From Automation to Anticipation: Why CRM Needs to Grow Up

For years, we’ve used AI to make CRM faster. It scheduled our emails, crunched our reports and shaved hours off campaign delivery. Useful, yes — but not exactly transformative.

The real revolution isn’t about efficiency. It’s about intelligence.

We’re entering the age of anticipation, where AI doesn’t just execute tasks — it predicts needs, fills gaps and creates experiences that feel effortless.

The Customer Engagement Committee examines the interplay of creativity, data, and technology to explore loyalty and acquisition. They do so with research, events like Customer Engagement 2025, and thought leadership.

The Three Stages of AI in CRM

Most brands are somewhere on this curve:

1. Automation – Doing things faster. Scheduling, segmenting, sending.
2. Prediction – Doing things smarter. Forecasting churn, personalising offers.
3. Anticipation – Doing the right thing before the customer even asks.

That last stage is where the magic happens — when CRM stops being reactive and starts feeling genuinely personal.

The Brands Already Ahead

Wendy’s uses AI to learn from customer purchases and deliver rewards that feel made for you.

Sephora turns browsing behaviour into tailored product recommendations, turning loyalty from a transaction into an experience.

NatWest is using generative AI to power its digital assistants, anticipating customer questions and solving issues before they become problems — proving that proactive service builds trust as much as it saves time.

Even outside CRM, Starbucks’ Deep Brew predicts your next order using weather, time and preference data. Amazon’s anticipatory shipping moves stock closer to customers before the order is placed.

These aren’t just clever tricks — they’re signs of a bigger shift. AI is evolving from a tool for automation to a source of empathy and competitive edge.

Why Anticipation Matters

People don’t want to be “taken on a journey”. They want brands that get them, remember them and add something genuinely useful to their lives.

Anticipation delivers that.

• Proactive relevance: AI spots the next need before it surfaces. Netflix’s algorithm is responsible for 80% of what people watch — that’s predictive power in action.
• Built-in efficiency: Systems that learn as they go mean less manual testing and more time for creativity.
• Deeper loyalty: Recognition breeds trust. Trust breeds retention.
• Defensive strength: When switching is effortless, anticipation becomes your best lock-in.

The goal isn’t to automate what already exists — it’s to reimagine what customers experience altogether.

Making It Happen

Anticipation isn’t just about technology — it’s about structure. The smartest brands are:

• Embedding AI experts inside marketing and CRM teams so insight lives where decisions are made.
• Building central AI hubs to keep governance, ethics and best practice tight.
• Connecting data, strategy and creative to turn prediction into action that feels human.

That mix — embedded expertise with central oversight — keeps AI scalable, responsible and commercially sharp.

The Leap Forward

Automation made CRM efficient. Anticipation makes it alive.

As AI gets woven deeper into how we engage customers, the winners won’t be the ones who simply respond faster — they’ll be the ones who see faster.

They’ll spot intent before it’s voiced. Remove friction before it’s felt. Deliver value before it’s requested.

Because the real power of AI isn’t what it can automate — it’s what it can anticipate.

Written by Nicola Nimmo, DMA Customer Engagement Committee member, Founder and CEO crft consultancy

Want more practical planning insight?

Customer planning doesn’t need a rebrand. It needs recognition. As a career path. As a strategic function. As the thing that turns smart thinking into connected action.

Register for Customer Engagement 2025 as we address the questions of engagement, loyalty, retention, and customer win-back for the benefit of all UK marketers and consumers.