New research from Workbooks, a leading CRM provider, reveals a major gap between how widely AI is used across B2B organisations and how rarely it is integrated into CRM, despite its potential to transform sales, marketing, and customer management.

Across Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing and Media & Publishing, the findings show:

  • 84–100% of leaders regularly use AI for general tasks
  • Yet only 0–19% use AI within their CRM
  • 71% plan to increase their AI-in-CRM usage in 2026
  • 64–80% cite a lack of internal expertise as the biggest barrier
  • Early adopters report strong gains in productivity, customer segmentation, reporting and workflow automation

These findings point to a coming wave of CRM transformation—but only once organisations bridge the skills and data gaps currently holding them back.

AI Use Is High Everywhere, Except in CRM

Despite industry predictions that AI would be “standard” in CRM by 2025 (Gartner, 2024)[1], Workbooks’ analysis shows that most B2B leaders are still using AI tools in isolation rather than integrating them into their core sales and marketing engine.

By sector:

Construction

  • 86% use AI day-to-day
  • 0% use AI in their CRM
  • 71% do not know whether their CRM even includes AI features
  • 100% are unsure whether they’ll adopt AI-in-CRM in the next year

Manufacturing

  • 78% use AI
  • 6% use AI in CRM
  • 71% plan to increase AI-in-CRM usage in 2026

Sales Leaders

  • 96% use AI
  • 10% use it in CRM
  • 67% plan to increase AI-in-CRM usage in 2026

Marketing Leaders

  • 96% use AI
  • 19% use it in CRM
  • 64% plan to increase AI-in-CRM usage in 2026

Media & Publishing

  • 100% use AI
  • 3% have CRM AI integration
  • 50% plan to increase AI-in-CRM usage in 2026

CEOs & Founders

  • 84% use AI
  • 3% use AI in CRM (only 1% use multiple features)
  • 56% plan to increase AI-in-CRM usage in 2026

Across every sector, AI is booming everywhere except the one system that stores customer relationships and drives revenue. This disconnect means the most relationship-driven industries are missing opportunities to automate forecasting, personalise interactions, and manage complex customer pipelines more effectively.

2026 Will Be a Breakout Year for AI-in-CRM

Across all sectors, leaders show strong intent to close the adoption gap:

  • 71% of Manufacturing leaders will expand AI-in-CRM in 2026
  • 67% of Sales leaders plan the same
  • 64% of Marketing leaders will increase use
  • 50% of Media & Publishing leaders plan significant adoption
  • 56% of CEOs plan to increase adoption in 2026
  • Construction remains cautious, but interest will grow once usability and privacy concerns are addressed

Across the full dataset, the trend is unmistakable: 2026 is the year AI finally becomes embedded into CRM workflows.

What Organisations Want from AI in CRM

Across industries, organisations consistently prioritise the same features for the year ahead:

  • AI Lead Scoring (up to 72% planned adoption)
  • AI for Customer Service (47–56%)
  • AI Content Generation (especially in Marketing & Media)
  • AI Chatbots & Co-Pilots for Sales and Service
  • AI Reporting & Forecasting (high interest despite early challenges)

This represents a shift from basic automation toward predictive, insight-driven CRM capability.

Early Adopters Report Strong, Measurable Gains

The minority already using AI in CRM report immediate benefits across all functions. (Impact scale: 0 = No impact, 3 = Substantial impact):

  • Staff productivity: 1.90–2.60
  • Customer segmentation: up to 2.00
  • Reporting & analytics: up to 2.38
  • Email/Call automation: 1.78–2.20
  • Lead qualification and forecasting: early but growing impact

A clear “feature density effect” emerges: the more AI features an organisation adopts, the greater the productivity and performance gains.

As one CEO described: “AI-powered tools helped us identify high-value leads, reduce response times, tailor communications, and identify trends we may otherwise have missed.”

The Barriers: Skills, Trust, and Data Readiness

Across all sectors surveyed, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media & publishing, construction and CEOs/Founders, the blockers are strikingly consistent:

  • Lack of internal expertise: 64–80%
  • Resistance to change: 36–48%
  • Data privacy/security concerns: 20–42%
  • Unclear ROI: 40–50%
  • CRM systems unable to support AI: up to 17%
  • Low early impact of AI forecasting tools: 1.00–1.31 (primarily driven by data readiness issues)

While precise percentages vary slightly by sector, the overall message is clear: organisations across the board want AI in CRM, but skills, culture and data quality, not the technology itself, are the dominant barriers to meaningful implementation.

Leaders Agree: Success Requires Strategy, Skills and Strong Data

Respondents across all sectors reinforced that AI must be introduced intentionally, not “switched on” without purpose.

Common prerequisites include:

  • Strong data foundations
  • Clear, measurable use cases
  • Staff training and cultural readiness
  • Time for proper implementation
  • Integration with existing tools
  • Avoiding “black box” deployments without business context

As one respondent put it: “Adopt AI for an explicit purpose. Is AI even the right tool for what you are looking for?”

Vendors Must Step Up

Organisations expect CRM vendors to take an active role in simplifying AI adoption.

Top vendor requirements across sectors:

  • Easier setup and user interface (44–60%)
  • Clearer, proven ROI models (40–73%, highest among CEOs)
  • Better data integration support
  • Built-in privacy and security safeguards
  • Expert guidance and implementation support

John Cheney, CEO of Workbooks, commented:

“The new era of CRM is defined by intelligence, not administrative delay. Our research shows the appetite for AI is overwhelming, but organisations need simpler setup, clearer ROI, and deeper integration. It’s now the responsibility of CRM vendors to empower teams to become predictive, personalised and profitable.”

Please see the full report here.

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