top-down AI tool implementation mandates for sales
Just got back from Gartner CSO in vegas, and something's been sitting with me a bit.
there was a whole keynote called 'leading beyond buzzword economy' - a genuinely great session - but soon after it was done, all I could hear around me was folks talking about 'AI-driven productivity frameworks' and 'agentic selling motions'. The irony was very real.
the pattern i keep seeing at these things: leadership gets handed a compelling research deck, goes back to their orgs fired up, and then reps get another tool mandate with a 2-week adoption window and no real change to how they actually work.
I'm not cynical about AI — I think there's real value there and I've actually seen it make an impact in my org. but there's definitely a gap between what excites a CSO in a conference ballroom and what actually makes a rep's day easier on a tuesday at 4pm when they're prepping for a call they didn't know about until this morning.
curious if others are seeing this play out. Are the AI initiatives coming down from leadership at your company landing, or mostly staying on the slide deck?