Making the AI Pivot Like It’s 2025

This week on Funnel Frontier: The AI pivot you can’t afford to miss in 2025. Go big or get stuck with spreadsheets. 

This week:

• IDC on genAI must-dos 
• Asana’s take on AI at work
• The use and misuse of personas (via Forrester)
• Insightly vs Zoho
• Productivity tips for the entrepreneur (via ClickUp)

Stat of the Week

38% of the global AI market is concentrated in three industries: software and information services, banking, and retail. (IDC)

Making the AI pivot like it’s 2025

You may feel so carefree there, playing in the genAI garden. But after, there’s computerized chores a-waitin’.

A new article from market intelligence firm IDC says 2025 is the Year of the AI Pivot, where you either go big or go back to your spreadsheets.

Apparently the AI scramble isn’t just some passing fad—it’s the next big thing. Like ERP or e-commerce back in the day, but with more jargon and less patience for failure.

According to an IDC survey, 84% of IT leaders agreed genAI/AI is “the next strategic corporate workload.”

That said, it’s true GenAI has had us going around in circles with endless Proofs of Concepts, which most often seem to fizzle out before they even get started. Among hundreds of bright ideas for genAI implementation, only a handful seem to outlast the hype stage. 

What does that mean for you? Well, it’s time to stop scrolling and start figuring out your own unified strategy. One that actually uses AI to do more than just look trendy. 

Going all-in on AI-infusion means:

• Sorting out your data.

• Tightening up IT governance.

• Getting IT and business teams to play nice.

• And let’s not forget a plan for scaling—because those GPUs aren’t going to pay for themselves.

If you don’t nail this AI pivot, you could get stuck in the experimentation phase. And in 2025, that’s no longer cute.

The Week @ CRM.org

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Weekly Bloom

Are You Burned Out? If looking at your “to-do-list” fills you with dread, you might be there. Tips on overcoming the burn.

Asana’s take on AI @ work

Ready for more AI content?

That’s good, because Asana has published its 2024 State of AI at Work. 

The report, made in collaboration with AI safety and research firm Anthropic, finds that AI isn’t just tinkering around the edges. It’s shaking up the mains, fast.

Asana & Anthropic surveyed 5,000+ knowledge workers across the US and UK, finding that AI adoption has jumped 44% in the last nine months. Over half of the sample is now using it, and 69% of users reported real productivity boosts. 

89% of daily genAI users report productivity gains, as opposed to 39% of monthly genAI users. 

And the more people use AI, the more they tend to read it not as a gadget, but rather as a colleague—one that doesn’t hog the Nespresso pods. 13% of daily genAI users view AI as a teammate, as opposed to 8% of monthly genAI users. 

Still, some folks are concerned about being stigmatized for AI embrace. 26% fear being festooned with a big ribbon that says “lazy.” 20% feel like a phony for using AI. 

One of the angst-inducing issues is lack of guidance from above. The report found only 24% of companies were providing policies or direction on AI, while 17% reported having received training. A whopping 48% of respondents want more guidance.

Saket Srivastava, Chief Information Officer at Asana, quipped that orgs “need clear guidelines to understand AI’s role” as well as “tailored training and accessible technologies.” 

The pay-off? “Organizations that get this right will leverage AI in a way that unlocks new levels of human ingenuity.”

Stellar Strategies: Tips & Tricks for Sales, Marketing & Service

Using and misusing personas (via Forrester)

Personas: once the darling of B2C marketing strategies, now often as useful as AOL CDs in 2024.

Research from Forrester suggests it’s time to ditch those outdated, bias-ridden caricatures masquerading as customer insights. 

The problem? Companies keep crafting personas for the sake of it, leading to data overload and misguided decisions.

The solution? Make personas purpose-built, based on actual research insights, and laser-focused on real customer goals—not just random demographics. 

Done right, personas can still help teams truly empathize with their audience. But stick to ye olde ways, and you’re just spinning wheels in the medieval mud.

More here.

Insightly vs Zoho

Caught between Zoho and Insightly? True to our name, we have some CRM-y thoughts on that.

It’s true—Zoho glimmers with modular charm, unabashedly catering to SMBs. However, Insightly struts versatility across the board, simultaneously appealing to the Davids and Goliaths of biz.

Insightly boasts a slick, user-friendly interface that corvids could probably figure out, but Zoho pulls ahead with pricing and app integrations that scream "value for money." 

It’s a close call, and really, the winner depends on which features tickle your fancy. So bust out that notepad, and soak in our itemized tug-of-war here.

Productivity Tips for the Entrepreneur (via ClickUp)

I may be wrong, but something tells me you might be some kind of entrepreneur. 

Yes, hmm. And that means you're basically the one-person band of biz—juggling the metaphorical gutbucket, harmonica, and washboard.

Some quick-fire advice from ClickUp:

Stop trying to do everything at once: you don’t have a job in Times Square. Prioritize, delegate, and for Pete’s sake, find your most productive time. Because not even cold brew can save you at 3 AM. 

Be decisive. Move quick and don’t overthink. Trust your instincts.

And if you’re doing WFH, good luck! You'll need to keep distractions at bay while pretending your expensive pajamas are "business casual." 

Make sure to designate one specific part of your home for work, block off time and stick to your schedule, and do consider getting into mindfulness.

Okay, now go conquer the Fortune 500—one task at a time. Click here for more tippage.

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

Salesforce gives results for Q2 fiscal 2025. Q2 revenue was $9.33 billion, an 8% YoY increase, with a GAAP Operating Margin of 19.1%. 

SugarCRM named IDC MarketScape Leader. The midmarket-focused CRM, which counts 1,200+ B2B industrial manufacturing customers, was recognized as a leader in “Worldwide B2B CRM Platform Software for Industrial Manufacturing.”

monday.com reaches $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. The milestone comes 8 years after the company reached $1 million in ARR, and 10 years after first launching the platform.

Astronomical Assets

Significant Stock Moves from Last Week

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