October 28, 2025
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Center Boosts Zendesk from Visionary to Leader
Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant has escaped into the wild. With Zendesk elevated to the Leaders quadrant in the research firm’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Center.
Gartner notes that today’s CRM customer engagement centres are unified AI-augmented customer service technology suites. They offer customer interaction orchestration and service process orchestration. That aligns neatly with Gartner’s 2026 Technology Trends piece, which is massively AI dominated.
Zendesk has moved up from the Visionaries Quadrant of the 2024 version. It joins the likes of Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Oracle.
The company believes this recognition underscores its innovation, scale, and ability to deliver measurable outcomes for customer service, employee service, and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS). More on those in Gartner’s CCaaS Magic Quadrant and IDC’s European-focused MarketScape version.
Discussing the recognition, Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk says, “Our AI-first approach is transforming how organizations deliver service and has clearly elevated our presence and influence in the customer and employee service industry.”
He continues, “For us, success is defined by the 5 billion real resolutions we deliver every year. Every innovation, from copilots to AI agents to quality assurance and workforce engagement tools, helps teams resolve issues faster and more effectively, shifting service teams from cost centres to revenue-driving, loyalty-creating strategic levers in their organizations. We believe being named a leader in this Magic Quadrant validates our momentum, reinforces the impact we are making, and inspires us to continue innovating for the customers we serve.”
By year-end, 20,000 customers – the largest base of AI users in service – will be utilizing Zendesk AI, reflecting rapid adoption and proven results. The platform’s evolving capabilities deliver measurable business value by combining automation, AI, and human expertise to create effortless experiences for customers and employees, reinforcing Zendesk’s position in today’s service landscape.
Gartner’s Friends of CRM
Other familiar faces in the Magic Quadrant include Freshworks, Zoho, SAP and eGain.
In response to its appearance among the leaders, Microsoft notes that “As agentic service continues to gain traction in the customer service world, pioneering organizations are harnessing the power of AI and agents to enable smarter, faster decisions, and take action to deliver meaningful business outcomes. The rise of AI and agents is especially apparent in customer service, where automation, productivity tools, and access to insights have the potential to improve customer experiences and boost operational efficiency.
“Now, Frontier Firms are building on past successes to create the foundations for agentic service. They’re reimagining how work gets done by using agents to continuously monitor, analyze, and execute key processes across self-service and human-assisted interactions.”
Slipping down the pecking order, Pegasystems moves from a Leader to a Visionary, while eGain moved from a visionary to a niche player. Not necessarily bad moves given their market and bustomer base, but less shouty from a news perspective.
SAP is the only company in the Challenger segment, up from a Niche Player last year, driven by AI and the company’s ERP stronghold. All of which highlights the room for change in one of the more dynamic Gartner reports.
Talking up Customer and Employee Service
These capabilities come together across every function, channel, industry, and user, powering solutions that help organizations resolve issues faster and deliver better experiences for customers and employees alike. Solutions that the Resolution Platform supports include:
- Customer Service: Zendesk AI powers Zendesk’s Resolution Platform by automating customer interactions to enable smarter, faster resolutions. Designed to support – not replace – humans, it blends AI’s efficiency with agent empathy, automating routine tasks so agents can focus on what matters most. Zendesk AI uniquely understands customer interaction nuances, delivering precise, personalized experiences 24/7, while providing real-time insights and assurance that boost satisfaction, loyalty, and scalability.
- Employee Service: Zendesk empowers employees with seamless, AI-first service across every phase of work life. Built to deliver real resolutions across every department, from IT to HR to legal and beyond, it integrates with existing systems, automates workflows, and delivers fast, personalized support that boosts employee productivity and job satisfaction.
- CCaaS: Zendesk Contact Center, with AI built-in, bridges gaps between channels, agents, and systems, accelerating resolutions across voice, messaging, AI, and Workforce Engagement Management (WEM). It simplifies operations, eliminates fragile legacy complexities, and equips teams to deliver faster service and better experiences from day one.
“Zendesk has built one of the most comprehensive customer service platforms in the market, combining strong AI capabilities with a clear focus on resolution and customer experience,” said Simon Harrison, Founder and Executive Partner at Actionary Research. “Its continued investment in innovation and a full-service suite helps organizations deliver faster, more effective support. Zendesk’s approach is helping shape the future of intelligent customer engagement.”
Zendesk Looking Ahead to 2026 and Beyond
Zendesk is committed to advancing AI-powered service innovation. Supported by global R&D, sales, and marketing teams across North America, Europe, and APAC, Zendesk continues to deliver innovations that meet the diverse needs of organizations worldwide.
Building on its leadership position in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Center, Zendesk will continue to help organizations deliver faster, more personalized experiences – remaining a trusted partner and industry leader in meeting today’s challenges and confidently navigating tomorrow’s opportunities.
As the AI competition ramps up, will end user organisations look to trade in their CRM, or stick with what they know? And how will the speed of AI developments affect next years’ Magic Quadrant?
