Companies Must Transform Their CRM Architectures, ISG Advises

Companies can measurably improve sales productivity, forecast reliability, and customer retention using CRM with advanced artificial intelligence, but they need to transform their CRM architectures first, according to new research from technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

Through 2027, more than half of companies will not be able to deploy the latest AI technology for sales, customer service, and partner relationships because their processes and system designs are outdated, possibly limiting their revenue growth potential, ISG predicted.

Companies choosing CRM software should consider the provider's AI strategy, architectural flexibility, and ecosystem maturity in addition to functionality, ISG said. They should look for a balance between platform configurability and governance so adapting processes over time will not create excessive technical debt or customizations that limit future innovation.

And with CRM software playing an increasingly central role by enhancing customer engagement to maximize growth and profitability, the need for integration to support workflow automation has increased, ISG also found.

The research found that CRM has expanded beyond record-keeping and salesforce automation, becoming an AI-enhanced foundation for revenue operations, customer experience strategy, and performance management.

"Companies need a shared, trusted view of customer interactions to create long-term value," said Barika Pace, director of research, office of revenue, at ISG. "They rely on CRM to align marketing, sales, and service teams and inform strategy and execution throughout the organization."

Requirements for CRM have grown with the rise of digital commerce and the need to engage with customers across multiple channels, ISG found. Companies increasingly seek CRM software that improves productivity, forecast accuracy, and customer lifetime value. Though many organizations still use legacy CRM systems characterized by heavy reliance on spreadsheets and manual data entry, the need for integration to support workflow automation has increased.

AI has already enhanced CRM platforms through features such as predictive scoring, segmentation optimization, and service routing, which still primarily augment human decision-making rather than act autonomously, ISG said, noting that agentic AI has recently emerged to take this trend one step further, enabling systems to plan and execute actions within certain parameters. These advancements are moving CRM from passive record-keeping toward active orchestration of revenue and customer engagement processes, it added.