Before you activate an agent, the first step is to configure the agent portal for your CRM org.

Setting up from the Marketplace

1. Go to the Marketplace tab on the left panel.
2. Navigate to Zoho > Zia Agents. Click Setup now.
   
   
3. If you have an existing Zia Agents org, click Connect an Existing Zia Agents Portal on the integration details page.
   
   
1. On the integration pop-up, select an existing Zia Agents portal or create a new org in Zia Agents and associate it from the dropdown.
   
2. Click Save.
   
   
4. If you don't have an existing Zia Agents org, on the integration details page, either click 
   
1. New Agent to design and deploy an AI agent, or
   
2. Hire Agent to browse and deploy ready-to-use agents
5. Once configured, you can access the portal details in this section. Click on Configure Agents to head to the Agents tab in CRM.
   

Setting up from the Agents tab

You can also configure the portal directly from the all-new Agents tab under the General setup category.

1. Navigate to Setup > General > Agents.
2. Click Get Started and follow the steps to select an existing portal or create a new one.
   

Deploying an Agent from Zia Agents

Once your agent is created (or hired from the Store) and tested, you deploy it into Zoho CRM from the Zia Agents platform. The deployment method you choose determines how the agent is identified in CRM and how its actions are tracked.

Deploy using Connection

With this method, the agent is connected to CRM through a standard integration. Actions performed by the agent are logged under the identity of the user who deployed it. The agent does not have a separate identity in CRM.

To deploy:

1. Open the agent in Zia Agents and click Deploy using Connection.
2. Complete the tool parameters mapping.
3. Select and configure the portal, and associate the connection for the agent.
4. Click Deploy.

You will be redirected to the CRM page, where you can proceed with setting up the agent's activation conditions.

Deploy as Digital Employee

When you deploy an agent as a Digital Employee, it gets its own identity in your CRM. The agent is registered in Zoho Directory with a unique @ziaagent.ai email address and is assigned its own role and profile just like a regular CRM user. Every action the Digital Employee takes is logged under this identity, not under the deploying admin's name.

This gives you two things. First, clear audit visibility—you can tell exactly which actions in the CRM were performed by the agent versus by human users. Second, permission control—since the Digital Employee has its own role and profile, its access to modules, fields, and data follows the same permission model as your CRM users.

To deploy:

1. Open the agent in Zia Agents and click Deploy as Digital Employee.
2. Complete the tool parameters mapping.
3. Configure the portal and service deployment details.
4. Click Deploy.

This opens the Deploy Agent pop-up with four steps:

a. Applications Link the required portals from your Zoho Directory account. Select the service (for example, Zoho CRM) and choose the org/portal you want to deploy the agent into. Click Continue.

b. Permissions Choose a role and a profile for the Digital Employee. The available roles and profiles are fetched from the portal you selected in the previous step. Click Save, then Continue.

c. Identity Set a first name, last name, and email address for the Digital Employee. This is the identity that will appear in CRM audit logs and activity trails for every action the agent performs.

d. Summary Review the configuration and click Deploy.

Once deployed through either method, the agent appears under the Draft column in the Agents tab (Setup > General > Agents) in CRM. From here, you set up and activate the agent.

Activating an Agent

To activate an agent, first you need to add it to your CRM org.

1. Navigate to Setup > General > Agents.
2. Click New Agent or go to Zia Agents.

On Zia Agents, follow the steps for creating an agent:

1. Create the agent: Define purpose, instructions, knowledge base, tool groups, and connections.
2. Test the agent: Use sample data from your CRM inside Zia Agents.

Once the agent is tested, you can choose to deploy it, and once the agent is deployed, it will be available under the All tab.

Setting up an agent

3. Hover over the agent and click Setup.
   
4. In the setup pop-up, click Setup.
   The Agent configuration page will open.
   Configure the Access in Agent Switcher and Manual Trigger via Button on this page.
   
   
5. To access the agent as a custom agent inside the Ask Zia chat, configure Access in Agent Switcher.
   
   
1. Click Configure.
   
2. Select the profiles you want give access to.
   
6. To activate the agent upon a button trigger, configure Manual Trigger via Button.
   
   
1. Click Create Custom Button.
   
2. Select the module where you to place the buttons.
   
3. Name the button and optionally add a description
   
4. Select the page, position and layouts that the button should appear.
   
5. In the Button Accessibility section, choose who can see and use the button. You can turn on one or both toggles.
1. Turn on For CRM Users to show the button to users in your CRM organization.
2. Turn on For Portal Users to show the button to users who access CRM through a portal.
   
3. Select the profiles and/or portal user types that need access.
   
7. Click Save.