AI Enhances CRM Automation, Orchestration – ISG – April 13, 2026.

Customer relationship management software plays an increasingly central role in enterprises, enhancing customer engagement to maximize growth and profitability, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Relationship Management provide the rankings and ratings of 52 software providers and their products for the structured management of customer and prospect information. The series includes guides to providers of sales engagement, digital commerce and partner relationship management software, plus emerging CRM players. The research finds that CRM has expanded beyond record-keeping and sales force 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.”

Barika Pace, director of research, Office of Revenue, at ISG.

Enterprise requirements for CRM have grown with the rise of digital commerce and the need to engage with customers across multiple channels, ISG finds. 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, the research finds. 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.

Enterprises can measurably improve sales productivity, forecast reliability and customer retention using CRM with advanced AI features, but they need to transform their CRM architectures first, ISG says. Through 2027, more than half of enterprises 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, ISG predicts. This may limit revenue growth.

Companies choosing CRM software should consider the provider’s AI strategy, architectural flexibility and ecosystem maturity in addition to functionality, ISG says. 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.

ISG rates software providers in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience (incorporating Capability and Platform) and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those that meet the greatest proportion of our evaluation criteria are named as Overall Leaders.

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