B2BVault's summary of:

Sales In The Age of AI: The Playbook from The CROs of Databricks, Windsurf, Perplexity and Owner

Published by:
SaaStr
Author:
Jason Lemkin

Introduction

AI is changing sales right now and teams that move fastest will win big. Top sales leaders share ten simple rules to use AI and grow revenue today.

What’s the problem it solves?

Sales teams struggle to keep up as AI tools reshape how deals are won. Without clear guidance, companies fall behind faster competitors who use AI wisely.

Quick Summary

Sales leaders from Databricks, Windsurf, Perplexity and Owner reveal ten key lessons for using AI in revenue growth. They show that AI makes top performers far stronger while average reps get left behind.

To stay ahead, companies must hire people who already use AI every day and train technical experts to teach customers with AI support. Leaders need to blend human effort and AI across hiring, pipeline work, meetings and direct customer chats.

Adopting AI takes ongoing work: tools must be tuned each week, and managers must learn to guide both people and AI agents. Traditional rules on credits and roles break down, so teams must focus on total business value and move fast or become obsolete.

Key Takeaways

  • AI widens the gap: top sellers get even better, average sellers fall back.
  • Hire only candidates who actively use AI tools in their work.
  • Speed is the main defense - use AI to research and act faster than rivals.
  • Sales reps need deep product know-how, not just people skills.
  • AI tools require weekly tuning, training and quality checks.
  • Build sales paths that mix humans and AI for a smooth customer journey.
  • CROs must manage both human teams and AI agents as one system.
  • Stop focusing on who gets credit; measure total value instead.
  • Move from AI prep and analysis to AI joining real customer talks.
  • Act now with a 90-day plan or risk being left behind.

What to do

  • Audit your team’s current AI use and interest in the next two weeks.
  • Set up AI tools for meeting prep and automatic CRM updates by week four.
  • Add AI-based pipeline risk checks and deal scorecards by week eight.
  • Design a hybrid sales flow that lets customers choose AI or human help by week twelve.
  • Hold weekly AI performance reviews to refine prompts, data and scripts.

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