My company implements CRM applications and over the years I’ve learned that no CRM system can do it all. Which is why there are countless apps, platforms and services that add more functionality by leveraging AI. A few times a week I participate in the CRM sub-reddit where there are a number of excellent members who contribute their thoughts and suggested tools for elevating a CRM system and many of these tools were found there.
I’ve tried most of these applications or have clients that use them. All of these platforms come with developer tools and APIs if they’re not already integrated with existing CRM systems. They leverage AI, although some more than others.
Lead Generation & Prospecting AI Tools
The following tools can help sales team find new leads and prospects and then bring this data into their CRM systems for follow-ups and engagement.
- LeadBeam.ai – AI-based lead generation and enrichment for B2B field sales teams that provides “real-time enrichment” with firmographics (a snapshot of a company’s characteristics which can help B2B marketers understand and target their audience) and technographics (information about the technology a company uses, including software, hardware, and IT systems.)
- Prospeo.io – An excellent tool to help migrate and then verify emails and phone numbers from LinkedIn and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
- WarpLeads – Regularly updated database providing thousands of leads – including emails – for export into CRM systems. Data includes emails. Also helps enrich existing data in CRM systems along with de-duplication tools.
- Reoon YellowPages Scraper – Scrapes structured business listings from Yellow Pages.
- ContactOut – Chrome extension for locating professional emails and phone numbers.
They claim an estimated 97% accuracy with multiple contact methods per profile. Ability to generate email campaigns.
Sales Enablement & Automation AI Tools
These applications speed up and formalize sales processes. Some of the major CRM players – i.e. Salesforce, Dynamics – either have some of these capabilities built in or available as add-ons. These applications work with those CRM applications and many other smaller CRM platforms.
- Winn.ai – A virtual, AI-powered sales assistant that “understands and captures your prospects’ answers automatically, and with just one click imports it all to Salesforce or HubSpot.” Aims to reduce the time it takes to gather information from meetings and update CRM systems. Also extracts sales call insights with coaching nudges and provides real-time agent feedback during calls.
- Lindy.ai – An AI agent creator that launches agents based on triggers (i.e. a new email received) and then performs tasks (scheduling meetings, sending outreach messages) within your CRM system. The company offers “hundreds” of integrations.
- Thoughtly – AI phone agents that integrates with CRM systems and includes human-like voices, personality traits such as humor and assertiveness, and controls background noise to “ensure they sound like realistic agents perfectly aligned with your brand.”
CRM & Marketing Automation AI Tools
I generally steer clients away from using their CRM’s built in bulk email functions because there’s a higher risk of spam capture and blacklisting. The safest thing to do is to use an established bulk email service which provides tools to identify spam before emails are sent as well as establishing themselves as legitimate services in the eyes of the largest email service providers.
- ActiveCampaign – An excellent campaign automation platform with integration into a number of CRM systems. Includes predictive sending and deep behavioral segmentation.
- MailerLite – For smaller organizations, this is a simple email marketing and landing page builder with plenty of features and at an affordable price.
- Sender.net – Email and SMS marketing with automation flows geared more towards e-commerce providers.
- Lemlist – Another tool to help with cold email outreach with personalized images and GIFS that will improve deliverability.
Business Communication AI Tools (Phone, Messaging & VoIP)
CRM is not just about sales. It’s also about customer service. And communications are not all about emails. Even in 2025, human contact by phone remains a critical way to provide service and engage customers. To that end it’s important to have a good phone system that integrates with your CRM system.
- JustCall – VoIP system with CRM-integrated sales and support features that includes power dialers and transcription capabilities. Supports voice, SMS, email, or WhatsApp.
- OpenPhone – Modern business phone for startups and small businesses that merges voice, fax (yes, fax!) and team messaging in one application and integrates with a number of CRM systems.
- KrispCall – Virtual phone with SMS, IVR, and numbers in many countries with “robust” call routing. Designed specifically to integrate with 100+ CRM applications.
- respond.io – Unified messaging systems that integrates with many CRM systems and allows users to engage with leads from their websites, WhatsApp calls and chat, email, and social media like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Offline leads are funneled directly into the system from on-ground events, billboards, physical stores and beyond.
Conversational & Intelligent Assistants AI Tools
Want to create our own chatbot on your website and then hand off the conversation to your CRM’s workflow? Here are two good platforms to try.
- Talkdesk – A powerful and affordable customer service cystems with AI-powered virtual agents, routing, biometric authentication, automated compliance, outbound engagement, agent assistants, metrics, call evaluations, coaching and an AI trainer and integrations into a number of CRM platforms.
- Cognigy – Enterprise-grade conversational AI for customer service that includes a visual flow builder with live agent handoff as well as AI agents for chat, messaging and sales and marketing.
Mapping & Territory AI Tool
For that salesperson on the road…
- Mapsly – Visual territory planning and route optimization for CRMs that syncs live with CRMs and enables geolocation-based workflows.
There will be plenty more AI tools in the future and I’ll be reporting on them here.
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