Agentic AI is taking tech stacks by storm. So why now, and what does this mean for CRM?
Companies everywhere are relabelling themselves as AI-powered. AI isn’t new, but it's reached a new era, bringing exciting opportunities along with it. In CRM, where so much time is spent on manual work, it's exactly the moment we’ve been waiting for.
From machine learning to agents
In the beginning, CRM AI was reactive: rule-based chatbots and “if-this-then-that” automations. Then came machine learning models that could score leads and recommend products inside campaigns. Generative AI added text generation and summaries. Extremely useful, but still limited to narrowly defined use cases.
Today, models are much, MUCH smarter. They can remember, plan, and refine themselves over time - one small step for the algorithms, but a giant leap forward for AI. This kind of algorithm uses reasoning to make decisions with confidence and can be trusted with more tasks and more complex tasks, with speed and accuracy.
Which is why now is the perfect time to fully integrate agentic AI into CRM.
How agents are changing CRM
With internal agents, the everyday life of a CRM user is exponentially easier. Manual tasks are (finally) disappearing, but always running. At Brevo, we’re already seeing this evolution unfold through our native agent, Aura.
For service and support teams, Aura handles the frontlines, answering 90% of FAQs. If it can’t answer, it routes the ticket and context, including usage history and other relevant information not described in the chat, to human agents, reducing the back and forth for the customer. Customers get faster, more relevant help, while service teams focus on solving problems - win-win.
In sales, reps no longer have to spend precious hours on admin. Aura transcribes calls, produces clear summaries, and auto-generates ready-to-send follow-up emails. Before a call, it can surface relevant lead information so reps go in with sharper context and greater confidence. This means more time selling, less time updating the CRM.
Marketers and CRM managers benefit too. AI was already creating content for our users, but now, AI can learn from customer interactions to generate the perfect offer on the first try.
Data is also becoming easier for marketing teams to use. Aura enriches contact profiles with missing details and automates contact attribute mapping during imports and as new data enters the CRM. This automation cuts the mapping process by up to 80–90% and improves segmentation potential downstream.
Agents help with the kinds of tasks that take up time, but that have to be done. In short, they are transforming CRMs from static customer databases into autonomous programs.
Where people belong in this system
At first glance, it sounds like agents can do everything. They won’t, or at least they shouldn’t.
First, humans will still be in the loop. People will need to review agentic work, create prompts, and make executive decisions. But the actual processes, like fetching data, will be carried out by AI.
Second, agents are algorithms, not strategists. They use math to reach conclusions, and that math can be misleading if taken at face value. The danger is relying on AI’s logic to create strategies - you don’t want to base your growth strategy on AI hallucinations.
That’s where you matter most.
The companies that thrive will be those that use agents to handle routine work; the setup, the summaries, the orchestration, while their people double down on creativity and critical decision-making.
You’ll know you’re using AI successfully when work starts becoming fun again. ;)
The better your data, the better your agents
Without data, there is no AI.
Agents need context to act intelligently. If your CRM data is siloed or incomplete, an agent won’t be able to predict the next best action or deliver personalized content.
If a high-value customer logged a complaint yesterday, but your support ticket data isn’t fed to your CRM, your agent might still send them a sale promotion today, which would be… kind of awkward.
With centralized data, agents can:
- Pause promotions when service issues arise.
- Shift campaigns to the channels where customers are actually active.
- Spot upsell opportunities by linking engagement and billing data.
- Send the right message depending on user behavior, rather than through pre-built (and less personalized) automation workflows.
Businesses will see a difference between using generic AI copilots (like using chatGPT for everything on the side) and native agents; systems with memory, trained on internal data, learning continuously from customer interactions. That’s where real differentiation will come from, and why CRMs are so excited to develop agents.
The businesses that will struggle most are those with scattered, disconnected data. There will be no coherent contact history or context to draw conclusions from.
Centralizing data through CDPs and data warehouses is extremely important. This will lay the foundation for agents to be successful.
Agentic AI and Brevo
As the market evolves, it’s our mission to ensure our clients evolve with it - even before it.
Customer loyalty is harder to earn, data is richer and more complex, and CRM has grown far beyond sending newsletters or running weekly pipeline reviews. Businesses need to respond to customer behavior in moments, not in monthly batches. Reps should be calling prospects, not updating spreadsheets.
That’s why we created a dedicated AI Lab: to stay ahead of market trends and accelerate innovation where it matters most for our users.
If AI doesn’t make a process faster, easier, or more effective, we don’t build it. We focus on the biggest friction points and turn them into seamless motion: just a few clicks, or a single prompt.
Brevo is investing heavily over the next five years in AI innovation. We’re building agents that deliver impact, keep our users agile, and make CRM absolutely effortless.
The road ahead
To resonate with customers and build meaningful connections, businesses don’t necessarily need aggressive outreach or more campaigns. They need smarter, more adaptive interactions. And agentic AI is how we’ll get there.
CRMs will transform from complex software into systems that feel almost invisible. Working with a CRM will feel as natural as having a conversation, and the UX will become everything customer relationship management was meant to be.
