At the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and customer relationship management (CRM) software is economic opportunity for enterprises that seize it, according to a forecast from Salesforce and IDC. AI-enabled CRM to drive an additional $1.1 trillion in additional global business revenue by 2021, states their report. There’s also good news for folks who fear […]
At the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and customer relationship management (CRM) software is economic opportunity for enterprises that seize it, according to a forecast from Salesforce and IDC.
AI-enabled CRM to drive an additional $1.1 trillion in additional global business revenue by 2021, states their report. There’s also good news for folks who fear that AI is coming for their jobs.
Based on the responses of the over 1,000 organizations surveyed for the report, IDC expects this new economic activity to generate more than 800,000 direct jobs by 2021. Adding indirect jobs pushes the total to 2 million jobs.
Although there’s no escaping the AI buzz this year, 2018 promises to be “a landmark year for AI adoption,” according to the companies.
By 2018, IDC predicts that three-quarters (75 percent) of enterprise and ISV (independent software vendor) development efforts will involve AI or machine-learning, for at least one software application. Within the next two years, 40 percent of companies plan to adopt some form AI.
“AI is impacting all sectors of the economy and every business. For the CRM market—the fastest-growing category in enterprise software—the impact of AI will be profound, ushering in new levels of productivity for employees and empowering companies to drive even better experiences for their customers,” said Keith Block, vice chairman, president and COO of Salesforce, in a statement. “For companies embracing AI, it’s critical that they create new workforce development programs to ensure employees are prepared for this next wave of innovation.”
Of course, Salesforce is no stranger to AI.
In September 2016, after a rash of acquisitions, the leading cloud CRM provider announced its own AI technology dubbed Einstein. Last week, the company announced Einstein Analytics, which automatically generates CRM insights for users and offers recommended actions aimed at helping to improve the effectiveness of their customer service, sales and marketing activities.
“We have broken down barriers to data accessibility, exploration, visualization, actionability and today we are building on that momentum by adding the power of AI,” remarked Ketan Karkhanis, general manager of Salesforce Analytics, in a June 15 announcement. “With Einstein Analytics, every CRM user can now see not only what happened in their business, but why it happened and what to do about it, without requiring a team of data science experts.”
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020
Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to Datamation, eWEEK, and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.
Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.
Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.
