sales manager's AI copilot.

What it does

Taylor sits in your sales process: it monitors calls, scores conversations, identifies missed objection-handling, and surfaces coaching insights. For sales managers, it provides visibility across the whole team without requiring manual call review. For reps, it's an AI coach available 24/7 that doesn't get tired of reviewing the same close pattern.

The product is squarely aimed at B2B sales teams in the 5-50 rep range: too large to have a sales manager review every call, small enough that they can't justify a dedicated coaching hire.

What you'll actually pay

Grw.ai does not publish pricing. A free trial is available via their website. Given their pre-seed stage and NZ$2.4M raise, it's a reasonable inference that pricing will be competitive to establish market share, but you'll need to contact them for a quote.

NZ context

This is a NZ-founded company in growth mode. Their existing customers (TradeWindow and Lumin) are NZ tech companies, which means they understand the NZ B2B sales context: smaller deal sizes, fewer enterprise accounts, relationship-heavy dynamics. If you're building a NZ sales team and want AI coaching without importing a US enterprise tool, Grw.ai is the obvious first call.

The NZ$12M valuation at pre-seed is modest by US standards but reasonable for NZ; it suggests a team that hasn't over-raised and has room to build without pressure to chase enterprise contracts prematurely.

Who this is wrong for

Being around 12 months old (as of mid-2026) means the product is earlier stage than UneeQ or Tavus. The coaching AI is only as good as the data it's trained on and the integration with your sales process. If your team isn't doing structured call reviews today, adding AI coaching won't fix the underlying problem. The fit is best for teams that already have a coaching culture and want to scale it.

Tavus.io: Personalised AI Video at Scale

Founded: San Francisco, 2020 (YC S21 batch)
Raised: USD $64.2M total
Model: Self-serve SaaS with clear public pricing

Tavus is the most different of the three. It's not an interactive digital human and it's not a coaching tool. It generates personalised video content at scale. You record one "replica" video, and Tavus uses that to generate hundreds (or thousands) of personalised versions, lip-syncing your face and voice to customised scripts for each recipient.

What it does

Two core products:

Replicas: record yourself once, and the AI generates new videos of your face/voice saying different things. Used for personalised outreach ("Hi James, I noticed your team just launched...") at a scale that would be physically impossible to record manually.

Conversational Video Interface (CVI): a real-time AI video agent that users can have a video call with. The agent responds with your likeness in real time. More experimental; primarily used in product demos and high-touch sales scenarios.

For sales teams, the primary use case is personalised outbound video, a format that consistently outperforms generic email or cold LinkedIn messages for reply rates, particularly for mid-market B2B deals.

What you'll actually pay (verified May 2026, NZD at USD × 1.65)

These prices are from Tavus's published pricing page (verified May 2026). Enterprise pricing is negotiated; their US customer base skews toward Series B+ companies and agencies.

NZ context

Tavus is a US company (San Francisco) with no NZ-specific presence. The platform works globally. Video generation and delivery is cloud-based and there's no NZ restriction on account creation. Pricing is in USD; at current exchange rates the Starter plan costs around NZD $97/month.

Privacy consideration: your biometric data (likeness and voice) is stored on Tavus servers. This is a material consideration for NZ businesses operating under the Privacy Act 2020. Tavus's data processing is covered under their privacy policy and GDPR compliance documentation, but they're a US company. Data residency defaults to US servers unless you're on an Enterprise plan with custom arrangements.

Who this is wrong for

Personalised video works best for specific outreach scenarios: high-value prospects, re-engagement sequences, post-demo follow-up. It's not a substitute for a sales strategy. The "scale" value proposition only materialises if you have the CRM integration and the outbound playbook to use it properly. The free tier is a low-risk starting point.

Head-to-Head: Which Tool for Which Problem?

The NZ Angle

Two of these three platforms were founded in Auckland. That's not a coincidence. NZ's tech ecosystem has consistently produced SaaS companies with global ambitions that also happen to understand the NZ market's specific constraints (smaller deal sizes, tight industry networks, privacy-conscious customers).

If you're a NZ business:

• UneeQ makes sense if you're in financial services, retail, or telco with high-volume customer interaction and a budget to match. Their NZ enterprise track record is real.
• Grw.ai is worth a call if you have a sales team and want AI coaching without signing up to a US platform that doesn't understand the NZ context. Early adopter risk is real, but so is the advantage of being an early customer of a NZ product that wants your reference.
• Tavus.io is accessible to any NZ business doing outbound sales, at a price point that justifies experimentation. The free tier exists; use it.

None of these tools replaces a good sales process. But if your outbound is under-performing, your sales manager is drowning in call reviews, or your website can't handle inbound volume, one of these three is probably worth a serious look.

Pricing current as of May 2026. UneeQ pricing is indicative only; contact UneeQ directly for a quote. Grw.ai pricing is not publicly listed; contact them for a trial and pricing. NZD conversion at USD x 1.65.