Are you asking enough from AI?

One of the challenges of using AI is that end users don't always understand what they can ask of it. Potential benefits are missed if the potential of the tool is not understood.

In spring 2025, we organised several webinars (in Finnish) where Jussi Starck from Salesforce gave excellent demos of Agentforce agents. In preparation for one of the webinars, Jussi made an interesting point: one of the challenges of using AI is that end users don’t always know what AI can do.

This is to be expected: AI is developing at such a dizzying pace that few people are aware of the latest applications. On the other hand, lack of knowledge may be a reason not to experiment with AI if the potential benefits are not known.

Artificial intelligence not only complements but also analyses

For many people, the first image of AI is that it retrieves information or fills in blanks. In reality, AI can do much more.

An Agentforce agent, for example, does not just search their own CRM to find out what the best sales opportunities are for the salesperson. It can build a rich analysis of the client company based on publicly available data. It takes into account industry trends, news and even the competitive landscape. This means that the salesperson has a direct insight into what is relevant for the client company right now.

This means that the salesperson gets a direct insight into what is relevant to the client company right now.

So don’t just ask the AI to populate customer data or do a SWOT or Pestel analysis of a key customer in the CRM system, but ask it to provide an analysis using multiple data sources on how the latest industry megatrends affect customer engagement, taking into account the customer’s past product usage. And based on this, suggest how the customer should be approached.

This may not replace the industry and customer knowledge of an experienced salesperson, but even in such situations it can complement it and speed up the work.

Not just completing fields in CRM

What about CRM maintenance? It’s easy to think that it’s mainly a matter of filling in missing phone numbers or addresses. In reality, however, there is more potential.

For example, if your sales process involves identifying customer pain points and recording them in your CRM, AI can find them for you. It can read through email communications with the customer, pick up any challenges that arise and automatically update the information in the CRM. The end result is richer customer data faster than before. This allows the salesperson to focus on what really makes the sale.

It is also becoming easier and easier to make data available to AI.

It is also becoming easier and easier to make data available to AI. Video conferencing software automatically takes notes of the meeting, and after a live meeting you can dictate the notes to your phone, for example, as you walk to your car. Even from the dictation, the AI can pick up the most important things on the fly and, for example, suggest updating the appropriate fields immediately.

Dare to ask for more

The use of AI can easily remain superficial if it is only used for obvious, small tasks. The greatest value comes when it is used for heavier, time-consuming work, such as analysis, prioritisation and proposal writing.

As we learn to ask more of AI, it can free up salespeople’s time to do what humans excel at – building trust and helping customers.