Biographical Information
Brent Leary
Managing Partner of CRM Essentials, Cofounder of PPN
Brent Leary is cofounder and partner of CRM Essentials, a CRM consultancy focused on small and midsize enterprises. You can email him at bleary@crm-essentials.com or send him a tweet at @brentleary.
Articles for Brent Leary
Talking My Way Through Building an Agentforce AI Agent in Less Than 10 Minutes
19 Mar 2025
Kareem Salman, distinguished solution engineer at Salesforce, spends a few good minutes with Brent at #TDX25 designing and building an AgentForce AI agent by having a verbal conversation with AI.
Brad Birnbaum of Kustomer: AI Will Lead the Move from Seat-Based to Conversation-Based Pricing
10 Mar 2025
The traditional subscription model, dominant for decades in enterprise software, is being challenged by work-based pricing, offering greater flexibility and predictability for customers. In customer service, conversations are emerging as the primary unit of work for pricing, according to Kustomer CEO Brad Birnbaum.
Customers Want AgentForce Agents Interacting with Google DialogFlow
06 Mar 2025
During Salesforce TDX, Nick Johnston, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Salesforce, gave me a few good minutes to provide some detail on how the recent partnership announcement with Google will help customer service reps provide a more seamless experience when taking handoffs from AI agents.
Remembering Marshall Lager
25 Feb 2025
Family, coworkers, colleagues, and friends remember Marshall Lager who passed away Feb. 12.
Will We Need Big-Footprint CRM in 5 Years or Will Agents Follow Us Around Wherever We Work?
24 Feb 2025
Jeff Rosenthal, head of CRM product strategy and go-to-market for North America at monday.com, discusses how the company's approach to integrating CRM into its platform has led to more than 27,000 CRM customers in two years and which AI will have the bigger impact on enterprise applications, generative or agentic.
Don Schuerman of Pega: LLMs + Agentic AI + Workflow Orchestration Bring Reliability and Predictability
14 Feb 2025
Pega's Chief Technology Officer Don Schuerman discusses how its newest tool, Pega Agent Experience, enables any workflow to be transformed into an agent-driven experience while reducing the reliance on prompt engineering, which can yield inconsistent results.
David Roberts of SugarCRM: Mechanical Strategy, Contextual Intelligence and Pragmatism Key to Bringing AI to Sellers
13 Feb 2025
SugarCRM's new CEO David Roberts tells why he joined the company as CEO, why he describes himself as a mechanical strategist, and how the company will help customers benefit the most from AI.
Colin Fleming of ServiceNow: We are a CRM Company in the Age of Agentic AI
12 Feb 2025
ServiceNow Chief Marketing Officer Colin Fleming shares why the company is rebranding itself as a CRM company in the midst of the rapid and significant impact that agentic AI is having on the industry. He also shares a glimpse into how the focus on strategic partnerships with companies like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Genesys assists when something like DeepSeek happens.
Sridhar Vembu on Becoming Zoho's Chief Scientist - I've Always Been Focused on Efficiency
10 Feb 2025
During ZohoDay '25, I spoke with Sridhar Vembu about stepping down as CEO to become chief scientist to focus on efficient computing and technological innovation and to get his take on where Zoho stands as the company nears its 30th anniversary.
Why Zoho Co-Founder's Move to Step Down as CEO Isn't Surprising
27 Jan 2025
Zoho Co-founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu surprised many with his announcement to step down as CEO to become the company's chief scientist. But when taking a closer look, was this really a big surprise?
IRL 2025 - A New CRM Industry Conference from Guys Who Aren't All That New
21 Jan 2025
To mark their 16th anniversary, the CRM Playaz are holding IRL 2025 Wednesday, Jan. 22. It's a conversational thought-leadership event taking place physically in Atlanta and streaming everywhere else, featuring a variety of industry thought leaders, analysts, industry executives, and more.
What is CRM in 2025? 13 Senior Executives from Leading Industry Vendors Share Their Definitions
19 Jan 2025
Senior executives from leading industry vendors including Adobe, Creatio, Microsoft, Oracle, Pegasystems, PROS, Salesforce, SAP, SugarCRM, UserTesting, Verint, Zoho and Zoom give their take on what CRM and CX are and how they're roles are evolving in the enterprise.
Partnering with Nvidia and Microsoft Helps ServiceNow Advance AI and Compute Power Responsibly for Customers
16 Jan 2025
Kellie Romack, chief digital information officer of ServiceNow, discusses the company's strategic partnerships with Nvidia, Microsoft, and Genesys and the role those partnerships play in advancing AI and workflow technologies.
CRM in 2025: AI Should Be Used to Humanize Not "Hyperize" CX
14 Jan 2025
While the term hyper-personalization has become a staple talking point and a goal in the industry in the plast few years, the executives participating in the CRM Playaz "What is CRM in 2025" series feel AI should focus more on helping to humanize personalization rather than "hyperize" it.
CRM in 2025: It's Not About AI, Agents, or Even CRM; It's Still About Data
08 Jan 2025
During the CRM Playaz "CRM in 2025" series of shows, the analyst conversation with Sheryl Kingstone, Liz Miller, Rebecca Wettemann, and Michael Fauscette addressed about what CRM in 2025 should and shouldn't be. And surprisingly, the group agreed on one thing: It isn't about AI.
What Is CRM in 2025? 13 Senior Executives from Leading Industry Vendors Share Their Definitions
06 Jan 2025
Senior executives from leading industry vendors, including Adobe, Creatio, Microsoft, Oracle, Pegasystems, PROS, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, SugarCRM, UserTesting, Verint, Zoho and Zoom, give their takes on what CRM and CX are and how their roles are evolving in the enterprise.
