The artificial intelligence train may have left the station, but where is it heading? For sales teams, AI has already supercharged workflows, automated outreach, and amplified communication – turning what was traditionally manual door-to-door engagement into bot-selling at scale, using AI to draft emails, schedule follow-ups, and analyze engagement metrics – but is that a good thing? The answer is – it depends.
In theory, this should be a golden age for sales – more outreach, more engagement, more opportunities. But the reality is more complicated. When everyone has access to the same AI tools, the result isn’t necessarily more meaningful engagement; it’s an avalanche of automation that overwhelms rather than builds relationships.
One of the central issues is that AI-driven automation is largely designed with sellers, rather than buyers, in mind. In a report about the B2B sales cycle, Gartner revealed that only 17% of a buying cycle includes meetings and interactions with – and assisted for – the seller. And not just the seller who wins – that statistic includes all the sellers competing for a contract.
This is the tip of the iceberg that sales teams see. The other 83% comprises interactions, research, and meetings that occur only on the buyer’s side. So why is so much attention given to the former?
Automation is a force for good, but pursued blindly without a proper strategy, and with only sellers in mind, it can quickly derail the sales cycle. It puts sales teams on a path where selling goes from being slow but highly controlled and tailored to being lightning fast but also chaotic and overwhelming to buyers.
This is the “AI Cliff” – the moment where the benefits of automation begin to erode the very productivity they were designed to boost. It isn’t the technology that is at fault, but rather how it’s deployed and utilized.
AI Hype and the Road to Disillusionment
The rapid rise of AI in sales has followed a familiar trajectory – one that closely mirrors Gartner’s Hype Cycle, a framework that maps the journey of new technologies from initial excitement to practical reality. Right now, AI sits at the “Peak of Inflated Expectations,” where bold predictions and ambitious promises have created the belief that automation is the ultimate sales accelerator.
Organizations have rushed to adopt AI tools, expecting them to revolutionize how deals are closed and relationships are built. But as with any technology, the real test comes when the excitement fades, and teams are left to navigate the fallout.
This phase has already started to materialize. While AI has undoubtedly increased output, its impact on outcomes is less clear. More automation doesn’t automatically translate to better engagement or higher win rates. Instead, many sales teams are beginning to recognize that their efforts produce diminishing returns.
Buyers are inundated with AI-generated messages and out-of-context action points, making it harder – not easier – for sales professionals. When applied indiscriminately, AI risks turning sales into a “volume game” where efficiency is prioritized over effectiveness. More automation doesn’t mean more sales – it just means more noise.
On the Edge of the AI Cliff
The promise of AI in sales was to streamline processes, eliminate inefficiencies, and create more personalized, high-impact interactions. Instead, it has flooded inboxes with generic, automated messages that lack originality and depth. What was once a differentiator—precision, timing, and personalization—has now become the bare minimum.
Buyers, rather than feeling engaged, are tuning out. This is the AI Cliff: the moment when automation stops enhancing productivity and starts working against it. Instead of focusing on quality interactions, sales teams have been conditioned to believe that more automation equals more success.
When every seller is equipped with the same AI tools, differentiation disappears, and buyer fatigue sets in. Volume over substance is no longer a winning formula. Instead of leaping off the cliff, buyers can take a different path – one that uses AI not as a mere amplification or automation tool.
Just as a matchmaker, using tailored content and context-aware insights on the side of both buyer and seller to preserve the personal approach. By using AI to champion buyers and make their roles easier, sellers can reduce friction and increase engagement instead of simply pushing for higher numbers.
Shifting Focus from Sellers to Buyers
For all the investment in AI-driven sales tools, one critical factor has been largely ignored: the buyer’s experience. Most AI implementations are designed to optimize seller efficiency – helping teams send more emails, automate follow-ups, and streamline internal workflows. But buyers don’t need more emails.
And they don’t need more outreach. They need better ways to navigate the complexity of their own decision-making process. 83% of the buying process occurs outside direct interactions with sellers, meaning most sales enablement tools solve only a tiny fraction of the equation.
While sellers benefit from AI-assisted automation, buyers are left to sift through mountains of information, manage internal approvals, and justify their choices – often with little support. This is what we mean when discussing the need to “champion” buyers.
Instead of focusing exclusively on seller productivity and barrelling toward the AI cliff, AI should help buyers consolidate key materials, track commitments, and uncover insights that help them advocate for their decisions internally.
AI should make it easier for buyers to access the right information at the right time – whether that’s a pricing breakdown, a case study that resonates with leadership, or an easily accessible summary of every discussion in context. Sales in 2025 isn’t really about pitching – it’s about helping buyers confidently make decisions.
If AI is to truly transform sales for the better, it needs to serve both sides of the table, not just one.
