AI agents in CRM: The next phase of customer relationships

Customer service executive smiling whilst taking a customer call.

Organisations face a customer experience (CX) conundrum. ServiceNow's The CX Shift research reveals a disconnect between what people want and what executives are using AI to deliver. 51% of the consumers surveyed cite a lack of empathy in customer service as their biggest frustration. Yet only 20% of executives recognise it as a challenge.

The problem isn't AI but how it's implemented. Customers are happy to self-serve with technology in certain scenarios, such as making a purchase, but they prefer to escalate to a human for more complex interactions.

Leaders must consider whether they're using AI to replace or enable human connection in customer relationship management (CRM). The next phase of customer relationships will be built on seamless collaboration between humans and AI agents in CRM.

The role of AI agents in CRM

AI agents can reason, plan, make decisions, and resolve customer challenges independently. They can be embedded in sales and service workflows across the front, middle, and back offices, transforming CRM from a digital filing cabinet into a system of action.

AI agents are powerful on their own, but they require knowledge about the business to make the most accurate decisions. ServiceNow^® Context Engine grounds AI agents in the enterprise context they need to take action across any data or system—and handle a range of repetitive, manual CRM processes.

This frees people to focus on tasks where customers prefer to interact with humans, such as obtaining recommendations or escalating complex cases. Gartner^® predicts, “By 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention, leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs.”¹

Organisations that successfully blend high tech with human touch can streamline sales, accelerate case resolution, and deliver superior CX.

Empowering sales teams

Deal cycles can stall under the weight of manual lead triage and disconnected fulfilment processes. AI agents can automate opportunity management workflows to accelerate sales and improve pipeline health. Use cases include:

Lead scoring to prioritise leads based on predefined criteria
Lead assignment to hand over leads to the relevant salesperson for follow-up
Lead segmentation to categorise leads by industry or behaviour and enable targeted marketing
Lead nurturing to engage leads with personalised outreach until they're sales-ready

AI agents can also drive configure, price, quote (CPQ) processes. An AI agent can engage website visitors and discuss their needs via natural conversation, then transfer the lead to a human sales rep. Another AI agent can help the rep configure complex products with a proprietary solving engine, dynamically surfacing best-fit solutions so every deal is accurate and complete.

AI agents can support order fulfilment by automatically identifying the tasks required for different order types based on historical data. For accounts approaching renewal, they continuously assess adoption, usage, and goal progress to identify expansion opportunities and accounts at risk.

By embedding AI agents in CRM workflows, sales teams can drive seamless revenue processes, from selling to fulfilment. ServiceNow AI Control Tower helps leaders govern this digital workforce with confidence.

Thanks to AI agent assistance, we support customers at all times with instant help. We rely on AI agent assistance to transform customer reviews into better service strategies. Chief Operating Officer UK Government Agency

Reimagining customer service delivery

Repetitive queries and fragmented channel handoffs can drain productivity in customer support operations. AI agents enable organisations to automate customer service tasks and turn endless handoffs into effortless resolution.

AI agents can instantly answer customer queries and guide users through steps to resolve issues via their channel of choice. They can also dynamically interpret customer intent to assist with real-time knowledge base searches. This helps service reps eliminate manual work and troubleshoot issues faster with relevant context.

AI agents also help streamline back-office workflows. They can automatically run diagnostics, inspect purchase history, and order replacement parts for faulty products, giving human agents time back to focus on complex issues.

As organisations deploy AI agents to handle time-intensive and repetitive tasks, customers are reaping the benefits. “Thanks to AI agent assistance, we support customers at all times with instant help. We rely on AI agent assistance to transform customer reviews into better service strategies,” says a chief operating officer at a UK government agency.

In the field, technicians can use AI agents to automate planning and make repairs more efficient. If a customer reports a faulty refrigerator, for example, AI agents can review the service history, pinpoint the likely cause, and schedule a technician visit. On-site, another AI agent can guide the technician through the repair and generate closure notes for completion.

They're helping to solve customer problems faster. According to our CX research, 68% of executives report that first-contact resolution time has improved since they started using AI.

Solving industry challenges

AI-powered workflows on the ServiceNow AI Platform are helping solve unique sector challenges across technology, telecom, and manufacturing.

For technology providers, it's critical to manage complex post-sale relationships at scale to protect recurring revenue. AI agents in ServiceNow Technology Provider Service Management help organisations identify renewal risks, automate meeting scheduling, and set targets for customer success action when engagement drops. This can strengthen relations with enterprise customers.

Customer relationships in telecom span service operations, sales, and field teams. When these functions are siloed, it can lead to high costs, frequent incident escalations, and fragmented CX.

AI agents in ServiceNow Telecommunications Service Management work across service and network operations to autonomously diagnose issues, suggest fixes, book technicians, and draft communications. This results in faster resolution times, greater network uptime, and lower costs.

For manufacturers, efficiently managing product issues, complex warranties, and promotions across many siloed tools is a major operational hurdle. ServiceNow Manufacturing Commercial Operations provides a single AI-powered platform to handle actions, claims, and exceptions across customers and partners.

AI-driven CRM workflows help simplify recalls, warranties, and claims end to end, keeping operations and revenue moving. Bulk uploads and automated validations shorten resolution times. Claims cycles get shorter, work moves faster, and the entire value chain stays audit-ready.

When powered by in-depth enterprise context, AI agents can transform CX by accelerating sales and service workflows. The organisations that embrace this shift will set a new benchmark for CRM.

Find out how ServiceNow can help you put AI to work for CRM.

¹ Gartner Press Release, Gartner Predicts Agentic AI Will Autonomously Resolve 80% of Common Customer Service Issues Without Human Intervention by 2029, March 5, 2025

GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.