Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming how businesses interact with customers, optimise sales processes, and drive revenue. It’s evolving fast and it’s reshaping how sales and marketing professionals work. From automating mundane tasks to helping teams better understand customer behaviour, AI is proving to be a valuable assistant.
Despite all the excitement, there is one point of tension that remains. With the rise of AI, questions are rightly being asked about the impact on the human side of sales and marketing. Is AI set to replace the emotional intelligence and empathy that marketers and salespeople bring to the table?
The reality, while nuanced, is certainly optimistic.
A shift in mindset
The appetite to explore and embrace AI is growing among marketers and salespeople. Curiosity is turning into confidence, with 77% of sales and marketing professionals reporting that their companies have already invested in AI training programs. Additionally, most (96%) recognise that mastering new skills will be essential to keep up with advancements in AI in the future.
This signals an industry ready to adopt AI. Yet, there’s still scepticism around its ability to replicate empathy and emotional connection in the human side of marketing and sales. There are concerns that AI might strip away the very qualities that are needed to engage and communicate with customers effectively. While these concerns are valid, they’re based on a misconception that empathy and technology are mutually exclusive.
Empathy at scale
Traditionally, empathy has been considered an exclusively human trait. But that doesn’t mean AI can’t play a role in delivering empathy where it’s needed.
One of the key advantages of AI is that it is usually programmed to react to a given situation based purely on the data available and doesn’t fluctuate due to stress, fatigue, or varying levels of knowledge. In high-pressure and high-volume environments, this kind of reliability and consistency is a powerful asset. AI can support teams by delivering personalised, emotionally aware responses at scale – day or night – to maintain a standard of empathy, even when human capacity is stretched. Evidence of this can be seen in research led by the Qualcomm Institute at the University of California, San Diego. The study found that nearly half (45.1%) of chatbot responses were rated as “empathetic” or “very empathetic” compared to just 4.6% of physician responses. This surprisingly shows that AI is not just efficient but can deliver empathetic experiences at scale and on demand. In sales and marketing, where personalisation and emotional intelligence are crucial, this potentially represents a major shift.
What’s more, AI can handle repetitive, emotionally taxing, or high-volume interactions. By incorporating AI in their workflows, sales and marketing teams can win back more time to use their “human” traits to build stronger customer relationships. With AI dealing with repetitive communications, they have more time to focus on higher-value work.
Where do customers stand on AI?
Customers are already tuned into the benefits of AI. According to research from Zendesk, 71% of customers believe AI will make customer experiences more empathetic. This flips the common fear on its head. AI isn’t removing empathy – it’s enabling it in more places and consistently, at scale.
Customers don’t expect every interaction to involve a human, as long as AI can anticipate their needs, personalise interactions, and direct them to the right help faster – all of which help build trust and loyalty. These same capabilities are transforming how sales and marketing teams engage with buyers. It’s not about making AI more human – it’s about using AI to let humans be more human.
Realignment, not replacement
There is a lot of fearmongering around AI rendering human roles obsolete. But for marketers and salespeople, the opportunity lies not in resisting AI but in reframing it. It’s about realignment of value, not replacement.
AI doesn’t need to replicate human empathy in a literal sense. But it needs to recognise emotional cues and respond in ways that feel appropriate, thoughtful, and empathic. Its scalability, especially under pressure or in demanding environments, is where AI shines. In this regard, businesses should view AI as their sidekick, not the main character. It can sustain empathic, tailored customer interactions at scale, which provides room for humans to focus on high-value interactions and create real emotional resonance.
