From geopolitical shocks hitting supply chains to the costly pace of AI and the drag of outdated systems, many tech businesses are entering the new year fighting for growth, with new Salesforce data showing more than half expect to miss their revenue targets.

Publishing its inaugural Trends in Technology report, the CRM giant found that many tech companies haven’t adopted the tools that would free teams from manual work and shift their focus to higher‑value tasks, losing them time and money.

As a case in point, after polling more than 450 tech leaders worldwide, Salesforce discovered that sales reps generally only spend 30% of their time at work actually selling, but 54% on completing admin tasks that could be more efficiently handled by agentic AI.

Despite the obvious gains to be made, only 14% of tech companies have fully integrated their data for AI use, while 62% of leaders cite disconnected data sources as one of their top business challenges.

More than half (58%) of tech companies are stuck in the planning stages, compared to just 34% currently using agentic AI, even though almost all (90%) of leaders agree that AI is vital to deliver on key priorities.

With Salesforce projecting that generative AI could unlock $280 billion (£207.5 billion) in new software revenue, fast‑moving firms are at a clear advantage, but the race to innovate is changing how these companies monetise their services.

At the moment, most tech businesses (81%) offer their services on a traditional license or subscription model, with a growing number (52%) moving to a usage-based or consumption model that can generate revenue long past the point of sale and help offset the costs of future development.

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However, the study found that those companies exceeding their targets are the ones adopting new revenue streams at a faster rate, with 72% having more than one revenue stream to rely on.

Higher‑performing tech firms are also diversifying their sales channels, adding marketplaces (25%), e‑commerce (30%), and resellers (56%) to the mix alongside direct sales (90%), while low performers continue to focus on a narrower route to market.

 “The technology industry is navigating a period of significant macroeconomic pressures and growth challenges,” said Lenore Lang, executive vice president for technology at Salesforce, in the study’s foreword.

“Investing in AI, especially agentic AI, is paramount for product innovation, customer experience enhancement, and growth at scale. We must act decisively to define our AI strategies and harness this transformative power.”