AI in B2B sales: Amplifier of excellence, accelerator of mediocrity

Aug 23, 2026 · Topline
🎧 PodShort 73 min squeezed to 2 Ai sprinklerAI Sales Tech
Episode artwork
Sam Jacobs
Host
Asad Zaman
Co-host, CEO at Sales Talent Agency
AJ Bruno
Co-host, CEO at QuotaPath
Rick Smolan
CRO and Advisor at ShipHero and Riverwood Capital
Topline
73 min squeezed to 2
Full episode from Topline
Quotable Moments

AI is a leverage tool. It's like debt. It can make performance exceptionally good, or it can bankrupt you.

Rick SmolanCRO of ShipHero and Advisor to Riverwood Capital
01:56:49

People are still doing work, and now they can do really poor work at an exponential level.

Rick SmolanCRO of ShipHero and Advisor to Riverwood Capital
08:28

The magic in sales is often happening between the meetings.

Rick SmolanCRO of ShipHero and Advisor to Riverwood Capital
08:43
Key Insights
  • AI is a leverage tool that can lead to exceptionally good performance or bankruptcy, depending on how it's used.
  • AI is not inherently good or bad; its impact depends entirely on how individuals, teams, and companies choose to utilize it.
  • Using AI to substitute or outsource critical human skills like note-taking, understanding customer context, or strategic thinking will lead to poorer performance.
  • AI-generated content that lacks authenticity (e.g., generic emails) is easily recognizable and disengages recipients, negatively impacting sales efforts.
  • AI will create a widening gap in performance, making the best performers significantly better (10x) and the worst performers noticeably worse (10x), as mediocrity becomes harder to hide.
  • The 'magic' in sales often occurs in the strategic thought and planning between meetings, which AI cannot fully replicate due to its inability to capture nuance, tone, and emotional cues.
  • Effective enterprise sales still relies heavily on understanding the human element (customer motivations, internal politics) rather than just product features, a nuance that AI struggles to grasp.
  • The historical path to sales success has shifted from product expertise to effectively diagnosing customer problems, aligning with outcomes, and influencing decision criteria.
Metrics Mentioned
  • More than two dozen (Riverwood Capital's portfolio includes more than two dozen enterprise software companies.)
  • Over 20 years (Rick Smolan has over 20 years of experience as a revenue leader.)
  • 85% of the time (The speaker questions the goal of sellers being on the phone with customers 85% of the time.)
  • 80% (AI note-takers capture 80% of information, but much of it might not be relevant.)
  • 20-30% (The average sales rep spends 20-30% of their time on revenue-generating activities, with the rest being administrative.)
  • 3, 4, 5, 6 times more productive (A claim that AI can make sales reps 3-6 times more productive.)
  • 25% increase in sales rep productivity and 50% efficiency gain in RevOps output (Reported gains for teams using Trett's AI solution.)
  • 1.5 million vs. $2 million (Previous quota amount compared to a potentially higher, current quota.)
  • 50% ARR growth (Considered a 'not too shabby' ARR growth rate for a company.)

RevBots.ai View:

  • AI Sprinkler teams risk over-indexing on AI for tasks requiring human nuance like strategic planning.
  • ARM-stage orgs will use AI to augment, not replace, critical thinking in customer conversations.
  • The performance gap prediction validates ARM's thesis: AI exposes SaaS Hoarder inefficiencies.
  • Sales leaders must audit AI use cases to prevent outsourcing core competencies to bots.
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