Setting up Zia Agents in Zoho CRM

Setting up Zia Agents in Zoho CRM

Before you begin: How agents work inside CRM

Before jumping into the setup steps, it helps to understand the three key decisions that shape how an agent operates inside CRM. Every agent configuration comes down to these three things.

Deciding what triggers the agent

Choosing the activation condition decides the entry point for your agent's actions.

You start by selecting the module where the agent should be activated. For example, if the agent should assist with sales deals, you pick the Deals module. This determines the data scope the agent can access during execution.

Then you select the event trigger—the starting point for the agent. The agent can be triggered for all records in the module, or only for specific records that meet certain conditions.

You can also choose to trigger the agent manually through a custom button, giving users the option to invoke it on demand from within a record.

Feeding context to the agent

Once the activation conditions are set, you select what additional information gets passed to the agent at the time of execution. This is what gives the agent enough context to act meaningfully.

You can send fields from the current record, related module information, signals from various sources (like email sentiment, missed calls, or unopened messages), and user or system metadata. Without this context, the agent won't know what to do, or might act with incomplete or irrelevant data.

For example, if you want an agent to suggest the next best action for a deal, you need to give it access to existing calls, meetings, and tasks, as well as when notes are created or edited in the record. These details are passed as signals.

Mapping parameters to CRM fields and data sources

If your agent uses tools that expect certain inputs—such as record IDs, email addresses, module names, or dates—you need to tell the system where those values should come from. This mapping connects the agent's tools to the right CRM data.

This step is essential when the agent works in on-trigger mode. The agent waits for a specific event in CRM, pulls the latest data from that record, and passes it to the tools it's connected to. Mapping ensures the right values reach the right parameters.

If your agent operates based on model selection or constant (for example, an agent that answers general questions about Zoho CRM concepts), this mapping step isn't required since it doesn't need dynamic inputs from CRM.

Configuring the Agent Portal

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. On the integration details page, click Get Started, 
  4. On the integration pop-up, select an existing Zia Agents portal or create a new and associate it from the dropdown.
  5. Click Save.

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 Draft column. 

Setting up an agent

  1. Hover over the agent and click Setup Now.
    The Agent configuration page will open. Configure the activation conditions and parameter mapping on this page. 
  2. For the Agent Activation Condition, do the following:
  1. Select the module in which you want to activate the agent.
  2. Conditional Trigger: Select whether the agent should be activated for all, or specific records based on condition.
  3. Feeding further info to the agent
  • Toggle to provide relevant data or context to the agent for improving the accuracy.
  1. Manual Trigger via Button
  • If you want the agent to activate upon a button trigger, create a custom button here.
  1. Tools Parameter Mapping
  • Map the parameters with your CRM account.
  1. Click Activate.