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ServiceNow positions its CRM as a strategic platform extension, though its capabilities remain narrower than a traditional CRM. Yet, even if ServiceNow CRM is functionally sufficient for an organization, CIOs should be mindful that this platform has broader architectural considerations for organizations’ AI strategy.
Three predictions for 2026 are offered for CX technology markets: 1. No new unified CX category will appear; 2. Speed of adoption for AI solutions (especially agentic AI workflows) will remain slow; and 3. Marketing SaaS will continue to be overlooked in CX and that’s a missed opportunity.
At Ignite 2025 Microsoft announced several major offerings strengthening its agentic AI platform. The ontology-based IQ layer seems to be the most unexpected innovation from Microsoft.
This technology note evaluates Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 launch, asking: Has the Salesforce platform changed beneath the marketing? What market dynamics have compelled Salesforce to adopt this agentic framing? And how should CIOs and CX leaders interpret Salesforce’s product trajectory?
ServiceNow is redefining enterprise workflows with Work AI, Raptor DB, and autonomous deployment – streamlining IT, CRM, and onboarding to deliver measurable ROI, unified governance, and faster time-to-value across the entire organization.
Ignite’s launch of Microsoft Foundry reshapes Dynamics 365’s front-office role; users are being shifted to a Copilot conversational interface supported by AI agents while Dynamics becomes the contextual system operating in the background. The imperative of training a Copilot-first workforce just became even more critical.
AlphaSense now converts documents into cited insights and live Excel models. AlphaSense accelerates research by converting documents into cited insights and live Excel models. Its unified platform fuses broker research, expert calls, and filings through AI agents – reducing earnings and diligence prep from days to hours. The addition of Carousel moves AlphaSense beyond summarization to quantifiable modeling, establishing new speed and quality standards for decision-making in Financial Services and Competitive Intelligence.
Recent geopolitical shifts have renewed interest in digital sovereignty, and the emergence of AI has expanded the concept up the stack to consider the risks of third-party LLMs. At Zoholics Canada 2025, we spoke with Zoho’s Chief Strategy Officer Vijay Sundaram and a customer about their perspectives on navigating digital sovereignty in 2025.
At Zoholics Canada 2025, Zoho reviewed recent updates to Zoho One while also introducing new products tailored for the Canadian market. The event highlighted Zoho’s dual strategy: advancing its unified business operating system and deepening regional and segment-specific coverage.
Klaviyo is positioning itself as the go-to CRM for B2C retailers, helping brands deliver a seamless customer experience from start to finish. Its technology bridges in-store and digital interactions, creating a unified full-stack platform that connects customer data across marketing and service, providing a real-time view of the customer.
Zoho’s October 2025 analyst briefing by Raju Vegesna, Zoho’s Chief Evangelist introduced new AI-powered advanced security, automation, and workflow agents. These updates have been built into the platform that Zoho customers already use and have been designed to target real, everyday business problems users experience.
NiCE’s 2025 Analyst Summit marked a decisive shift toward AI orchestration in customer experience. The company’s momentum highlights not only innovation potential but also the urgent need for CIO-led governance to ensure agentic AI delivers accountable, enterprise-scale value.
Dialpad has launched an agentic AI platform, extending its unified communications capabilities into autonomous AI operations for customer experience. Dialpad’s phased rollout focuses on execution, integration efficiency, and measured adoption for the midmarket, rather than claiming an early-mover advantage for agentic CX.
Zendesk’s virtual AI Summit introduced the Resolution Platform, next-generation Voice AI Agents (entering early access in January 2026), and new AI-driven modules developed through the HyperArc acquisition. The updates primarily benefit organizations already invested in Zendesk’s ecosystem.
In 2025, Salesforce launched its Next Gen Marketing Cloud, debuting a new “agentic marketing” model in which autonomous AI agents independently build, personalize, and optimize campaigns. The update marks Salesforce’s push to fuse sales, service, and marketing into a single data-driven customer journey by replacing the era of “do not reply” messaging with real-time engagement.
Zoho’s #SMZ25 conference in San Antonio in September 2025 served as a platform for deep dives into the company’s core strategy, offering insights beyond product launches. My discussion with Raju Vegesna, the company’s chief evangelist, revealed a long-term, deliberate approach to business software. The conversation touched upon Zoho’s product-led growth, its distinctive dual focus on small business and enterprise, and its competitive stance against much larger players.
Zoomtopia 2025 signals that Zoom is “all in” on agentic AI. For CIOs, the opportunity to leverage a singular AI platform for enterprise productivity and front office services is compelling; however, implementation success is contingent on execution discipline, integration design, and governance maturity.
At its Engage 2025 conference, Verint (NASDAQ: VRNT) emphasized a consistent theme: Customer experience (CX) workflows can be automated to deliver outcomes that are stronger, faster, and measurable. Central to this approach is Verint’s open, multi-LLM platform designed to automate targeted CX workflows while giving organizations control over data, models, and existing systems. Engage 2025 showcased Verint’s solutions with new product launches, demonstrations of more than 50 automation bots, and CEO Dan Bodner’s strategic framing ahead of the Thoma Bravo acquisition.
Zoho Corporation, known for its self-funded and expansive business software suite, used its small business event #SMZ25 in San Antonio on September 3, 2025, as a platform to outline a new direction aimed at sole proprietors. The centerpiece of the announcements was Zoho Solo, a single application pitched as a low-cost, all-in-one entry point into the larger Zoho ecosystem. The company presented Solo as a way for micro-businesses to get started quickly while remaining on a path to scale into the broader Zoho offering.
Zoho introduced multiple advancements in artificial intelligence. The prime announcement is the launch of Zia LLM, which includes three proprietary large language models. In keeping with the core principle that Zoho follows, which is to own its code and infrastructure, Zia LLM models are homegrown using the NVIDIA AI Accelerated computing platform. Zoho now joins a select group of global companies that have truly proprietary, foundational LLMs developed from the ground up.
As budgets receive increased scrutiny, technology leaders are looking for ways to unlock efficiencies and capabilities within their organizations. The Conga Connect conference underscored this reality, with conversations about the evolution of revenue lifecycle management (RLM) and the essential need for discovering hidden value, connecting disparate systems and teams, and increasing innovation.