The future of
GTM in the
Age of AI - Sales
We are launching a 3-part series in partnership with several of our VC partners to discuss the future of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success in the new world of AI. The goal is to lay out a groundwork and ideas on how startups can scale their GTM function, who the best people for it are, and what GTM teams will look like in the not-so-distant future. We want this to be a blueprint for both startups and our talent pool to think about where they can fit in in this new age of AI.
Welcome to Part 1
Sales
Early 2000s
Enterprise Field Sales Dominance
In the early 2000s, enterprise field sales was dominated by relationship-driven, Rolodex-heavy sellers, often veterans from IBM or Oracle. These small, highly compensated teams managed large territories, operating through long sales cycles that relied on in-person meetings and white-glove, consultative approaches. At the time, CRMs like Salesforce were only beginning to emerge, and sales processes had minimal automation.
Profile
Volume Sales
48%
Relationship-Based Sales
Solutions Sales
Structure
Small Teams
30%
Siloed & Large Territories
Large Teams
Motion
Short Sales Cycle
70%
White-Glove Consultative Selling
Long Sales Cycle
Tools
Minimal Automation
50%
Fully Automated
Late 2000s to Early 2010s
Rise of SaaS & Inside Sales (Salesforce)
In the late 2000s, enterprise field sales shifted with SaaS and inside sales. Traditional sellers were replaced by agile teams using technology. Equipped with tools like Salesforce, they managed territories efficiently, shortening sales cycles and favoring virtual meetings. Automation streamlined processes and transformed customer relationships.
Profile
Profile
Small Teams
Segmented & Inbound-Heavy
Large Teams
Motion
Short Sales Cycle
Heavy Phone/Email Outbound
Long Sales Cycle
Tools
Minimal Automation
Fully Automated
2010-2022 (Pre-AI Surge)
2010-2022 (Pre-AI Surge) Remote + Revenue Efficiency Focus
In the years leading up to the AI surge, our focus was on enhancing remote work and maximizing revenue efficiency. We implemented strategies that streamlined operations and improved productivity, setting the stage for future advancements.
Profile
Volume Sales
Digitally Native
Solutions Sales
Structure
Small Teams
Full-Funnel Integration
Large Teams
Motion
Short Sales Cycle
Self-Service & Insight-Led
Long Sales Cycle
Tools
Minimal Automation
Fully Automated
Now that brings us to today. We will talk about where teams are today vs where they are going in the next year or two.
Today - 2023-2025 the Renaissance
Let’s call this period the Renaissance, a return of the early 2000s enterprise-level seller, sometimes from tech, sometimes from Big Four consulting, sometimes from industry, but with some notable differences.
Profile
Volume Sales
Solutions Sales
Structure
Motion
Short Sales Cycle
Long Sales Cycle
Tools
Minimal Automation
Fully Automated
The Evolution
1. We have forgotten how to build trust and it starts with building relationships
In the last 20 years we have focused so heavily on efficiency, one size fits all models, scale, and growth that there are very few people or organizations who know how to build trust. What does this mean in practical terms? In the new age of AI, most sales are enterprise-level, complex, solution-based, and rely heavily on input data from clients. That last piece, data, is crucial. It is estimated that only 20% of an enterprise company’s processes are actually written down, which means 80% lives in the minds of the team. During a POC, an AI agent is only able to access about 20% of the intrinsic data, which will cause many POCs to fail since data is the crux of AI. Reps who can extract this data by building trust and deep relationships with the team will be the ones who thrive in this new market.
2. The technical buyer era and how to sell to them
The most notable difference between the future and the early 2000s in these large, slow, enterprise, relationship-driven motions is the buyer persona. On average it will be a very technical person who does not want to attend a dinner, grab drinks, or go to your event unless there is networking with their ICP. Building relationships will center on the value you as a seller can provide and your understanding of their pain points and solutions that are equal to or better than what the buyer already has in place.
3. AI is going to shrink the noise in the tech ecosystem and therefore create a much more streamlined sales motion
There will not be large-scale cold outreach campaigns. The matching of problem to solution will become so precise that reps will move back toward an inbound or matching motion.
