Is CRM Dying or Evolving? How AI is Transforming the Industry : Tom M
by: Tom M
blow post content copied from Salesforce News | Salesforce Ben
click here to view original post
### Summary of Content The article discusses the current state of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its future amid evolving technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Software as a Service (SaaS). It questions whether CRM is "dead" or if it's evolving. CRM has evolved since the 1980s, transitioning from basic database marketing to sophisticated, cloud-based systems that manage customer interactions. #### Key Points: 1. **Origins and Growth of CRM**: CRM emerged in the 1980s, saw significant innovation in the 1990s, and expanded with SaaS models, notably Salesforce in 1999. 2. **Current State**: Today's CRMs are expected to be comprehensive tools that handle various customer-related processes in one platform. However, they face challenges related to data quality, high costs, and misalignment between expenses and perceived value. 3. **AI's Influence**: AI has become a major disruptor in the CRM space, posing both challenges and opportunities. Traditional CRMs often struggle with poor data quality, and AI can expose these shortcomings. 4. **Industry Convergence**: Companies like Salesforce and ServiceNow are expanding into each other's domains (CRM and ITSM), indicating a shift towards more integrated enterprise workflows. 5. **Future Outlook**: Experts believe that CRM isn’t dying but is in a phase of necessary reinvention, moving towards predictive systems and smarter workflows powered by AI. 6. **Market Demand**: While there are concerns about the balance between AI and human interaction in customer service, the evolving tech landscape presents both risks and opportunities for CRM systems. ### Additional Context The article underscores the adaptability of technology, suggesting that while traditional CRM systems may not meet current demands, the evolving landscape could lead to smarter, more efficient tools that integrate AI to enhance customer experiences. Companies that innovate in response to customer demands and technological advancements are likely to thrive. ### Hashtags for SEO #CRM #CustomerRelationshipManagement #AI #SaaS #TechTrends #DigitalTransformation #Salesforce #BusinessInnovation #DataQuality #CustomerExperience #ArtificialIntelligence #IndustryEvolution #SoftwareSolutions
Is SaaS dead? Is CRM dying? Is AI overtaking everything, leaving the technologies we have built and mastered obsolete?
If there is one thing that the tech sector has shown us time and time again, it’s that it is adaptable. Whether this means the death of certain solutions like CRM or merely a reinvention is a different story.
The Growth of CRM
The term Customer Relationship Management (CRM) first emerged in the 1980s, following the onset of database marketing. From there, the 1990s were a time for the first real steps of innovation, as Sales Force Automation (SFA) was introduced and pioneered by technologist Thomas Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems.
In 1995, CRM history was made, and the term CRM was officially coined. From there, the market experienced notable growth, especially when web-based, on-premise CRMs were introduced.
Not long after, Software as a Service (SaaS) was introduced, and the rest is history. Cloud-based CRM software became more and more popular – like Salesforce, which entered the scene in 1999 and pioneered SaaS CRM – and as technology continued to advance, more options and competitors allowed customers to choose the right CRM for their needs.
From there, developments such as an increase in entrants to the SaaS CRM space and mobile CRMs came into effect, and although circumstances were uncertain in the early days, the industry did gradually accelerate with SaaS CRM.
CRM Today
Fast forward to today, and the world of CRM is the most accessible and advanced it’s ever been. Now, CRMs are expected to be robust, all-in-one solutions that can tackle any part of a company’s customer-facing workflow, allowing businesses to rely on just one system rather than a system plus an array of third-party applications.
However, like with any prospering technology, the CRM space has not been free of obstacles, and these obstacles are caused by a unique blend of human and machine.
What Challenges are CRMs Facing?
Despite the fact that the CRM sector has a notable history behind it, it is still facing a number of challenges – some of which have been commonplace for the last decade.
Data Quality and Trust Issues
If there is one steadfast rule to remember with a CRM, it’s that the quality of the output will only ever be as good as the quality of your data. The “garbage in, garbage out” mentality is still very prevalent, and although it serves as a good practice, it can also act as a hindrance to some businesses.
Many CRMs still suffer from issues such as duplication, stale pipeline data, and conflicting data entries, and once the technical debt starts building up, managing it can feel like an impossible task.
Cost vs. Value Misalignment
Although spending in the tech sector is on the rise, businesses and their customers are always chasing value recognition and more value for money. It’s no secret that CRMs can be expensive, and not just the licensing fees – there needs to be value in the setup, training, integration, and upkeep of the org.
It doesn’t stop there either. If a business invests in a CRM for their particular business needs, there is always the chance that they will be encouraged to purchase additional features or plans, which the business might feel the pressure to get ROI from.
How Does AI Impact This?
Arguably, the biggest impact on CRM over the last five years has been AI. As an industry disruptor and one of the momentous innovations in the tech sector since the Internet, AI has been both a benefit and a challenge for the CRM sector.
