Every go-to-market team seems to be all-in on AI. Marketers are using it to personalize campaigns, score their leads, and create dynamic content. Customer service teams are using AI to summarize calls, recommend the next best actions, and offer 24/7 support. But what about sales? According to a recent study we did at HubSpot when it comes to AI adoption, sales teams are trailing behind their GTM counterparts. While over 70% of marketers have embraced AI, less than half—about 43%—of sales reps have integrated AI into their workflows. Why is that?
One reason might be fear of the unknown: 59% of sales reps view AI as a potential threat to their own job security. And while AI excels at some things—like summarizing customer calls or drafting cold emails—what it can’t do is replicate the empathy, intuition, and personal relationships; the very qualities that set high-performing sales teams apart. Great sales is inherently human, built on trust and a nuanced understanding of customer needs. In sales, AI offers context—people offer connection.
So how should sales teams think about AI? And what can it do to help them? Here are three areas in sales where AI can have a big impact:
Increasing time spent with customers
Time spent with customers is one of the hardest metrics for sales teams to improve. The average rep spends just two hours a day connecting with customers. Most of their time is spent prepping for the next call or following up on the last. AI can help. It can automate tasks that typically eat away at a reps’ time, like company research, summarizing call notes, or drafting follow-ups, allowing for more time to engage meaningfully with customers.
For the sales teams that have adopted AI, more than 60% have already gained up to 5 hours a week that can now be spent connecting with customers. AI can help sales teams do discovery better and follow up faster.
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Increasing efficiency with AI-guided sales actions
Increasing time spent with customers is important, but knowing how to use that time efficiently is critical. AI can help guide sales teams through a deal, from bringing reps up to speed quickly to analyzing months of communications to uncover leverage points. A third of sales reps who use AI say better data analysis enhances the quality of their engagement with prospects—providing data-backed recommendations and strategies for how to propel current prospects to purchase and reengage quiet prospects.
By helping reps know what to do next, AI-guided selling can increase productivity and give reps a tailored, data-driven approach for every prospect.
Deploying AI Agents to build the hybrid sales teams of the future
For sales teams that are ready to embrace AI in a big way, agents can mean moving beyond simply accelerating work to truly transforming it. Simply put, AI agents are software that uses AI and tools to accomplish goals with multiple steps. They work for you to execute work from start to finish. Take a prospecting agent for example: it can find and evaluate leads, draft outreach, and let reps know which prospects are ready for that personal touch. Before the call, a sales rep might use a company research agent to create a comprehensive overview of the prospect with demographic information, funding data, latest news, and competitor insights, all packaged in a 10-minute podcast for easy listening.
From accelerating the work they’re already doing, to transforming it completely with agents, the future success of sales teams will hinge on their willingness to adapt. The potential for humans and AI to work together to transform sales is significant, and those who embrace AI to automate their busy work will be able to truly amplify their best work.
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