CRM for regulated industries: Unlocking AI’s potential
Whilst protecting customer data and maintaining trust are critical for any business evaluating customer relationship management (CRM) software, these concerns are even greater for regulated industries. Traditional CRM is designed to maximise sales efficiency by centralising customer insights and automating repetitive sales and service tasks. Yet, it’s not built to prioritise regulatory safety.
CRM solutions may lack native, high-grade data encryption and access controls required for sensitive information, such as customers’ medical or financial data. This can leave systems in violation of common mandates such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation or the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
The risk can make traditional CRM implementation challenging for businesses in healthcare, financial services, government, and other regulated industries. This problem is exacerbated in the AI era, particularly when there’s a lack of governance or transparency into how various AI models are using sensitive data.
The AI compliance conundrum
Some regulated sectors are pioneering AI use cases. Organisations in financial services, for instance, use AI to enhance fraud detection and anti-money laundering services. In healthcare, AI is helping accelerate drug discovery and optimise staffing. Within government, AI can enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, and even minimise wasteful spending.
Without proper guardrails, however, AI can add to the complexity of compliance and risk management. For example, AI systems can make it difficult to prove to regulators how decisions are made, meaning they operate as “black boxes” where AI-driven actions lack clear explanations.
To capitalise on AI’s potential in CRM, leaders in regulated industries must prioritise proper governance and compliance measures. According to the ServiceNow AI Maturity in Banking report, just under half (49%) of banks have a designated team that drafts AI policies, mitigates AI risks, and focuses on responsible AI use.
Similarly, the ServiceNow AI Maturity in Healthcare and Life Sciences report reveals a little over half (55%) of industry Pacesetters—the most advanced organisations in AI maturity—are formalising data governance mechanisms to mitigate AI privacy risks.
While this is a start, it demonstrates that there’s still progress to be made towards AI risk mitigation in regulated fields.
AI-powered CRM in regulated industries
To confidently use AI-powered CRM, organisations need a solution with compliance built in. Many trusted CRM vendors, including ServiceNow, provide this level of safety out of the box: from data encryption and role-based access to robust AI frameworks.
This enables regulated businesses to unlock a number of use cases for AI CRM, such as automating quote generation, supporting field service, and powering customer service interactions.
With the right guardrails in place, AI can support tasks in a variety of regulated spaces. Government workflows, for instance, typically involve a high volume of regulated data. This includes everything from a resident applying for a grant to reporting an issue with their bin service.
ServiceNow Public Sector Digital Services can help streamline government operations and build public trust. For example, AI can provide conversational support to constituents and rapidly equip employees with information to expedite decision-making for licence and permit allocation.
In healthcare, ServiceNow Healthcare and Life Sciences Service Management uses intelligent automation to free practitioners from repetitive tasks and give them a complete, regulation-compliant view of patient data. This can improve experiences for healthcare teams and enable clinicians to focus on delivering high-quality care.
AI agents in CRM workflows
AI agents, powered by the ServiceNow AI Platform, can enhance CRM capabilities in regulated industries to accelerate resolutions and grow revenue. Built-in data governance frameworks stop sensitive data from being shared where it shouldn’t be, helping to prevent costly data breaches and a breakdown of trust.
With the help of AI agents automating work across the enterprise, employees can focus on delivering greater value to customers without having to worry about compliance.
In banking, AI agents can help reduce the administrative workload for human agents by gathering context, handling case routing, and verifying documents. With AI agents handling these tasks, human employees are free to focus on more complex, real-time customer interactions and high-value activities.
Find out more about how ServiceNow can help you put AI to work for CRM.