The top trends we found around AI sales hiring for 2025 reflect its direction and the short-term goals of many companies in the space, but they also speak volumes on where the tech sector at large is headed. Many of these same trends we see in AI sales hiring can be seen in SaaS and other parts of the market, but often impact artificial intelligence solution providers more viscerally as the biggest drivers of disruption and change in the landscape currently.
Betts Recruiting has put together this analysis of sales recruitment trends in the AI industry for 2025 to help you navigate the most significant shifts in the go-to-market (GTM) talent market for artificial intelligence companies and build the team you need to scale your organization for success:
Go-to-Market Hiring Trends for AI Sales in 2024 vs 2025
Many of the key trends we found for AI sales recruitment in 2024 continue to shape hiring strategies, but with important evolutions as the market matures. Looking back at 2024, we saw:
- The Hunt for Unicorn Sellers: Companies sought candidates that brought prior experience with their sales motion and within the AI industry
- Demand for Specialization: The market shifted toward prioritizing specialized skill sets and experience
- Limited Talent Pool: Organizations struggled with a small candidate pool possessing the right set of skills
- Emphasis on Technical Knowledge: Sales roles often required deeper understanding of the technology behind the solution
While many of these trends still continue to shape the industry, 2025 has introduced even more new and noteworthy dimensions to AI sales recruitment.
Current Trends for AI Sales Hiring in 2025
As the artificial intelligence solutions industry has matured, there is a slow but gradual shift from niche experimental research to larger-scale automation uses, somewhat similar to how cloud computing transitioned into SaaS. However, the requirements for sales jobs still usually lean towards the complex and deep sides, with most companies seeking to get as close to their own unicorn seller as possible. Here are the key top-level trends we have found and how they are driving changes for tech recruiting:
Leaders in AI Market Driving Competition
The AI market landscape has become increasingly competitive, with major players like Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, IBM and NVIDIA dominating the enterprise space. Meanwhile, a vibrant ecosystem of startups and independent smaller organizations continues to thrive by focusing on niche applications and industry-specific implementations. The end result in the middle is that competition for the limited talent pool with the skills and experience most sought after is intense, with big brands often seeking hyper-specific knowledge while everyone is forced to be a little more flexible and broader with their job descriptions.
Technical Sales Roles Take Center Stage
Technical selling roles like Sales Engineers (SEs) have become the cornerstone of GTM engagement for the AI industry, with some companies even positioning them as their primary customer-facing sales representatives rather than traditional Account Executives (AEs). While not a wholly new trend, the scale at which it has changed is palpable, with job listings even for ostensibly a general AE or SDR (Sales Development Representative) featuring technical knowledge as a strict requirement.
More Layered & Multidisciplinary Sales Processes
Tech sales have increasingly become much more intricate and collaborative, multi-stage projects, progressively emulating the structure of complex enterprise SaaS deals that often require an “all-hands-on-deck” approach. Sales, engineering and customer success teams will work together to prospect, nurture and close deals, including supporting post-sales and upselling opportunities.
AI Following the Rest of Tech into Enterprise Sales
As noted in the most recent release of the Betts Compensation Guide, tech companies in general are increasingly targeting enterprise-sized clients. The shift toward enterprise sales is also reflected in hiring preferences, with many AI companies moving away from general sales representatives in favor of candidates with specific enterprise selling experience.
Key AI Sales Roles in Demand for 2025
Sales recruiting in AI is most often centering around a few key roles, each requiring a unique blend of technical knowledge, sales expertise and soft skills. Here are the top positions we have found within our own network:
Sales Engineers
Sales Engineers have emerged as perhaps the most critical role in the AI sales ecosystem, bridging the gap between technical capabilities and business value. Companies are looking for candidates who can combine technical credibility with effective communication skills to navigate complex sales processes.
Key requirements for SEs often include:
- Strong natural and intellectual curiosity about applying technology to solve problems
- Experience in technical pre-sales, preferably in a high-growth environment
- Familiarity with data science, analytics or big data technologies
- Comfort engaging with all levels of customer teams from individual contributors to C-suite
Enterprise Account Executives
Enterprise Account Executives (EAEs) remain crucial in the AI sales ecosystem, with evolving responsibilities and skill requirements. As the primary owners of large account relationships, they must combine strategic thinking with tactical execution to navigate complex organizational structures and lengthy sales cycles.
Some requirements for successful EAEs include:
- 5+ years of software field sales experience
- Strong consultative selling approach and ability to develop a vision match with prospects
- Experience selling to technical audiences and delivering technical presentations
- Experience with “sell-to” and “sell-through” models, particularly for those targeting system integrators
Solutions Architects
Though technically an engineering position, Solutions Architects (SAs) have become integral to the AI sales process, particularly for complex enterprise deployments. They work closely with sales teams to design and validate technical solutions that meet customer requirements, often serving as the primary technical advisor throughout implementation.
Typical requirements for Solutions Architects include:
- Deep expertise in customer deployment environments (cloud, on-premise, hybrid)
- Experience with containerization technologies like Kubernetes
- Understanding of MLOps and AI/ML model deployment
- Strong ability to translate complex technical concepts for business stakeholders
How Recruitment as a Service Addresses AI Hiring Challenges
The traditional agency model lacks the flexibility and scalability that GTM hiring in 2025 demands, especially for sectors where the unicorn talent pool is extremely limited, like AI. Betts’ Recruitment as a Service (RaaS) model offers a more efficient and cost-effective approach designed specifically for the challenges of talent acquisition in the current tech market.
Subscribing to RaaS provides you with:
- Access to pre-vetted AI sales talent: Betts Connect platform hosts the largest collection of candidates for sales, marketing, and customer success roles in tech
- Cost-effective scaling: Unlike traditional recruiters who charge per placement, the RaaS subscription model allows unlimited hires at a predictable cost
- Specialized expertise: Dedicated recruiters with deep understanding of the technology sales ecosystem help identify the right skill matrices for your specific needs
- Data-driven matching: AI-powered candidate matching based on specific technical and commercial requirements streamlines the hiring process
- Flexible scaling: Ability to quickly ramp hiring up or down based on business needs without incurring additional costs
Harvey, an AI solutions provider in the legaltech space, was able to shorten its Time-to-Hire for sourcing an Enterprise Sales Manager through Recruitment as a Service and Betts Connect’s network of pre-vetted talent. Working with their Betts recruiter, they were able to narrow down 45 candidates out of a list of 150 to interview, securing their right fit hire within a month and quickly ramping up their ability to build their Enterprise Account Executive team to help reach Series C funding.
Scale Your AI Sales Team with Betts
Betts Recruiting’s specialized knowledge of the AI sales ecosystem, combined with our innovative Recruitment as a Service model, provides artificial intelligence companies with the strategic advantage they need to build high-performing sales teams quickly and cost-effectively. Powered by our Connect platform, RaaS delivers unprecedented access to pre-vetted talent with the precise blend of technical knowledge and sales expertise required for success in today’s AI market.
Sign up for a Connect demo here and see firsthand how our unique hiring platform can help you scale your talent acquisition at a fraction of the cost of traditional agencies.