Agentic AI to Revolutionize CRM: A Forrester Report Predicts Transformation of Front-Office jobs
Published: October 26, 2024
A new Forrester report anticipates a seismic shift in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) driven by agentic AI, reshaping front-office roles and customer interactions within the next decade. Will your job become obsolete?
The Rise of the AI-powered Front Office
Forrester’s latest evaluation,The Forrester Wave™: Customer Relationship Management Software, Q1 2025, paints a picture of a CRM market undergoing a profound transformation. The driving force? Agentic AI. This technology is poised to redefine the very essence of CRM and dramatically alter the landscape of front-office operations.
Imagine a not-so-distant future – perhaps a decade or two away – where AI agents become the primary point of contact for virtually all customer interactions. Human employees, rather than directly engaging with customers for initial inquiries, will focus on supporting, refining, and optimizing these AI-driven automations. This shift will likely lead to a reduction in traditional front-office roles, with many customer operations migrating to middle and back-office functions.
While the human touch won’t disappear entirely, its role will evolve. Complex tasks requiring consultative sales expertise, relationship-building skills, or the ability to address emotionally charged customer issues will still necessitate human intervention. However, the report suggests that these instances will become less frequent as AI takes on a greater share of the workload. New roles will also emerge,such as “AI supervisors” responsible for ensuring that AI systems align with business objectives,and “bot unblockers” who step in to resolve impasses when AI agents encounter situations they cannot handle independently. This is akin to the rise of data scientists in the past decade, a role almost non-existent before but now critical to most companies.
This transition reflects a broader trend toward automation across various industries in the U.S. For example, banks are increasingly using AI-powered chatbots to handle routine customer inquiries, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex financial planning or loan applications. Similarly, in healthcare, AI is being used to triage patients and schedule appointments, improving efficiency and reducing wait times.
At this point, agentic AI — not humans — will be the first touchpoint for all customer interactions. the front office will be dedicated to supporting and optimizing automations.The forrester Wave™: Customer Relationship Management Software,Q1 2025
Future-Proofing CRM: Key Components
The CRM systems of the future will be fundamentally different from those of today. Forrester identifies several core components that will define the next generation of CRM platforms:
- an Agentic Layer: This will involve packaging AI agents designed for specific tasks and actions, along with an AI agent studio for creating new agents. Integration frameworks will facilitate data access from various applications,and orchestration and observability capabilities will manage and govern AI agents towards business goals. Vendors will also likely offer marketplaces for pre-built AI agents, mirroring Salesforce’s current efforts.
- A Unified Data Layer: Seamless access to real-time enterprise and customer data will be crucial for AI agents to function effectively.This data layer needs to be extensive and up-to-date to provide accurate insights.
- A Low-Code Platform: The ability to create custom workflows and extensions will be paramount. The quality and adaptability of this platform will be a key factor in CRM selection. This allows companies to adapt the CRM to their specific needs and industry requirements.
- Deconstructed CRM Workflows: Monolithic CRM suites will give way to reusable components accessible via AI agents and other business applications. Industry-specific workflows will retain their value, and end-to-end workflows that extend beyond the front office will become increasingly critically important. This modular approach allows for greater flexibility and customization.
- Trust,Security,and Compliance: As with current CRM systems,adherence to industry regulations,data governance,trust,fairness,and data protection for AI models will be non-negotiable. This is notably critical in industries dealing with sensitive customer details,such as healthcare and finance.
- Evolving User Experience (UX): Role-based experiences will become the norm.Relationship managers may engage with customers via video with augmented reality overlays, while automation supervisors will utilize dashboards. Conversational interfaces will dominate,minimizing data displayed on screens and reducing the number of user options. CRM data and workflows will be embedded into and accessed through other business applications.
The Transformation is Already Underway
The seeds of this transformation are already being sown. Every CRM vendor in the Wave has released AI agents, as well as developer tools to manage AI agents,
according to the Forrester report. The challenge now lies in refactoring existing CRM capabilities to fully embrace this agentic future.
Consider the implications for U.S. businesses. Companies that proactively adopt and integrate agentic AI into their CRM strategies stand to gain a important competitive advantage. They can improve efficiency, personalize customer experiences, and free up human employees to focus on higher-value tasks. On the other hand, businesses that lag behind risk falling behind and losing market share to more agile competitors.
Navigating the AI-Driven CRM landscape
As businesses navigate this evolving landscape, several key considerations will be paramount:
- Data Quality: AI agents are only as good as the data they are trained on. Ensuring data accuracy, completeness, and consistency will be essential.
- Ethical Considerations: Businesses must address the ethical implications of using AI in CRM, including issues such as bias, privacy, and clarity.
- Skills Gap: Companies will need to invest in training and advancement to equip their employees with the skills needed to manage and work alongside AI agents.
- Integration Challenges: Integrating AI into existing CRM systems and other business applications can be complex. A well-defined integration strategy is crucial.
Forrester offers ongoing consultation and briefings to help businesses understand and navigate these changes. This includes assisting companies in developing strategies for adopting agentic AI, selecting the right CRM solutions, and managing the ethical considerations associated with AI-powered customer interactions.
