Analyst(s): Keith Kirkpatrick
Publication Date: May 16, 2025
Zoho Corporation has launched CRM for Everyone, a major update to its customer experience platform that brings agentic AI and workflow orchestration to a broader user base. Powered by its proprietary AI engine Zia, the rollout includes new features for no-code report generation, workflow creation, and team-wide coordination, all designed to simplify CRM adoption across departments.
What is Covered in this Article:
- Zoho announces the general availability of CRM for Everyone with embedded Zia AI
- New agentic AI features enable prompt-based report and workflow creation
- Custom modules and visual design tools allow no-code CRM extensions
- Connected Records and Workflows link processes across departments for improved CX delivery
- Team user licenses start at $9/user/month with AI capabilities included
The News: Zoho Corporation announced the general availability of CRM for Everyone, a company-wide CRM offering featuring Zia-powered generative AI and workflow orchestration capabilities. This update brings tools such as prompt-driven report creation, no-code workflow configuration, and CRM customization into the hands of non-sales users across an enterprise.
The release also includes two new features – Connected Records and Connected Workflows – designed to link customer data and coordinate work across departments such as sales, marketing, onboarding, legal, finance, and customer success. CRM for Everyone is now available globally, with AI capabilities included in license costs starting at $9 per team user per month.
Is Zoho’s Zia the Missing Link for Company-Wide CRM Adoption?
Analyst Take: Zoho’s CRM for Everyone represents a shift in how customer experience platforms can be configured, customized, and adopted across functional teams. By embedding Zia’s agentic AI capabilities into core CRM functions and removing the need for manual configuration, Zoho is addressing a long-standing CRM friction point: complexity. With prompt-based control, visual process transparency, and broad accessibility built in, this release expands CRM participation well beyond the sales organization.
Visual, Prompt-Based Report Creation Enhances Transparency and Control
The Ask Zia feature now allows users to create reports by simply typing a request. In one demo example, a user prompts Zia to generate a report showing the number of vehicles sold with a price above USD 35,000. Zia responds by selecting the vehicle module, applying the correct filters, choosing the fields, and building the report – all while showing the process in real time. At any point, the user can pause Zia, refine a step, and resume the process. This not only makes report creation faster but ensures it adheres to the user’s permission scope, offering visibility and granular control without requiring back-end expertise.
Workflow Setup Requires No CRM Expertise
Zia’s workflow creation capability demonstrates how business rules can now be configured through natural language inputs, eliminating the need for technical expertise. In a demo, a user requested to be notified when deal values surpassed a certain threshold. Zia responded by identifying the appropriate CRM module, configuring the trigger condition based on deal value, setting the action as an email alert, and providing a link to the completed workflow. The process required no manual field mapping or system navigation. Instead, Zia handled the orchestration end-to-end, with the user able to review and deploy the output. This approach reduces implementation friction and opens up workflow automation to a wider range of enterprise users.
Custom Modules and Visual Design Make CRM Configurable by Anyone
Zia’s agentic capabilities include tools for no-code customization and visual enhancements. Users can create custom modules, modify field types, and configure permissions using plain language prompts. Additionally, the Image to Canvas feature allows users to import an image and add a visual design layer to the CRM system of record. These capabilities are intended to support broader user control over CRM setup without requiring technical configuration.
Connected Records and Workflows Unify Cross-Team Execution
The Connected Records and Connected Workflows features are designed to link work across modules and coordinate actions across departments involved in delivering customer experience. By enabling the flow of context through the customer journey, these tools help ensure that teams such as sales, marketing, onboarding, finance, legal, and account management have access to relevant information when they need it. This level of shared visibility can reduce friction between departments and strengthen consistency in customer interactions.
Ultimately, Zia is an example of how Zoho is continuing to deliver on one of its core advantages: delivering enterprise-class functionality without the enterprise price tag. As organizations continue to pivot to greater automation, the integration of a plethora of new data sources and the greater interoperability of third-party applications, tools, and agents, CIOs will need to keep an eye on cost. Zoho’s reasonable pricing model enables organizations to leverage AI at scale across their entire organization.
AI functions and features will eventually become commonplace and comparable among vendors. Zoho’s challenge will be to demonstrate that it has the technical ability to meet enterprise customers’ scalability, reliability, and security requirements.
What to Watch:
- The success of Zia’s agentic tools will hinge on real-world usability and user comfort with prompt-based interfaces.
- Visual transparency in report creation may improve adoption, but permission configuration complexity could still be a hurdle.
- Long-term CX gains will depend on how effectively Connected Workflows eliminate departmental silos.
- AI inclusion in base licensing is a strategic pricing move – competitive responses could follow.
- Zia’s privacy-preserving AI architecture will be tested as enterprises assess compliance and data security requirements.
See the complete press release on Zoho’s CRM for Everyone announcement.
Disclosure: Futurum is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum as a whole.
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Author Information
Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.
He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.
He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.
