SaaStr's aggressive adoption of 20 AI agents wasn't a strategic initiative but a reaction to the frustration of overpaying sales staff who underperformed and quit unexpectedly. This emotional tipping point drove a complete GTM overhaul.
While AI agents may seem to diminish the CRM's role, they actually reinforce it. Salesforce is experiencing a renaissance as the essential central repository where multiple, disparate AI agents push and pull data, creating a unified source of truth.
After successfully deploying three or four AI agents, companies will encounter a new challenge: the agents have data conflicts and provide inconsistent answers. The solution, which is still nascent, is a "meta-agent" or orchestration layer to manage them.
Unlike traditional SaaS, AI agents require weeks of hands-on training. The most critical factor for success is the quality of the vendor's forward deployed engineer (FDE) who helps implement, not the product's brand recognition or feature superiority.
The talent pool for experienced AI GTM managers doesn't exist yet. Instead of hiring externally, find an internal employee—perhaps a quantitative SDR or RevOps analyst—who loves data, enjoys training systems, and is eager to manage your agents.
AI isn't replacing the top 1% of sales talent. Instead, its current capability surpasses that of an average, or "mid-pack," AE or SDR. This means jobs requiring average performance are in terminal decline, raising the bar for all human contributors.
The age of AI has eliminated the comfortable middle ground for GTM careers. Leaders must now choose one of two paths: embrace extreme intensity to drive massive, venture-scale growth, or opt for a less demanding role at a slower-growth company.
Don't start by asking for a budget or hiring an AI expert. The critical first step for any CRO or CMO is to roll up their sleeves, pick one tool, and personally manage the 30-day training and deployment process. This builds essential, foundational knowledge.
Instead of tackling complex outbound automation, start with AI on your website's inbound flow. Use AI to provide instant, accurate answers and qualify leads in real-time. Eliminating friction for interested buyers is the most straightforward and highest-impact first step.