Go-to-market (GTM) leaders have a problem. They’re pouring money into an AI-based strategy – but so far, they have little to show for it.
The AI execution gap is an epidemic, and it’s costly. From performances to people to profits, organizations are losing more than they’re gaining. Recent research from Highspot shows that while 77% of sales and revenue leaders have implemented AI or are in the process of it, only 28% are seeing tangible results. Keeping up with transformative technology is critical to business. But without the right execution, it’s pointless spending.
These organizations aren’t lagging behind intentionally. They want to supercharge their teams’ performance with AI as it transforms the way we work and sell. But as AI advances and adoption increases, the chances of drowning in poorly executed strategy are higher than ever before.
McKinsey predicts AI could generate $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually in global corporate profits. But that money won’t be distributed equally. Leaders with a strategic, thoughtful approach to AI adoption will take the lion’s share of revenue gains. The rest will stagnate, with disappointing investments and lost potential. Organizations still looking to capitalize on AI in the sales process – the “leapers” – must act now to avoid missed market share.
Business stagnation follows makeshift AI processes
For leapers, productivity, profits, and performance hang in the balance. These organizations took the plunge without a parachute, tacking AI onto existing revenue-generating processes without critical thought. Adoption prioritizes speed over strategy, assuming systems and talent alike will “figure it out” but not constructing the right guardrails to make it happen. This takes a toll: according to research from Highspot, 39% of GTM leaders say their deal cycles are actually slowing, and 30% report win rates falling short, even with a clear strategy in place.
Rushed implementation prioritizes getting in early over getting it right, but this is a mistake. Overwhelmed revenue teams won’t know what to do with the tools they’ve been given, creating haphazard, fragmented use cases that only separate siloes further. Lack of training puts these teams between a rock and a hard place as they try to make it work rather than do the work the right way. Even worse, many sellers ignore their new tools altogether and stick to habits rendered outdated by new tech.
Fragmented data spread across multiple systems complicates tracking, aggregation, and measurement, too. Executives set arbitrary success metrics without the right infrastructure to understand if their teams are even meeting them. Managers also get caught up in the fray: no visibility into performance blocks them from coaching that helps sellers succeed and grow. Talent development takes a back seat at a time when reduced headcounts mean organizations need to make more with less.
This kind of fragmentation and misalignment came through in our research: when asked what would improve consistency in GTM activities, responses varied from AI recommendations to better tool and workforce integration. Only 17%, in fact, reported data and performance insights as the pathway to improvement – meaning 83% are executing on their strategy without evidence of what works.
What’s more is that mismanaged talent takes as much of a toll as mismanaged investments into tools. Poor, rushed training and forced adoption of tools in a confusing tech stack mean sellers are slowing performance when organizations expect efficiency and improvement. Those businesses lose their most valuable asset – their people – in their attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole. This comes from the top down: our research reports that 80% of GTM leaders report burnout, stress, or regretted attrition caused by misaligned tools, teams, or processes.
AI isn’t going anywhere. Investments in these tools will only continue to increase. But without taking action to solve their existing problems, leapers risk compounding the damage to their processes, people, and profits.
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Leaders align AI to specific business needs
The reality sounds bleak, but organizations aren’t at the mercy of shoddily implemented AI. Leaders – the ones who look before they leap – don’t just use AI; they use it well, and they target it to their strengths, weaknesses, and needs. The results? Financial growth, increased productivity, and strong performance from solid, developed talent.
AI leaders set clear, reasonable, and practical performance standards so everyone in the revenue-generating machine understands what success looks like and how they play a role in it. They implement AI in a way that complements and enhances coaching rather than getting in the way of strong feedback and successful, repeated behaviors. For these organizations, AI supports and enhances people – it doesn’t replace them.
These organizations also embed AI into operations rather than tacking it on like a rushed afterthought. They ensure AI is built into their systems, processes, and workflows, designing their programs and introducing training to ensure teams understand how to execute. They don’t make AI-powered tools a hassle or an inconvenience. They make them indispensable to sellers.
In fact, our research shows that companies with unified enablement stacks are 42% more likely to boost productivity — and AI coaching specifically improves win rates by 36%. Visa is a good example of this. After integrating AI-powered coaching into their sales training programs, they saw user engagement increase by 17%, improved sales readiness, and strengthened skill development.
These organizations look to real-time performance metrics rather than waiting for a quarterly report. They continually tweak and enhance AI-powered processes, allowing quick course correction that optimizes performance. These leaders understand their use cases and how to get the greatest impact out of their investments at an individual level.
Leaders experience not just one kind of ROI but two: efficiency for sales and consistency in growth. They speed up sales processes and see an uplift in business outcomes through pipeline generation, win rates, and revenue. Results stemming from their AI-powered sales processes and tools are concrete and comprehensive.
All of this starts at the executive level. Organizations that develop processes aligned to their specific business needs either minimize the disruption of AI adoption or avoid it altogether. AI can’t just be a tactic. It’s a strategy. And without that solid foundation in place, the teams using it haphazardly only stand poised to crumble.
Long-term success starts with immediate action
Organizations can’t rely on their current AI practices and hope for the best. Using these tools is not enough – they’re not a magic bullet. Organizations that don’t carefully consider and tailor AI to their use cases will buckle under the weight of unmet expectations.
AI-powered revenue success starts with strategy. Execution-ready revenue leaders don’t just know this; they demonstrate it in real-time, deploying AI where they can be sure it’ll help them see real results. Those who don’t answer the call will see their competitors thrive as their own profit margins dwindle, sales fall, and sellers consider jumping ship.
There’s still time for those languishing in AI purgatory to pull themselves out of it, but it’s running out. As early as next year, leaders invested in aligning AI into their business – and doing it well – will leave their competition in the dust.
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