Setting up Agents | Zoho CRM

Setting up Agents

Configuring the Agent Portal

Before you set up an agent, configure the agent portal for your CRM org.

  1. Navigate to Setup → Zia → Agents.
  2. On the integration details page, do one of the following:
    1. If you have an existing Zia Agents portal, click Connect an Existing Zia Agents Portal. 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. Click Save.
    2. If you don't have one, click New Agent to design and deploy an AI agent, or click Hire Agent to browse and deploy ready-to-use agents.Once configured, you can access the portal details in this section.

Deploying an agent from Zia Agents

Building an agent in Zia Agents doesn't automatically make it available in Zoho CRM. An agent that works with CRM records has to be deployed to CRM first. Until you deploy it, the agent can't read or update your records, so the work it was built for still happens by hand. After you create or hire an agent and test it, deploy it to Zoho CRM from the Zia Agents platform. The deployment method you choose determines how CRM identifies the agent and tracks its actions. This section shows what agents can do in your CRM and how to deploy them.

Deploy using Connection

With this method, a standard integration connects the agent to CRM. CRM logs the agent's actions under the identity of the user who deployed it. The agent doesn't have a separate identity in CRM.

To deploy using a connection:
  1. Open the agent in Zia Agents and click Deploy using Connection.
  2. Map the tool parameters mapping.
  3. Select and configure the portal, then associate a connection with 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 a Digital Employee

When you deploy an agent as a Digital Employee, it gets its own identity in your CRM. Zia Agents registers the agent in Zoho Directory with a unique @ziaagents.ai email address, and you assign it a role and profile, just like a regular CRM user. CRM logs every action the Digital Employee takes under this identity, not under the deploying admin's name.

This method gives you two benefits:

  1. Audit visibility: You can tell exactly which actions in CRM the agent performed and which ones human users performed.
  2. Permission control: Because 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 as a digital employee:
  1. Open the agent in Zia Agents and click Deploy as Digital Employee.
  2. Map the tool parameters.
  3. Configure the portal and service deployment details.
  4. Click Deploy. The Deploy Agent pop-up will appear.
  5. Review the permissions listed under Consent. These permissions show what the agent can do in Zoho CRM after you deploy it.

  6. Select the checkbox to confirm that you understand which data the agent can access in your applications and click Continue.
  7. Complete the four steps in the pop-up:
    1. 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.

    2. 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.
    3. Agent Details: Enter a first name and, optionally, a last name for the Digital Employee. The email address fills in automatically from the name, with the @ziaagents.ai domain. This identity appears in CRM audit logs and activity trails for every action the agent performs. Click Continue.
    4. Summary: Review the configuration and click Deploy.
After you deploy the agent by either method, it appears under the All filter in the Agents tab (Setup > Zia > Agents) in CRM. From here, you set up and manage the agent. To show only Configured or Not Configured agents, use the filter dropdown.

Setting up an agent

Setting up an agent activates it in CRM. Each agent that isn't configured yet has a Setup button on its card in the Agents tab. 

  1. Under Zia Agent Configuration, select Not configured from the filter dropdown.
  2. Click Setup on a particular agent's card. The Agent Configuration dialog opens.
  3. In Agent permission, select the profiles that can access the agent.
  4. Click Setup.
You will be taken to the Manage Agents page. CRM will activate the agent and list it under the Configured section.


NotesNote: Agents that require field mapping at trigger time don't appear in the Agent Switcher or in the Agents section of the Home page.

Disabling the Agent portal  

When you disable the Agent portal, you will have to remove all agent configurations, and any in-progress or scheduled actions stop immediately. This may lead to data loss and cannot be undone. Records already updated by these agents will remain intact.

To use the agents again, you’ll need to reconnect a portal and set up the agents from scratch. To disable the Agent portal, follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to Setup > Zia > Agents.

  2. Before disabling the portal, deactivate the configured agents.

  3. Click Agent Portal Information.

  4. In the pop-up that appears, click Disable.

  5. In the Are you sure you want to disable portal? pop-up, click Yes, Disable.

Your agent portal will be disabled.

For details on managing, or deactivating agents, see Managing Agents.