Jason Lemkin and Kyle Norton discussed AI in Sales at SaaStr + AI Summit 2025, emphasizing the need for revenue leaders to evolve with AI tools and technologies.
Key takeaways include the importance of AI curiosity, the emergence of 50% AI, 50% human teams, and the potential for AI to amplify performance gaps in sales teams.
AI is reshaping sales operations, with companies like Bamboo HR and Scale AI achieving significant productivity increases through automation.
The CRO hiring playbook now includes an AI component, focusing on candidates' active use and understanding of AI tools.
AI is driving a shift towards more specialized human roles in sales, with AI handling tasks like CRM management and basic customer support.
AI will widen the performance gap between elite and average sellers, prompting talent strategy decisions for revenue organizations.
The contact center transformation due to AI previews changes coming for sales, as organizations shift towards managing hybrid teams of AI agents and humans.
Successful AI implementation requires continuous refinement, training, and leadership involvement to avoid failure in sales operations.
AI augments the challenger sale approach, elevating the need for human sellers to excel in relationship building and strategic influence.
Revenue leaders need to become AI-native quickly to maintain a competitive advantage and drive sales transformation in an AI-first world.
The bottom line for CROs is to embrace AI transformation to expand their impact and effectiveness in sales leadership or risk becoming obsolete in the evolving sales landscape.