Almost every CRM vendor now offers AI. It arrives as a new plan tier, a bundle of credits, or a feature switched on during a free trial that becomes a line on next year's invoice.
Some of these features are genuinely useful. But they're sold by the people who benefit from you buying them, so it's worth stepping back before you upgrade.
1. What would your team actually use it for?
Be specific. "Write better emails" is not a use case. "Draft a follow-up after every discovery call so nobody forgets" is. If you can't name two or three tasks that happen every week, the feature will probably go unused.
2. Is your data good enough?
AI works with what's in your CRM. If records are duplicated, notes are missing and deal stages are out of date, AI will summarise and act on that. Fixing the data usually delivers more than adding AI to it.
3. What will it cost as you grow?
AI pricing is often per user, per credit or per action. Work out the cost at your size today and in two years' time. Many businesses are surprised by the second number.
4. Could something else do the same job?
General AI assistants can now connect to most CRMs, as well as email, calendars and documents. That can be more useful than an AI that only sees one system, and it doesn't tie you further into one vendor.
None of this means vendor AI is a bad idea. It means the decision deserves the same care as choosing the CRM in the first place.
If you'd like an independent view, an AI Readiness Review looks at exactly these questions for your business.
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