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HubSpot And The AI Boom: Is Automation Quietly Expanding The CRM Market?

For the better part of the last year, investors have been debating a simple but unsettling question: could artificial intelligence make traditional CRM platforms obsolete? With generative AI tools from OpenAI and Anthropic capable of automating sales outreach, research, and marketing content, it’s easy to imagine a future where many of the tasks once handled by CRM software are performed directly by AI agents. That fear has weighed on companies like HubSpot, whose shares have fallen sharply from prior highs as the market reassesses the long-term role of SaaS platforms in an AI-first world. But there’s an interesting paradox emerging. While AI could reduce the importance of CRM tools within individual organizations, it may simultaneously increase the total number of organizations that need them. AI is dramatically lowering the barriers to starting and running a business.