William Flaiz, an independent Digital Strategy and Transformation Consultant, said that after over 20 years working in digital transformation, he knows that the sector is experiencing intrinsic change.
“I’ve witnessed many technology shifts, but few as potentially disruptive as what we’re seeing in the customer data space,” he wrote. “The AI revolution is exposing what many of us have quietly known: traditional CRM implementations are often expensive data graveyards filled with inconsistent, incomplete information.”
He explained that these issues aren’t new, but that AI implementation is bringing them to light.
“When companies try to apply sophisticated AI tools to their CRM data, they encounter the classic ‘garbage in, garbage out’ problem.”
Bob Lewis, a columnist for CIO, shares similar thoughts, declaring CRM to be “officially dead” in his piece ‘CRM is dead – and AI can’t come to the rescue fast enough‘.
“Once upon a time, CRM was more than a software category,” he explained. “It was a philosophy of doing business.”
“I hereby declare CRM to be officially dead.”
The Salesforce and ServiceNow Case: Broaching Industries
An interesting example that explores this quite well is the current situation between Salesforce and ServiceNow.
ServiceNow’s broach into the CRM sector and Salesforce’s equal broach into the ITSM sector – the two industries that each business specializes in – has raised a lot of eyebrows, and it has put the future of Salesforce and the CRM sector as a whole into question.
One thread on Reddit discussed this in detail, theorizing what would come next for both CRM and ITSM.
“Think about it: CRM was built to serve sales and marketing,” the original poster wrote. “ITSM was built for IT teams. They’ve lived in separate ecosystems, solving separate problems. But that model doesn’t fit how companies actually work anymore.”
“ServiceNow is expanding into CRM-like territory. Salesforce is moving toward ITSM. It’s no longer just about features, it’s about who can manage end-to-end enterprise workflows.”
“With AI agents becoming the next big thing, I think this convergence will only accelerate.”
Once again, the popular question of “is CRM dead?” came into question, with one commenter denying it, admitting that they had never really understood the true distinction between CRM and ITSM due to their compelling similarities.
What Was Remedyforce?
For Salesforce, this is actually not the first time they have tried branching out into the ITSM sector. In 2010, Salesforce launched Remedyforce, a cloud-based ITSM solution built in partnership with BMC Software. This solution leveraged the Salesforce platform to deliver service desk capabilities, providing tools for incident management, service request fulfillment, and more.
However, Salesforce ceased processing renewal orders for the tool in February 2016, indicating a move away from the platform. This was solidified earlier this year when Remedyforce reached its end-of-life (EOL) stage, in favor of shifting to BMC Helix ITSM, its more modern, cloud-native ITSM platform.
Key reasons that led to the tool’s depreciation included limited evolution compared to competitors, product positioning confusion, and UI/UX gaps – all aspects that Salesforce has the perfect opportunity to learn from this time around.
The Death of CRM, or a Reinvention?
So, is CRM dead or dying? Or do these new industry trends present the perfect opportunity for the sector to revamp itself?
According to William, he believes that we are “witnessing not a death but a necessary reinvention.”
“The future of customer relationship management isn’t monolithic systems trying to be everything to everyone,” he said. “What’s truly dying is the empty promise of the all-in-one CRM as the single source of truth – a promise rarely fulfilled despite massive investments.”
Although trends like increasing customer demands and AI should be treated with an air of scrutiny, they can also very well be viewed as motivators and tools of aid for innovation going forward.
For example, AI has the potential to make CRMs less reactive and more predictive, posing a partial answer to growing customer demands. We are already moving toward smarter agents and workflows through tools like Agentforce, and we are also moving toward fully autonomous CRMs – systems that not only suggest actions but take them.
According to a recent report by Kinsta, 93.4% of consumers in the US prefer interacting with a human over AI, and although this can seem both confusing and worrying to businesses ready to get involved or are already involved with AI, it doesn’t have to be.
It can be argued that the real purpose of AI – especially in the tech and AI space – is to provide customer service that feels human but isn’t. Utilizing AI can be cheaper and more profitable than relying on an entirely human workforce, but as AI continues to evolve, businesses can also provide their customers with what they want: an AI solution that feels so human it might one day be indistinguishable from the real deal.
Final Thoughts
CRM may not be dying, and there might be a lot to watch out for as CRMs like Salesforce adapt to industry trends, but one thing is certain: change is happening, and it is happening fast.
The CRM sector has plenty of space to evolve and reinvent itself now, and it is likely that the ones that are able to will survive. The ones that can’t? The future and customer demands might not be so kind.
The post Is CRM Dying or Evolving? How AI is Transforming the Industry appeared first on Salesforce Ben.
May 09, 2025 at 04:30PM
Click here for more details...
=============================
The original post is available in Salesforce News | Salesforce Ben by Tom M
this post has been published as it is through automation. Automation script brings all the top bloggers post under a single umbrella.
The purpose of this blog, Follow the top Salesforce bloggers and collect all blogs in a single place through automation.
============================
Post a Comment