Ready to win with AI?

Based on new research, 75% of sales leaders and sellers are already on board with using AI. But there’s a difference between AI that stirs excitement or experimentation and one that fuels measurable commercial excellence.

Where on the AI spectrum are you?

Your results
THE SPECTATOR
THE BELIEVER
The OPERATOR
THE OPTIMIZER
Low Human Adoption + Low Technology Sophistication
Your organization has largely stayed on the sidelines of AI. Change feels risky, legacy systems seem too complex to modernize, and leadership may not see a clear path to value. Meanwhile, sellers spend most of their week on manual admin, with less and less time for customer conversations. Burnout rises, expertise walks out the door, and outdated processes become the norm.
What a “business as usual” future looks like
The urgency here is paramount. Competitors already leveraging AI will keep pulling ahead — faster workflows, more personalized outreach, sharper buyer insights. Inaction isn’t neutral; it’s an accelerating disadvantage that erodes market share, raises costs, and makes it harder to meet rising customer expectations.
Five recommendations build your strategic and technology foundations
Map current usage and workflow gaps
Identify clear use cases where AI can reduce friction and free up seller time. It's critical to begin with these real scenarios to secure the necessary organizational buy-in for a meaningful AI investment.

Speak directly with sellers, asking them where they experience friction in their daily workflows. Building trust with sellers and giving them a voice in how and why they use AI is far more likely to drive lasting adoption.
Prioritize integrated, scalable solutions
Evaluate comprehensive AI solutions that seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack and sales data sources, particularly your CRM. 94% of sales leaders recognize the value of using data to prioritize seller activity, but without the right connectivity, leveraging it effectively remains a huge challenge. Focusing on evaluating technology that can elevate your existing tech stack rather than adding more complexity is a critical consideration.

This approach allows you to avoid falling into the trap of implementing isolated point solutions that operate only on context provided through manual prompting.
Pilot for proven ROI on core workflows
Before fully implementing a comprehensive AI-enabled sales platform, launching a targeted pilot program can provide clear evidence of potential to persuade more reluctant stakeholders. Pilots focused on improving essential sales workflows, such as access to sales content and seller training can be tied to core business metrics like win rates, sales cycle velocity, or time saved on administrative tasks.

The concrete proof of value generated from these pilots will be crucial for justifying broader investment and proving the potential of AI embedded across seller workflows.
Address data and governance concerns proactively
A key blocker to broader investment in AI solutions beyond generic tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot is security concerns. Many leaders are worried about cybersecurity (55%), regulatory compliance (36%), and personal privacy (28%) when it comes to AI.

When building a single intelligent system, it's vital to choose secure, reputable vendors with a proven enterprise security track record. Solutions purpose-built for AI-enabled sales, particularly for enterprise businesses, should have robust protections to mitigate any critical procurement criteria.
Cultivate internal champions
Identify a few open-minded sellers or managers willing to participate in your pilot and become internal AI advocates. Create incentives and an internal comms channel for them to share their AI discoveries and illustrate how AI makes their jobs easier. This builds grassroots momentum, addresses any fear of change by showing peer success. Additionally, educate these champions and other sellers on the limitations of general AI tools compared to more comprehensive solutions purpose-built for your company’s specific needs.

Emphasize how these integrated tools unlock greater efficiencies, provide company-specific context, and minimize manual prompting. While you gather quantitative data from pilot programs to prove potential impact, a small amount of internal advocacy can be a key catalyst for border change.
High Human Adoption + Low Technology Sophistication
Your sellers are excited about AI and already using it to speed up repetitive tasks. That enthusiasm is a real competitive advantage. But without a centralized strategy, it’s fragile. Generic tools create small, localized wins, but unmanaged data, security risks, and lack of scale make it hard to prove impact.
What a “business as usual” future looks like
Without more strategic investment, your AI-enabled sales efforts will remain a collection of isolated experiments, failing to scale impact. Seller enthusiasm turns into frustration, momentum stalls, and competitors with smarter systems pull ahead.
Five recommendations to move from enthusiasm to scaled impact
Map current usage and workflow gaps
Channel your team's enthusiasm into a unified strategy. Speak directly with sellers, asking them where they currently use AI and where they continue to experience friction in their daily workflows. Translate use case insights into an executive-level business case to guide technology investment.
Prioritize integrated, scalable solutions
Evaluate AI solutions that seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack and sales data sources, particularly your CRM. An impressive 94% of sales leaders recognize the value of using data to prioritize seller activity, but without the right connectivity, leveraging data remains a huge challenge.

With the right integrations, AI has a deeper understanding of your business and deal context, allowing it to guide sellers with smart recommendations and save them time by automating multi-step tasks.
Pilot for proven ROI on core workflows
Run a targeted pilot focused on improving essential sales workflows, such as immediate access to sales content or AI-feedback on pitch practice, using a single platform. Anchor pilots to core business KPIs like win rates, sales velocity, or time saved on repetitive tasks. Use proof points to justify broader investment and rollout.
Address data and governance concerns proactively
Despite enthusiasm, a key blocker to broader investment in AI solutions is security concerns. Many leaders are worried about cybersecurity (55%), regulatory compliance (36%), and personal privacy (28%) risks. Choose a secure, reputable vendor with a proven enterprise security track record and robust protections to mitigate risk.
Cultivate internal champions
Identify a few open-minded sellers or managers willing to become advocates for a more meaningful technology investment. Ask them to share ideas about the measurable efficiency gains they could achieve with specific capabilities. This builds grassroots momentum and proves seller adoption commitment to senior leadership.

