Forrester and Salesforce researched how organizations are using AI in strategy, specifically AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM) software.
An online survey of 773 global business decision-makers with responsibilities for their organization’s CRM and AI was conducted from August – September 2023.
Key findings include:
1.) 92% believe a strong data strategy is critical to AI success, but 27% indicated that they lack a formal strategy.
— 39% said their organization has a formal data strategy, but it is not integrated across the business.
2.) The top technical challenges respondents’ organizations face with their current CRM system are data quality issues (47%), reliance on manual processes to synthesize the data (44%), and reliance on IT to set up or make changes (40%).
3.) 96% of respondents said that trust is critical or important when considering an AI vendor.
— Specifically, they are seeking a vendor who can provide security protections, detect and mask sensitive data, and offer the use of AI features embedded in their CRM.
