A new study suggests the rise of “agentic” artificial intelligence will disrupt the sales industry more profoundly than the widespread adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) software in the early 2000s.
Research published in the Journal of Business Research warns that sales organisations must adapt to autonomous AI systems capable of perceiving, reasoning and acting without human direction, or risk losing their competitive standing.
“Agentic AI systems are reaching an imperative level; to maintain competitive stance, most sales organisations have to embrace some form of agentic AI,” said Gary Hunter, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi.
Industry estimates cited in the study suggest the market for these autonomous agents is on track to grow from US$7.6 billion in 2025 to more than US$139 billion by 2033.
Independent operations
Unlike prompt-based tools such as ChatGPT, which await user instruction, agentic AI operates independently to identify potential customers, tailor messages and manage renewals. The researchers argue this shift demands a complete redesign of workflows and success metrics.
“Agentic AI can now perceive, reason and act across entire workflows, not just discrete tasks,” said Kash Afshar, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. “This fundamentally reshapes who initiates the sales process.”
The study identifies that while AI excels at the earliest and latest stages of the sales funnel — such as prospecting and deal management — the middle stage of negotiating trust remains heavily dependent on human judgement.
However, the speed of adoption is expected to create a significant divide between early adopters and laggards.
“The firms that act fastest will gain the advantage,” Afshar noted. “The ones that wait will find their competitors’ AI agents working 24/7 while their human teams are still trying to update CRM fields.”