CRM in 2025: Less About Big Databases and Monolithic Apps, More About Creating Point-in-Time Experiences
02 Jan 2025
John Bruno, vice president of strategy at PROS, shares why he feels that in 2025 CRM will be less about big databases, monolithic apps, and long end-to-end processes, and more about creating point-in-time experiences that elevate CX.
CRM in 2025: Data Is Key to Bringing Predictive, Generative, and Agentic AI Together
23 Dec 2024
While everyone is fixated on prescriptive, generative, and agentic flavors of artificial intelligence, the executive CRM vendor panel brought together for the CRM Playaz "What is CRM in 2025" series say data should really be at the heart and forefront of any AI discussion, regardless of the type of AI being discussed. Defining successful outcomes and which data is needed to design those outcomes should be the primary concern.
CRM in 2025: Will the Promise of Agentic AI Be Enough to Overcome Organizational Inertia?
16 Dec 2024
As part of the CRM Playaz conversation series on what 2025 has in store for CRM and CX, executives from Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and ServiceNow discuss whether the promise of generative AI in the year ahead is powerful enough to overcome the organizational inertia that slows down adoption and limits the impact of disruptive tech in the enterprise.
The Next Frontier in Customer Engagement: Streaming Video
07 Apr 2022
But be warned: Livestreaming isn't easy, even if it looks that way.
Subscription Models Equaled Strong CRM in Our Pandemic Year
30 Mar 2021
Tighter bonds with customers helped subscription-based businesses weather the storm.
Video and LinkedIn: A Match Made In Business Heaven
26 Mar 2020
Here's some advice from a not-quite video pro
3 CRM Lessons From This Year’s Conferences
26 Nov 2019
Some key themes kept coming up among the CRM intelligentsia
How Can AI Help Small Businesses with CRM?
04 Oct 2019
This year's installment of ‘ask the vendors' features the tech topic on everyone's mind
Amazon Serves Up CX Lessons
25 Mar 2019
With Go and AR, the giant retailer is showing us how new tools can connect with customers
Which CRM Features Are Small Businesses Not Taking Advantage of?
01 Oct 2018
This year's version of ‘ask the vendors' examines what SMBs might be missing
Alexa (and Her Cohorts) Will Change Your Business
01 Jun 2018
The revolution is coming, and SMBs must get ready.
Some Big Numbers for Small Businesses to Embrace in 2018
08 Jan 2018
Keep these eye-popping stats in mind when charting your course for the coming year.
What SMBs Want from Vendors
29 Sep 2017
Technology executives share what their small-business customers are asking of them.
Companies Must Heed the Voice (Literally) of the Customer
29 Jun 2017
Voice-first technologies could soon be the engagement tool of choice
AI (Artificial Intelligence) Needs to Drive AI (Automated Insights)
27 Mar 2017
Getting customer insights served up by CRM lets reps focus on relationships
Are Chatbots and Recurring Revenue the Future of Business?
01 Jan 2017
One conference, two big statements
Why Isn’t CRM Adoption Higher? CRM Vendor Execs Weigh In
01 Oct 2016
An informal survey reveals what vendors, and SMBs, need to do better
Three Customer Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2016 (and Beyond)
01 Jul 2016
Better service, experiences, and intelligence can mean the difference between getting ahead and stalling
Get Mobile Sites and Apps to Work for You
01 Apr 2016
Creating better customer experiences on the go is the key to unlocking value
How SMBs Can Leverage the Internet of Things Today, and Tomorrow
01 Jan 2016
Adapt, disrupt, and above all remember the customer
Subscribe to Better Service
01 Oct 2015
A subscription model provides the flexibility customers want—but you have to engage them to make it work
Spring Events Yield Web Trends for SMBs
31 Jul 2015
Digital touch points—and digital wallets—lead the way
SMBs See Strength in Intimacy
01 Apr 2015
Context relevancy transforms interactions into experience.
Don't Drop the Ball on Your Digital Engagement Strategy
01 Jan 2015
Customers' app journeys hold the key to new opportunities.
Sales Processes and Tools Must Adapt to Customer Behavior
01 Oct 2014
New consumer expectations call for updating old practices.
Lessons in Customer Centricity from CRM Vendors
01 Jul 2014
When CEOs listen to the voice of the customer, everyone wins.
Subscriptions Boost Customer Engagement...and Business
01 Apr 2014
Think about business as a collection of consumers.
Why Customer Experience Is the True King
01 Jan 2014
Content and context play essential supporting roles.
Riding the Wave of Shifting Platforms
01 Oct 2013
Strategies may change, but the key to success remains the same.
Screaming for a Good, Fundamental Customer Experience
01 Jul 2013
Sometimes the fun, shiny objects are just the cherry on top.
Cultivate a New Approach to Business and Customer Engagement
01 Apr 2013
To meet expectations, try being FAIR.
Marketing Automation Goes Mainstream
01 Jan 2013
As technology evolves, so must SMB strategies.
The Maturation of the Social SMB
25 Sep 2012
Companies with strategic approaches see the most benefits.
SMBs Take to the Cloud
01 Jul 2012
2012 holds great potential as a breakout year for CRM.
The Fast and the Curious
01 Apr 2012
Building a business model to keep up with customer expectations.
Connecting with Customers Is Easier than Ever
01 Feb 2012
Rising competition demands a holistic strategy.
The Tweet Is Mightier than the Sword
01 Mar 2009
So speak softly and carry just 140 characters.
The New CRM: Community Relationship Management
18 Oct 2004
Bridging the chasm between CRM and minority business.
The State of CRM in the Minority Business Community
15 Mar 2004
It appears the challenge and solution to raising CRM awareness is another type of CRM: community relationship management.