The GTM Truth: AI won't fix your GTM

What's up GTM friend?

Every company today is trying to "fix" its go-to-market with AI.

But AI isn't fixing GTM. It's scaling whatever is already in place. And if what's in place is a broken process, AI is just going to break it faster.

You don’t need more pipeline. You don’t need more automation.

You need a GTM system that actually works.

Let’s talk about what happens when AI meets bad GTM.

100% Human - This wasn’t AI-generated. It’s hand-crafted, unedited, and I can pretty much guarantee that there is some sort of typo or grammatical error. But it’s real, and that’s the point.

Every week, I’ll break down a real-world business experience or challenge a GTM myth - and leave you with an actionable plan.

Why? Because GTM needs a reality check. We’re all drowning in information, with everyone claiming to have the “magic tool” or “magic service.” I'll try to be your GTM Truth-Teller: I’ll cut through the noise and give you the raw, unfiltered truth.

I do this because writing helps me stay sharp and default to action. Your comments? They push me to see things from angles I hadn’t considered.

Case #1: B2B SaaS – AI Can’t Fix Sales Waste

?? Company Profile:

• $50M revenue MarTech SaaS
• 250 employees, 80-person sales team
• Average deal size: $50K
• Struggling with outbound efficiency

The Problem:

• Every rep spends 10 hours per week on manual CRM updates & follow-ups.
• Sales team: 40 hours/week → 160 hours/month per rep
• Revenue per rep: $800K per year
• HER (Hourly Earnings Rate) = $416/hour

What Happens When AI is Just a Patch?

• The company deploys AI-powered email automation and CRM data enrichment.
• Outreach volume increases but conversion rates stay flat.
• The pipeline grows but deal velocity doesn’t improve.

More activity, same result.

What Happens When GTM is Fixed First? The best companies redesign their GTM before applying AI.

• Fixing qualification: Reps work only on ICP-aligned accounts.
• Fixing prioritization: AI assists in ranking deals based on real engagement.
• Fixing rep efficiency: AI eliminates admin work but keeps human-led interactions where it matters.

Now AI Makes an Impact:

• AI-driven sales assistants cut admin time from 10 → 3 hours per rep.
• HER jumps to $475/hour (+14%), without hiring a single rep.
• The team unlocks 560 additional selling hours per rep/year.
• With reps focusing on high-value deals, pipeline conversion increases 5% → $2.5M in new revenue.

The Takeaway: AI doesn’t make bad reps good. It makes great reps unstoppable.

Case #2: Tech-Enabled Services – AI Can’t Fix Bottlenecks

?? Company Profile:

• $16M revenue digital marketing agency
• 120 employees, 40-person client services team
• High labor costs putting pressure on profit margins

The Problem:

• Account managers spend 15 hours per week on manual reporting, media plans, and campaign analysis.
• HER (Hourly Earnings Rate) = $208/hour
• The agency wants AI to "reduce workload."

What Happens When AI is a Shortcut?

• The agency adopts AI-powered content generation & reporting tools.
• Client reports are automated but the team still spends hours customizing data manually.
• AI delivers faster reports, but client satisfaction doesn’t improve.

More speed, same bottleneck.

What Happens When GTM is Fixed First? Instead of using AI as a reporting shortcut, the agency redesigns client workflows:

• Standardized campaign reporting across accounts.
• AI-generated insights that don’t require human intervention.
• AI-assisted media plans that allow managers to focus on strategy, not execution.

Now AI Makes an Impact:

• AI-driven reporting cuts workload from 15 → 6 hours per account manager.
• HER jumps to $231/hour (+11%), without adding new headcount.
• Client teams save 14,400 hours/year, allowing the agency to scale 20% more clients.
• Profit margins increase by 5% → $800K additional EBITDA.

The Takeaway: AI can automate tasks. But if you automate inefficiencies, you scale inefficiencies.

What Do These Cases Have in Common?

? Companies thought AI would fix execution gaps.

? Companies that won fixed GTM first, then scaled with AI.

If your sales team isn’t closing, more automation won’t help. If your client teams are stretched thin, AI won’t magically create capacity.

AI doesn’t change GTM fundamentals. It amplifies them.

Before deploying AI in your GTM, ask yourself:

1. Do we have a clear system for deal execution? If not, AI will accelerate the wrong activities.
2. Are we fixing the right bottleneck? More leads won’t help if deals aren’t closing.
3. Will AI actually replace manual effort—or just move it elsewhere?

?? AI-led GTM isn’t about tools. It’s about system design. Fix the foundation first. Then let AI scale what actually works.

Omar

Your GTM Truth-Teller ??

My Commitment to You

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading.

This newsletter will unpack these ideas week by week. If you’re a business leader staring at the “Lego pieces” of your GTM - data, tools, AI, and processes - and wondering how to put it all together, drop me a line with what else you'd like me to cover, or if you have a specific GTM challenge you want to discuss, grab some time here.

Let's build better revenue systems together.