2026: The Year When Data Will Redefine the Value of Sales

Artificial intelligence has shifted from a futuristic concept to a core operational pillar for companies across Mexico and Latin America. Looking ahead to 2026, CRM platforms are evolving from static databases into real-time decision engines, enabling deeper integration across sales, marketing, service, and AI-powered automation. The shift is well underway, though outcomes differ significantly from one organization to another.

Industry indicators reflect the scale of this shift. Gartner projects that by 2025, 60% of B2B organizations will rely on data-driven selling. IDC, meanwhile, estimates that CRM analytics could generate up to a 30% increase in forecast accuracy between 2024 and 2028. What these projections highlight is a fundamental point: AI’s value is directly linked to the quality, integrity, and accessibility of the data supporting it.

Mexico: Data and Conversations Converging

Mexico is emerging as one of the most active conversational markets in the region. WhatsApp has evolved from a messaging tool to a commercial environment in its own right. According to Statista, 93% of internet users in Mexico engage through the platform, and McKinsey reports that conversational commerce in Latin America is expanding at double-digit annual rates.

Recent HubSpot findings align with the trend: 80% of Mexican companies report sales improvements tied to AI use, and 67% are already applying AI-driven conversational marketing. Increasingly, purchase intent is first expressed within messaging environments, and the conversation has shifted from whether companies should integrate messaging into their CRM to how they can do so without generating data silos or losing cross-department visibility.

In response, new CRM models are emerging to promote full life-cycle management, sometimes referred to as loop marketing, where acquisition, engagement, sales, and customer service are integrated into a continuous data flow. Adoption may still be early, but momentum suggests a clear direction.

Latin America: One Region, Multiple Speeds

Outside Mexico, digital maturity varies widely. Markets such as Brazil, Colombia, and Chile are advancing toward omnichannel ecosystems supported by automation, analytics, and AI-enabled service flows. Other markets continue to prioritize foundational goals: database consolidation, unified customer profiles, and cloud CRM migration.

Across markets, research from Boston Consulting Group points to three consistent drivers of CRM performance:

• Data readiness: Companies with standardized data achieve up to 25% higher conversion rates.
   

• Modular adoption: Layered AI implementation reduces transformation failure rates by nearly 35%.
   

• Cross-team alignment: Organizations that connect marketing, sales, and service workflows report customer lifetime value increases of up to 14%.
   

Taken together, these findings suggest that while technology is an essential enabler, disciplined execution remains the determining factor.

A Regional Example: Results Fueled by Data Quality

A useful example is Rappi, which has publicly documented its CRM and data integration approach. After unifying customer profiles and automating segmentation through AI, the company recorded a 20% improvement in reactivation campaigns and more than a 30% reduction in response times across service channels (Rappi Data & AI Open Report, 2024). The take-away is increasingly common in high-growth companies: results stem not from accumulating tools, but from reducing fragmentation and achieving a single, actionable customer view.

Data First in 2026

While public discussion frequently centers on AI, the practical reality is more nuanced. Without clean, reliable, and unified data, automation has limited value—and may even amplify operational noise. Three priorities are emerging as critical success factors for 2026:

1. Data quality before automation. Gartner estimates that poor-quality data costs organizations an average of 12% of revenue annually.
    

2. Formalizing messaging channels. Platforms like WhatsApp must evolve beyond informal communication, with traceability, reporting, and compliance built in.
    

3. Gradual AI deployment. Focus on defined use cases — lead qualification, content support, reactivation workflows — can produce measurable improvements early on.
    

The Defining Challenge of the Year Ahead

The primary challenge in modernizing CRM processes is not technological, it is organizational. Companies must determine what data truly matters, who owns it, and how it translates into actionable insight. Those able to answer these questions will benefit from greater speed, more accurate forecasting, and customer experiences better suited to an increasingly competitive landscape. Those who do not may continue collecting contacts, but with fewer meaningful relationships to show for it.