Additionally, educate these champions and other sellers on the limitations and risks of generic AI tools compared to solutions purpose-built for your company’s specific needs. Emphasize how a single intelligent system will unlock greater efficiencies, draw on company-specific context, and minimize manual prompting.
Low Human Adoption + High Technology Sophistication
You’ve made major investments in advanced AI tools, but sellers aren’t using them. Instead, they stick to manual processes because existing solutions feel too complex, too generic, or too disconnected from their workflows. The result: low adoption, mistrust of outputs, and wasted potential.
What a “business as usual” future looks like
Stalled momentum can be particularly painful, representing significant wasted investment. The technology you’ve invested in might be capable, but it's not usable or trusted in the context of your sellers' daily lives in the field.

The urgency here is paramount: your AI investment is currently a sunk cost, not a competitive advantage. Sellers will remain inefficient, burdened by administrative tasks that AI should be handling. This situation breeds frustration and erodes trust in future tech initiatives. Without a strategic shift, you'll continue to lose ground to competitors who effectively leverage their AI investments, impacting your market share and overall revenue.
Five recommendations to rebuild trust and drive adoption
Map current usage and workflow gaps
Pinpoint the reasons for low adoption by speaking directly with sellers. Ask them where they currently use AI and where they continue to experience friction in their daily workflows. Feedback will provide crucial insights into use-case specificity that will identify the issues blocking adoption.
Prioritize integrated, scalable solutions
Although many AI solutions are intended to free sellers from busywork, point solution sprawl can create new friction, particularly for sellers on the move in the field. A single purpose-built platform is not only easier for sellers to navigate and use, it can also grow smarter with every customer interaction.

Choose a partner who specializes in working with similar-sized businesses to benefit from innovation that matters most to your sellers and company goals.
Build for real sales scenarios
The majority of AI sales tools are built for inside selling. If you rely on hybrid or field sellers, prioritize solutions that work on the move and offline — adoption depends on fit with real-world workflows.
Anchor AI to core business metrics
Another common blocker to AI tool adoption is a lack of advocacy from senior leadership, often due to skepticism or a lack of awareness of how they can play a role in promoting its potential. To make advocacy easier for senior leaders, anchor your AI strategy to measurable business metrics like win rates, sales cycle velocity, or quota attainment.

Ensure the solutions you're working with also leverage AI to surface deep, actionable insights into what content, seller training, and workflows are most impactful so your entire sales org can confidently focus on scaling what works. Evaluate vendors who build solutions specifically for your sellers’ use cases and can offer their expertise to map performance metrics rather than providing the technology alone.
Cultivate internal champions and showcase wins
Identify a few open-minded individual sellers, sales managers, or leaders from marketing and enablement teams willing to become advocates. Create incentives and an internal comms channel for them to share their AI discoveries and efficiency gains. For example, illustrate how insights from how sellers engage buyers can inform marketing campaigns, product development, or customer success initiatives.

This approach builds grassroots momentum, addresses fear of change by showing peer success, and provides relatable examples for wider adoption, illustrating how AI makes their jobs easier, not harder.
High Human Adoption + High Technology Sophistication
Congratulations! You are well ahead of the curve when it comes to AI-enabled sales. For your business, AI is not just a set of fragmented tools; it's seamlessly integrated into your end-to-end sales process. Sellers are proficient in its use, efficiency is up, collaboration is stronger, and the results are translating directly into predictable revenue.

Your organization benefits from a comprehensive AI foundation that connects data sources and automates complex workflows. You’ve cleared the typical hurdles — leadership buy-in, governance, and adoption — and built a culture that embraces innovation.
What a “business as usual” future looks like
Even leaders risk losing ground. The AI market is evolving fast, and fragmented point solutions can create long-term instability. As vendors crowd the space with narrow use cases, you could overwhelm sellers with tools that don’t align with your goals, eroding trust and adoption. Staying ahead means continuously future-proofing your advantage.
Five recommendations sustaining excellence and drive further innovation
Future-proof impact
Relying on a patchwork of AI point solutions introduces significant risk. Choose a single, enterprise-grade system that grows smarter with every seller interaction and delivers stability over quick fixes.

This approach isn't just easier for sellers to use day-to-day; it also gives AI the comprehensive exposure to your seller workflows it needs to grow smarter with every customer interaction.
Build for real sales scenarios
The majority of AI sales tools are built for inside selling. If you rely on hybrid or field sellers, prioritize solutions that work on the move and offline — adoption depends on fit with real-world workflows.
Anchor AI to core business metrics
Focus your AI strategy on impacting measurable business metrics like win rates, sales cycle velocity, or quota attainment. Ensure the solutions you invest in also leverage AI to proactively surface deep, actionable insights into what content, seller training, and workflows are most impactful. This helps your revenue team focus on scaling what works. Select vendors who can offer their expertise in tracking performance outcomes.
Incentivize sharing wins
Build incentives and internal comms channels for recognition so sellers feel comfortable sharing their AI discoveries and efficiency gains. This helps maintain a healthy, pro-innovation culture, reinforcing how AI can make sellers jobs easier. Encourage sales, marketing and enablement leaders to gather feedback and crowdsource ideas for improvement directly from their teams to unlock new opportunities to do more with less.
Expanding to continuous learning
Many believe that AI-enabled sales is just about personalizing and automating customer communications. But AI can also be used to help sellers continually learn and gain new skills beyond onboarding. With the right intelligent system, it should also be possible to identify skill gaps across the team based on aggregated performance data and assign learning paths to drive continuous improvement.

From instant feedback on pitches to interactive courses based on brand-approved content, AI can help scale the level of different continuous learning experiences available to sellers. This embodies the principle of augmentation, not replacement, empowering sellers to become expert consultants.
Ready to take the next step toward AI-enabled sales success?