NAVAX Innovation Day 2025: Rethinking the customer journey

The CX trends for 2026: What we can expect

Romana Močnik, Team Lead CRM Solutions at NAVAX, opened the Innovation Day with a look into the near future. She outlined the key trends for 2026: These range from hyper-personalisation, emotional and transparent communication across all touchpoints and the use of predictive analytics. Her message: while many in the DACH region are still at the beginning of the AI journey, companies should set the course now. "According to Gartner, AI will solve 80% of all customer problems autonomously by 2029. In the DACH region, we are still at the beginning - but the preparation starts now." - Romana Močnik, Team Lead CRM Solutions at NAVAX

Customer experience (CX) as a strategic success factor: from products to experiences

Timo Zöller, renowned CX expert, opened his keynote speech with a clear statement: "Customers no longer buy products - they commission companies to do jobs." Relevance only arises when companies understand the actual needs of their customers. Zöller used a simple restaurant story to show how small gestures can have a big impact: An apple juice for the children decided on a positive overall experience during a restaurant visit.

Zöller's appeal: companies should consciously design experiences, bring the voice of the customer into the company and make CX measurable - for example via the Net Promoter Score or the Customer Effort Score. "Customer experience is not a soft factor, but a decisive value driver," says Timo Zöller.

EU AI Act for Marketing & Sales

The strategic CX perspective was followed by a legal reality check. Carina Zehetmaier, award winner, AI entrepreneur, and founder of PaiperOne, made it unmistakably clear: AI in marketing is nothing new—but the legal framework has changed. She explained vividly that generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT or Co-Pilot, calculate texts based on probabilities derived from their training material. These AI systems can not only reflect unwanted biases, but also hallucinations, i.e., content that sounds very plausible but does not necessarily correspond to the facts, which is why it is important to check results for accuracy and ethical standards. Unfortunately, this is not so easy, because we humans are subject to what is known as automation bias – the human tendency to blindly trust systems – sometimes even to the extent that we blindly follow GPS instructions even though they lead us into the water.

The EU AI Act does not regulate the technology itself, but rather considers the risk posed by an AI use case. For marketing and sales, this means that most applications fall into the “limited risk” category, where transparency requirements must be met from August 2, 2026 onwards. Above all, deepfakes must be labeled as such. However, it is also conceivable that certain AI applications in marketing will fall under the prohibited use cases, especially if they manipulate human behavior or are used to exploit human weaknesses. Prohibited AI systems will be sanctioned with penalties of up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover. In her presentation, Zehetmaier gives clear recommendations for action: establish a code of conduct and governance structures, observe labeling requirements, use technical checks such as reverse searches, and, above all, train employees, because they are the most important asset for responsible innovation. Her conclusion: “The future doesn't just happen, we actively shape it.”
 

Practical insight: More than just a tool: Our path to the new CRM

Christian Pfänder, Head of Sales, gave a practical insight into the CRM journey of FormMed HealthCare. The company is the market leader in the field of orthomolecular therapy and micronutrient medicine - with over 430 preparations and the highest quality standards. Due to strong growth and the complexity of the business model, it was clear that the old CRM system could no longer fulfil the requirements. "We needed transparency, scalability and automation - and a solution that understood our complex processes," says Christian Pfänder. The decision was made in favour of Microsoft Dynamics 365 in collaboration with NAVAX.

Processes such as lead scoring, calendar synchronisation and the direct connection to the web shop and ERP system now take the pressure off the sales force and create efficiency. Dashboards and Power BI integration enable real-time reporting and clear control. "Our CRM is not just a tool, but a strategic lever for growth and customer satisfaction," emphasised Christian Pfänder. The outlook shows where the journey is heading: AI-supported appointment scheduling, automated call summaries and chatbots for 24/7 availability. 

Reality check: AI in sales, game changer or burst bubble?

Sebastian Wagner, Professional CRM Consultant at NAVAX, posed the crucial question in his keynote speech: Is AI in sales already the hoped-for game changer - or is the big marketing bubble bursting? The reality in sales shows clear challenges: 79% of salespeople today look after more customers than in the previous year, only 33% of working time is spent actually selling, 70% is spent on administrative tasks such as CRM maintenance and data research.

This is exactly where AI comes in. Studies by McKinsey predict that up to 29% of working time can be automated, which not only increases efficiency but also opens up sales potential: Companies that use AI see up to 15% more sales and a significant improvement in conversion rates. And it was with this premise that the live demo began - with use cases ranging from the automatic creation of new contacts from emails to the proactive summarisation of CRM data. "AI can already provide really good support as standard, but it's definitely not yet where we want to be," summarised Sebastian Wagner. So there is still room for improvement: Complex queries and consistent results are still a challenge in some cases. The conclusion: game changer yes, but with fine-tuning.

CRM agents with NAVAX Buddy - efficiency meets data protection

While Microsoft Copilot makes simple repetitive tasks easier as standard, complex processes (still) remain a challenge. It was precisely this realisation that Oliver Burton (formerly Wesely), Team Lead Artificial Intelligence, focused on in his presentation. With CRM agents that can not only read data, but also write it into the CRM. "CRM data knows every customer better than the best salesperson," emphasised Oliver Burton. However, sales teams are currently underutilising their data and therefore their intelligence.

NAVAX Buddy, an in-house AI assistant based on Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, aims to change this: It provides real-time insights, prioritises opportunities and even enables lead capture via chat/voice. Burton showed practical examples: From a weekly overview for sales teams to the identification of cross-selling potential and the creation of a complete conversation guide for top customers. The special feature: All data remains in the Microsoft environment, protected in the Azure Cloud in the European data room, for the purpose of GDPR. "The future of sales does not lie in more tools, but in intelligent agents that automate processes and guarantee data protection at the same time," says Oliver Burton.