According to McKinsey’s State of AI 2025 Report, 88% of companies utilize artificial intelligence (AI) in at least one function of their business. However, just 39% of these companies experience measurable impacts from AI at the enterprise level. This gap is not caused by the AI, but rather by the type of customer relationship management (CRM) system used.

AI-native vs AI-assisted CRM systems

Many CRM platforms claim to be AI-based, but there are significant differences between those built on AI (AI-native CRM) and those that simply have integrated AI capabilities (AI-assisted CRM). AI-native CRM systems have AI embedded in their core systems, whereas AI-assisted CRM systems have AI as a component of their systems.

A practical way to test for an AI-native CRM system is to strip it of all its AI functionalities. If its core systems still work, then those AI functionalities were just added on the periphery. If the system fails to work as intended, then AI is embedded in the core infrastructure of the system.

Impact of AI-native CRM systems

AI-native CRM systems can have a significant impact on businesses. In the short term, they can eliminate a huge chunk of manual data entry across the company. They use behavioral signals to log activities, enrich contacts, schedule follow-ups, and move deals from one stage to the next. Teams will spend significantly less time on CRM administration, and revenue teams will benefit from clear and updated data visibility across the entire sales pipeline.

In the long term, AI-native CRM systems can lead to a significant positive financial impact. They are designed to make decisions, not merely to record data. They learn from customer interactions to provide better recommendations, and sales, marketing, and customer success teams can work from a real-time and unified view of all customer interactions.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.