Competing with AI

We're long past the point of debating whether an AI revolution is underway. Of course it is. The most relevant question is how to adjust to it in our respective fields.

This is fundamentally a question of strategy, because strategy requires hard choices and trade-offs to stake out a competitive advantage. With AI reshaping industry dynamics in multiple domains, a strategic review is unavoidable for many individuals and companies.

Let's take the perspective of a B2B seller as a case study. How might this seller become less competitive because of AI, and what pivots are required for him or her to build or maintain a stronger competitive position? Broadly speaking, a seller has to answer three questions:

1) What's my current playbook?

It's useful to begin by breaking a seller's role — or that of any knowledge worker — down to its constituent parts. I would say a B2B seller is essentially tasked with three levels of customer engagement:

• Attention: It's impossible for a seller to begin a commercial discussion until he or she has a client's attention. A seller's primary imperative is to get a potential company buyer to take notice.
• Alignment: Once attention has been secured, a seller's job is to show how a product or service will solve a meaningful problem. In doing so, a seller must ensure buyer and seller interests are closely aligned.
• Activation: Even if a seller achieves this, a sale won't happen unless the client agrees to progress the deal through internal processes and stakeholders. A seller must therefore inspire the client to take action.

2) Where am I most exposed?

We can already see that AI disruption will largely affect "Attention" and "Alignment." There are so many innovations happening with CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, interactive content tools, and the LinkedIn platform, among other things, to improve personalization at scale.

Sellers who are proficient with these emerging capabilities will have a significant advantage over those who aren't. They will be faster and better at identifying job changes, market shifts, expressions of potential interest, and unique social paths to members of the buying committee, for example.

As client attention continues to become more scarce, and as product/service options continue to proliferate, the gap between winners and losers will only widen as AI makes it easier for some sellers to capture attention and demonstrate alignment.

3) Where can I build a competitive advantage?

But will the embrace of AI create a sustainable competitive advantage? Is it possible these emerging capabilities will quickly become table stakes? How might the best sellers further distinguish themselves?

I'm increasingly convinced it will be in the realm of "Activation." Most individuals and teams will be so preoccupied with the data and technology angle that they will underplay the human dimension. They will be more concerned about compensating for human weaknesses than accentuating human strengths.

The truth is, however, that the best sellers are not simply tech geeks but change agents. While they are comfortable with data analysis, their greatest skill lies in knowing how to influence those in positions of authority. They are also most excited and fulfilled by this part of their job.

In a world that glorifies the wizardry of AI, humans will likely have an even greater need to demonstrate their unique worth. Human dynamics, which are already the most complicated component of a sale, will likely become the central arena for seller differentiation, particularly as AI-assisted tactics become the norm.

I view AI proficiency as a necessary but insufficient condition for elite sales performance. Human skills such as intuiting hidden emotions, empathizing with disparate perspectives, and speaking to underlying motivations will prove to be the most sustainable sources of advantage for individuals and teams.