4. Technical sales will become sales
What is currently called sales engineering or solutions architecture, and often viewed as a support role, will become the core GTM role. VPs of Sales Engineering will lead sales teams. This is a natural evolution tied back to the first point, which is building trust. The easiest way to build trust is to speak the same technical language as your buyer and understand their pain. These roles will carry a strong sales component, but also an engineering or, more likely, a technical solutions component.
5. Sales teams will be paid 2-5X their current compensation
Because teams will be 2-10X smaller smaller on average and will operate with a more succinct inbound motion, reps will spend about 50% of their time building relationships and 50% managing their AI agents. Each rep may have 2-8 agents reporting to them, which will take up a significant portion of their time.
The Roles That Will Be Forever Changed
VP Sales
This role will transition to the VP sales engineering of VP solutions architecture. This role will focus on successfully transitioning POC’s to long term contracts by proving AI value in the organizations they are selling.
VP of Sales Engineering
Channel/Partner Sales
This role will exist but the people that are successful will transition into much more of a technical relationship builder then the average today and there will be far fewer, think 2X fewer positions.
Technical Channel Sales
Sales Ops
This role will transition to a GTM engineering role that is focused on maintaining and improving the efficacy of the AI agents involved in the sales motion.
GTM Engineer
ENT AE
This role will exist but the people that are successful will transition into much more of a technical seller then the average today and there will be far fewer, think 10X fewer positions.
Technical Enterprise AE
MM AE
As we know it will be gone - replaced by agent
SMB AE
As we know it will be gone - replaced by agent
SDR
As we know it will be gone - replaced by agent
AI Agent
The Roles That Will Be Forever Changed
Pre AI
Post AI
VP Sales
VP of Sales Engineering
This role will transition to the VP sales engineering of VP solutions architecture. This role will focus on successfully transitioning POC’s to long term contracts by proving AI value in the organizations they are selling.
Pre AI
Post AI
Channel/Partner Sales
Technical Channel Sales
This role will exist but the people that are successful will transition into much more of a technical relationship builder then the average today and there will be far fewer, think 2X fewer positions.
Pre AI
Post AI
Sales Ops
GTM Engineer
This role will transition to a GTM engineering role that is focused on maintaining and improving the efficacy of the AI agents involved in the sales motion.
Pre AI
Post AI
ENT AE
Technical Enterprise AE
This role will exist but the people that are successful will transition into much more of a technical seller then the average today and there will be far fewer, think 10X fewer positions.
Pre AI
Post AI
MM AE
SMB AE
SDR
AI AGent
As we know roles MM AE, SMB AE, SDR will be gone - replaced by agent
Now where are these roles going to come from
Lets break down some of the different roles within tech and where they are going over the next 2-3 years.
The Future of Compensation
Alright, almost every traditional role is disappearing, well almost. But here is the exciting part. New roles are emerging and they are going to come with paychecks much higher than what we see today.
The Betts Prediction on Future Org Structures
Pre-AI
Post-AI
You’ll notice there are no entry level roles here, something we’ve been flagging for a long time. We expect to see a shift toward a Bain or McKinsey style model with associate roles built to support senior positions.
This would create far more opportunities for recent grads than they have today. Companies will need to treat this as a long term investment rather than a quick ROI. That can be a hard mindset shift for tech companies that move fast and expect immediate results.
Without it, the alternative is a world where Meta and OpenAI keep poaching top talent with $100M offers.
Kidding, that is not sustainable.
We expect companies to create associate-level roles, similar to the Bain and McKinsey model we mentioned, to support senior positions like enterprise reps and sales engineers. To ensure long-term sustainability, companies will need to invest in early technical talent with SDR-level skills who can also manage AI agents for senior reps.
At Betts we have been working with top technology companies for the last 15 years and have seen go-to-market roles progress dramatically over that time. But there has never been a bigger shift then is happening right now. This shift in GTM is going to be the biggest in my lifetime and its going to be the swiftest.
"Every decade or so, sales transforms. But what we’re witnessing now isn’t just a shift, it’s a reinvention. The future of GTM is being written in real time."
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