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Weekly · CRM · Week of October 19, 2026

Twenty and Close build CRMs for agents while folk and Close add the enterprise features that widen who can buy

ai-agentsmcptelephonyenterprise-readinesshardening
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Generated 1h agoDrawn from 7 products

The week in crm

CRMs are being rebuilt as places where agents work, and the vendors are now fixing the plumbing agents trip over. Twenty 2.48 holds one agent conversation per Slack thread, lets the AI chat create, update and delete agents, and, a release earlier, made filter validation errors carry fix instructions an agent can act on. Close CRM rebuilt telephony so voice agents can use numbers as caller ID.

The other pattern is who can buy. folk moved customer data to Europe, and Close CRM added OIDC single sign-on. Enterprise-readiness features are arriving at small-team CRMs.

Leaders

Twenty shipped 2.48 as a broad release: Slack-threaded agents, agent management from AI chat, record export via API keys, an application credit cap and support for more than two billing plans. The 2.47 change that makes filter errors actionable cuts failed retry loops when an LLM queries the CRM.

Close CRM rebuilt phone number management so every number supports all features at no extra cost and voice agents can be assigned outbound numbers. The newest release adds a Security page with SSO through Google Workspace or any OIDC provider, and reps can save a drafted email or SMS as a template without going into Settings.

folk moved its data storage to the EU, which changes who can buy it for GDPR-sensitive teams, and added calling with call recording in beta a week after phone-number lookup. Together with its mobile app, Interactions API and MCP connector, it reads as a field-sales toolkit.

Zoho Bigin has been AI-first all year: MCP support, Zia Agents, and now Sequences for automated follow-ups and Payment Links. Its MCP pitch is to operate the CRM by telling an outside AI client what to do.

Wildcards

Django CRM shipped three releases in one morning, each a guardrail: an upload size limit, a 200-ID cap on bulk update and delete, and RE2 for regex routing conditions to block catastrophic backtracking. No features, only defenses against abusive input.

Corteza published three 2026.9.0 release candidates in three days, each fixing one MySQL or RBAC edge case, such as permission reports that counted deny rules on roles the caller cannot hold.

Themes that compounded

  • Agent surfaces beyond the web app: Slack threads at Twenty, voice at Close CRM.
  • MCP connectors as standard equipment at folk and Zoho Bigin.
  • Telephony is becoming core CRM: calling at folk, phone numbers at Close CRM.
  • Daily release cadences with thin notes at GroupOffice, which shipped three 26.0 builds in four days with install-only notes.

Watch this week

Watch whether folk's calling beta gains transcription to compete with Close CRM's voice agents, and whether Twenty continues its weekly minor versions with agent features. Corteza's 2026.9.0 candidates should settle on a final tag soon.