AI Is About To Discover How Your Organisation Actually Works

Why AI will amplify the way decisions are already being made

AI is creating a lot of excitement and it’s easy to see why. Content that once took hours can now be created in minutes and personalisation can happen at a scale that wasn’t previously possible. Decisions that relied on manual effort in the past, can be automated and for CRM and customer engagement teams, this provides significant opportunities.

Most organisations can already see where AI could help. They can create content faster, recommend products, select offers, support customer service teams, identify the next best action and overall improve team efficiency. However, AI needs to work with what you have today in terms of your data, processes, content and the way that your organisations  makes decisions. That’s where things start to get interesting and AI can start to reflect an organisation back on itself.

AI won’t solve everything for you, if you currently can’t agree on customers that should be prioritised, how success is defined, or whether you trust your data, there isn’t a quick fix through AI that will suddenly answer these questions and create this confidence. It will simply make those issues more visible. That’s why many organisations find that AI quickly becomes about much more than technology and draws into focus questions that already existed such as the current ways of working in place, the data that should be used, the outcome we are trying to achieve, and ultimately what decisions can be automated versus ones which still need human judgement. These aren’t new questions but become all the more tricky to avoid in the era of AI.

Most organisations don’t have a shortage of AI ideas. But as they have competing priorities, different teams working towards different objectives and different views and interpretations of what good customer experience and customer value looks like, AI has to work within these guardrails. AI is very good at following instructions and so this means organisations need to be much clearer about what they’re asking it to do. AI can decide which message to send and recommend the next best action, but it can’t decide what your customers care about or what a successful customer outcome looks like without your organisation’s input. AI can create content at scale but as a business you know that not everything deserves scaling.

That’s why the organisations making the strongest progress with AI are often focusing on the fundamentals first and working on their strategy. Defining the use cases they are trying to solve for and what successful outcomes look like, looking at what customer decisions matter most and how they should be made and AIs role in all of this within the organisation.

At Shaw/Scott, we work with organisations exploring AI within the wider context of CRM transformation, customer strategy, customer data, personalisation and marketing technology. This might start with identifying practical AI use cases to prove initial value and test appetite. Although alternatively it can start with understanding whether the right foundations are in place and helping teams create clarity around customer decisions and the outcomes they’re trying to achieve. We often work alongside client teams as an extension of their capability - helping to shape roadmaps, prioritise opportunities and provide additional expertise where it’s needed most.

Because successful AI adoption isn’t really just about AI, and ticking that box. It’s about making better decisions and delivering better customer experiences. The organisations that will gain the greatest value from AI, will be the ones that are clearest about what good customer engagement looks like in the first place.

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Frequently Asked Questions

● How can AI improve CRM?

AI can help automate tasks, support personalisation, improve decision-making and increase efficiency. The greatest value is usually realised when AI is applied to clear customer and business objectives rather than being implemented for its own sake.

● Why do some AI initiatives deliver better outcomes than others?

Technology is only one part of the picture. Organisations that have clarity around customer strategy, customer data, ownership, priorities and decision-making are often better placed to realise value from AI.

● What should organisations assess before investing in AI?

It’s worth understanding how decisions are made today, whether teams trust the available data, who owns key customer decisions and what outcomes the organisation is trying to achieve. These factors often have a bigger influence on success than the technology itself.

● Does AI replace CRM teams?

No. AI can support teams by automating tasks and improving efficiency, but customer strategy, creativity, judgement and customer understanding remain essential.

● How does AI fit into a CRM operating model?

AI should support the way teams, processes, data and technology work together. Clear ownership, decision-making and governance become increasingly important as AI becomes part of day-to-day customer engagement.

● Planning an AI initiative, CRM transformation programme or platform review?

AI can unlock significant opportunities, but technology is only part of the picture. The organisations creating the greatest value are usually the ones with clarity around customer strategy, customer data, decision-making and the customer experience they want to deliver.

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If you’re exploring AI, personalisation, customer decisioning or wider CRM transformation opportunities, we can help assess readiness, shape priorities and provide the additional support needed to turn plans into progress. Whether you need strategic guidance, specialist expertise or experienced practitioners working alongside your team, we’d be happy to share our perspective.

Get in touch via our simple online contact form to discuss your objectives or request a copy of our CRM Transformation Readiness Checklist.