AI Governance for Fields in Zoho CRM

AI Governance lets you decide, field by field, what LLM models can read from your CRM records. You can hide a field from a model completely, or let the model use it with the real value masked.

When an AI model reads a record, it doesn't stop at the name and company. By default, it can read every field on the record, including phone numbers, addresses, revenue and identifiers. Some of that data is perfectly fine for AI features to use. Other fields, such as national ID numbers or revenue figures, are details you'd rather keep out of a model's reach, or at least have it work around without ever seeing the real value.

AI Governance lets you:

Choose which field's data a model can access and which it isn't allowed to read.
Mask the field's data you allow a model to access. The LLM will receive a masked value of the field instead of the real one.
Set different rules for internal and external models. For example, a field can be open to the Zoho-hosted model and hidden from a model you've connected yourself, or masked for both.

Availability: Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate, CRM Plus and Zoho One editions.

Internal and external models

Model	What it is
Internal LLM	An open-source model that Zoho hosts and runs for you
External LLM	A model you connect yourself with your own API key, such as one from OpenAI or Anthropic

Where to find it

AI Governance is in the Fields tab of every module for standard (org), custom and team modules.

Setup > Modules and Fields > [module] > Fields > AI Governance

Set up AI Governance for a module

Go to Setup and select Modules and Fields.
Select the module you want to configure, for example Leads.
Open the Fields tab and click AI Governance.
Find the field you want to allow access. If the list is long, use the search box.
Under Internal LLM and External LLM, set the options for that field:

Select Allow to LLM to share the field's data with that model. Leave it cleared to keep the field hidden from the model.
If you've allowed the field, select Apply Masking to send a masked value instead of the real one.

Repeat for any other fields you want to allow.
Click Save.

Note : Settings apply to one module at a time, so repeat these steps for each module you want to govern.

What each setting does

Allow to LLM : LLMs can read the value of the field and work on them
Apply Masking : LLMs cannot read the value but work around the field. A masked value, for example +91 91235***** or john*****@zylker.com
Clear box : Field is not available for LLMs to read or use.

Default settings

When you first open the AI Governance page, most fields are already set to Allow to LLM. Your existing AI features keep working as they did, until you choose to restrict something.

How this affects your AI features

Nothing breaks when you turn a field off. The model simply works without that field. For example, a record summary is built from the fields you've allowed, and the hidden fields are left out.
Changes apply from the moment you save. Any AI action that runs after you click Save follows the new settings.

Example: keeping national ID numbers out of AI output

Zylker's Leads module stores each lead's national ID number alongside the usual company, city and revenue fields. Sales reps use an AI assistant to summarise leads and draft follow-up emails. Zylker wants the summaries to be useful, but national ID numbers should never appear in generated text or be sent to an outside model. The admin here can choose the following options :

Field	Internal LLM	External LLM
Company, City, Annual Revenue and other everyday fields	Allowed	Allowed
National ID	Allowed, with masking	Not allowed

Reps still get detailed summaries. The internal model only sees a masked ID, so the real number can't appear in its output. The external model never receives the field at all.

Limitations

AI Governance applies only within the Zoho ecosystem.
Tool calls made through Zoho MCP and Zia Agents follow your AI Governance settings.
Tool calls made directly by external AI clients do not. If you connect an outside AI tool to your CRM data, review that connection's own data-access settings separately.