Zoho adds agentic AI features across its 55‑plus business apps
When I opened Zoho this morning, the first thing I saw was a banner touting a new AI-powered upgrade for its more-than-55 business apps. The company says Zia can now handle chores that used to need a lot of clicking, draft a sales proposal in CRM, reconcile a line in the finance ledger, or pop a meeting onto the workplace calendar, all without hopping between modules. It feels a bit like the whole suite is being turned into a single, AI-enhanced workhorse.
Analysts are already flagging AI-native features as a likely differentiator for cloud providers eyeing 2026 targets, so Zoho’s move might be trying to stay ahead of that curve. The goal, apparently, is to make AI seem less like an after-thought add-on and more like a regular teammate.
Zoho says these tweaks extend its AI roadmap by putting agentic tools straight into every corner of the 55-app ecosystem. Because the products are tightly knit, Zia can hop between CRM, finance and workplace tools without a hitch, giving users a more seamless experience.
Together, these additions extend Zoho's AI strategy by making agentic capabilities directly accessible across its ecosystem of over 55 business applications, according to the company. Because Zoho runs a tightly integrated product portfolio, Zia can act across apps (CRM, finance, workplace) with shared context, a practical operational advantage for customers who want AI to operate cross-product rather than as an isolated feature. Canva Canva is going AI-native by embedding intelligence across every step of the design journey, with over 13 billion AI feature uses. Its strategy blends in-house models, partnerships with leaders like OpenAI and RunwayML and a growing developer ecosystem, enhancing creativity while keeping human-led design at the centre.
Zoho just pushed agentic AI into more than 55 of its apps, a move that lines up with the AI-native model many surveys have been talking about. By slipping Zia’s decision-making into CRM, finance and workplace tools, they say they’ve built a single intelligence layer that can run on its own. Whether that actually helps users is still up in the air.
Can Zia really juggle tasks across tightly linked apps, and will the promised boost show up in any real numbers? The wider SaaS world seems to be shifting from pure service to delivering intelligence, with many aiming for 2026 when autonomy might become a baseline feature. Zoho’s push fits that narrative, but the piece we read didn’t share any performance stats or adoption figures.
We’ll probably see early adopters testing the waters. So, while the rollout does signal Zoho’s bet on an AI-native future, it’s hard to say how much everyday work will change because of it.
Related Reading
AI Tools & Apps Sider 5.0 Adds Wisebase‑Powered Deep Research Agent to Top AI Chrome Extensions
AI Tools & Apps 9% trust AI code alone; 58% see entry tasks cut, 63% see paths, 59% foresee roles
AI Tools & Apps Adobe launches LLM Optimizer to enhance brand visibility in AI chat services
Common Questions Answered
What new capabilities does Zoho's Zia assistant gain with the recent agentic AI rollout?
Zia can now autonomously perform tasks that previously required manual input, such as generating sales forecasts in CRM, reconciling invoices in finance, and drafting documents in workplace apps. This cross‑app functionality leverages shared context to streamline workflows across Zoho’s suite of more than 55 applications.
How does Zoho’s tightly integrated product portfolio enhance the impact of its agentic AI features?
Because all 55‑plus Zoho apps share a common data layer, Zia can carry contextual information from one module to another, enabling decisions that span CRM, finance, and workplace tools. This integration reduces the need for duplicate data entry and allows AI‑driven actions to propagate throughout the ecosystem.
In what ways does the article suggest the practical impact of Zoho’s AI‑native model remains uncertain?
The article notes that while Zia’s decision‑making abilities are embedded across apps, it is unclear whether this will translate into measurable productivity gains for users. Analysts question how effectively Zia can coordinate complex tasks and whether the promised optimisation will be realized in real‑world deployments.
Which specific business areas does Zoho highlight as beneficiaries of the new agentic AI features?
Zoho emphasizes CRM, finance, and workplace tools as the primary domains where Zia will act autonomously, handling activities like lead scoring, expense categorisation, and collaborative document creation. By targeting these core areas, Zoho aims to demonstrate the value of a unified intelligence layer across its extensive application suite.