Spot the BS: Are you paying top whack only for AI to lead your CRM implementation?

There’s a new trend emerging in the CRM implementation world. And it’s probably the biggest red flag yet. 

Some businesses are discovering that the “expert consultancy” they’re paying premium rates for is being replaced with AI-generated outputs, templated playbooks, and junior consultants copy-pasting recommendations from tools like Claude or ChatGPT. 

New technology, shouldn’t mean new bullsh*t. 

AI absolutely has a place in CRM delivery.  

But if you’re paying enterprise-level consulting fees, you deserve to know whether you’re getting strategic expertise, or just polished AI prompts wrapped in a consultancy logo. 

When AI usage goes too far 

As you’d expect, AI is rapidly changing how CRM vendors and implementation partners operate.  CRM consultants use AI to: 

• Generate process documentation and summarise discovery sessions 

• Draft workflows and recommend automations  

• Structure onboarding plans and map lifecycle stages  

• Produce technical specifications  

There’s no denying that AI has a place. And good consultants can use it work more efficiently.  

But the problem starts when AI substitutes expertise and removes the human element almost entirely. 

Some of the enterprise CRM providers are quietly replacing senior consultancy thinking with AI-generated outputs, while continuing to charge premium human advisory rates. 

And guess what? It didn’t take long for customers to notice. 

“We thought we were paying for experts” 

Many are paying premium prices for custom CRM deployments, only to realize much of the “thinking” and strategic guidance appeared to be outsourced to Claude. 

Not the operational tasks, the actual consultancy. Instead of receiving thoughtful operational design tailored to your business, you can end up with generic AI advice dressed up as enterprise consulting. 

A proper CRM implementation isn’t just configuring fields, importing data and building dashboards. That’s the easy part. The real value of implementation consulting comes from understanding: 

• Revenue operations  

• Customer lifecycle design  

• Organizational structure  

• Sales process optimization  

• Marketing alignment  

• Operational scalability  

These are the real value-adds that require human judgement, experience and understanding of what’s needed based on real-life conversation.  

Experienced consultants earn their value when talking to you about: 

• Conflicting KPIs  

• Broken commercial processes  

• Political friction between departments  

• Unrealistic adoption expectations  

• Hidden operational inefficiencies  

• Poor governance structures  

Is the illusion of AI expertise dangerous? 

If providers make positioning AI-generated outputs as premium strategic consulting, that sets a dangerous precedent.  

This means the lines could be blurred when adopting CRM software between what you think you’re buying vs the actual output. 

If a junior consultant is simply “pushing play” on AI-generated implementation recommendations, are you really paying for expertise? And are you still happy paying the same price? 

AI is an assistant, not a replacement. 

Here’s the reality. AI is great at: 

• Accelerating documentation  

• Identifying patterns  

• Speeding up repetitive work  

• Summarising data  

• Generating first drafts  

• Supporting operational analysis  

But AI is not a CRM architect, operations strategist, compliance consultant or even an implementation leader. It can’t solely be the brainpower behind an expensive CRM transformation project. 

There is no universal AI-generated blueprint for solving unique operational structures, historical process debt, customer nuances or reporting requirements.  

So, what should you ask your CRM implementation partner? 

If you’re evaluating a HubSpot, Salesforce or other CRM providers, you should ask tougher questions. 

• Who is actually designing our implementation?  

• What parts of this process are AI-assisted?  

• What parts are led by senior consultants?  

• How much strategic involvement will we get?  

• Who owns architecture decisions?  

• How are recommendations validated?  

• Are we receiving bespoke operational consulting or templated AI outputs?  

Good implementation partners will answer these confidently because the best consultancies are transparent about their use of AI. 

Don’t pay premium prices for non-human expertise 

The future of CRM implementation already involves AI. But this is used transparently to enhance and assist the consultant that’s with you every step of the way. 

If your CRM partner is charging premium advisory fees, you deserve: 

• Experienced architects  

• Operational strategists  

• Implementation expertise  

• Human judgment  

• Industry understanding  

• Accountability  

Not generic AI outputs with a consultancy logo attached. 

At Workbooks we offer an ethical, transparent and human-led implementation from start to finish.  

We don’t palm off customers to third-party consultants or AI that replaces consultants – we use human expertise and support, using AI as an assistant, to create a CRM that works well for your business.  

Check out our clear approach to AI here.