The battle between AI skeptics and optimists is heating up. It feels like every time I log onto LinkedIn I see another takedown of an AI tool that was supposed to be a sales tech disrupter.
I’m an optimist myself but I understand where the skeptics are coming from. The decks are pretty and the demo is impressive. Then, after the contract is signed, it’s clear that they overpromised and are not prepared to deliver.
Heading into 2025 the AI race is only going to keep ramping up, so today I’m covering the three AI myths I hear most often when talking to sales leaders. My goal is to shed some light on the less-understood parts of AI so your team can take advantage of the benefits without getting fooled by companies who are still overpromising and under-delivering.
Myth 1: AI is all-or-nothing.
A lot of sales leaders are feeling the pressure to go all-in on AI, including vetting options that will replace entire functions, like BDRs. The products out there promise to automate the whole sales process, saving money on headcount and driving higher closed-won rates.
The truth is AI is still far from able to replace humans. Going full autopilot is not the best solution for most teams. In fact, there are some areas you definitely should not automate yet, like phone calls and meetings. (Andy Mowat wrote a great article about the debate on AI SDRs that covers this topic!)
Instead, focus on places where teams have the manual process down to a science. These tasks fit into our “right for AI” framework, checking the boxes on four key criteria:
- Tedious: The task is repetitive and slow.
- Time-consuming: You spend a significant amount of time on this task each day or week.
- Data-heavy: You are synthesizing large quantities of data and distilling it down into highlights.
- Low creativity: The task doesn’t require critical thinking or nuance.
Using AI for pieces of a rep’s workflow like account prioritization and research can speed up productivity and give them more time to build relationships. The choice isn’t autopilot or nothing. You can and should have both autopilot and copilot use cases, experiment with both and see what works best for you.
Use our “right for AI” framework to decide what should be autopilot vs. copilot. Our rule of thumb is that if something requires creativity, especially on the fly, you should opt for a copilot. A great example is strategic outbound, where AI can act as a writing partner but doesn’t produce consistently great results on its own. Other tasks that follow a formula (no deviations or creativity) like inbound lead qualification might be a better use case for autopilot.
Myth 2: AI can automagically fix problems with your sales process.
This one doesn’t just apply to AI, but how many times have you heard someone say “XYZ tool will fix this process.” AI, like those tools, is not a silver bullet, yet some sales leaders are hoping it might magically fix their problems.
Not happy with the output of the SDR/BDR team? Let’s AI it away. Part of this comes from the misguided belief that tech like AI is mistake-proof, but we’ve all heard the stories about the person who drove into a lake because their GPS said to take a left turn where there was none.
The truth is that AI is only as good as the data it’s fed and the processes it’s built into.
I saw a great post this weekend that summarized the problem perfectly:
“You can only automate that which you can first do manually."
AI works off of the “garbage in, garbage out” principle. It can’t make up for lack of training, dirty data, or unappealing pricing and packaging. If your email outbound just isn’t converting like it used to sending more of it, faster using AI won’t solve the problem. We always recommend our customers test new messaging or playbooks manually first before trying to automate.
Leaders need to make sure their house is in order before they layer in AI. In fact, a good first step and use case for AI is data analysis. Let AI help you diagnose some of the problems in your current process before turning AI to fix those problems.
Myth 3: If AI works in a controlled environment, it’ll still work at scale.
I’ve heard this story more than once:
- A sales leader decides to put outbound on AI autopilot.
- They start small with a test population and see great results.
- As soon as they scale, though, the results are terrible.
So why aren’t they able to unlock millions in ARR when things looked so promising at first? Two reasons.
First, deep personalization at scale isn’t quite possible with AI yet. You’ll need to either settle for automated but shallow personalization or use AI to gather info on an account and leave a human in the loop to handle the personalization.
Second, stale information or bad data that are easy to catch when testing with a small group are amplified when you scale. Suddenly, you’re burning through your list with bad messaging and you’re no better off than you were before using human-sent spray and pray messages.
There is no one silver bullet in sales. The best sellers take a consultative approach and develop POVs for each of their accounts. Instead of setting your AI on autopilot, use it to help find look-alike prospects that match your best customers, or to do research that can help you write high-converting outbound.
Using AI to augment - not replace
While lots of companies are focused on replacing sellers with AI, our philosophy is different. We believe in AI as a copilot, not an autopilot. In fact, by helping reps save time and automating away tedious tasks, AI can help reps be more human.
Our focus is on building tools that 10x human talent by giving reps intelligent guidance, helping them know where to spend their time, and giving them the information they need to build deeper connections with customers and prospects.
We recently launched our newest tool, Pocus AI Strategy, to help reps prioritize, research, and action their leads. AI Strategy fits sales reps' workflows and manages their most tedious daily jobs. Since launching in beta, hundreds of reps have added Pocus AI Strategy to their sales process and supercharged their efficiency. AI Strategy is helping teams:
Use account research to drive higher engagement
Branch implemented AI Strategy to help their reps do deeper research before reaching out to prospects. Using the insights surfaced in Pocus AI helps their team stand out in noisy inboxes where so few sellers do more than basic personalization.
Strategic AE Channing Berry has seen a meaningful impact on the response to his outreach. He shared that prospects are more likely to engage when the value of Branch has already been demonstrated to them.
Be more strategic and prepared for meetings.
Canva reps who use AI Strategy come prepared with a strategic POV for every conversation. They get a detailed breakdown of how their products can support each account’s unique priorities that they can use to build value throughout the sales cycle.
Sean Tolbert, Enterprise BDR at Canva, has been able to build deeper customer relationships with the information AI Strategy surfaces. Ahead of a recent call he checked AI Strategy, saw that his customer’s new project had received funding, and kicked off the conversation with congratulations. His customer was delighted that Sean understood their top priorities and what’s most important for their business.
Move faster, with more efficiency.
No rep likes getting on a call completely cold, but the reality is there often just isn’t time to dig through dozens of tabs to read 10ks and blog posts or listen to podcasts with company leaders. Tyler Larson, Sales Development Manager at Monte Carlo Data, has found that Pocus AI Strategy helps “tremendously” with speed to insights on a company. Rather than spending hours preparing, AEs are able to get detailed notes in seconds before heading into a call.
The most successful teams aren't asking AI to do their jobs for them; they're using it strategically to enhance their human capabilities. Whether that's faster research, smarter account prioritization, or more informed conversations, AI works best when it supports rather than supplants the consultative approach that defines great sales. The question isn't whether to use AI anymore – it's how to use it wisely. Start small, focus on specific pain points where AI truly adds value, and remember: the goal isn't to automate sales, it's to amplify your team's ability to deliver real value to your customers.
If you’ve been an AI skeptic but are ready to give it a try we’re offering a 14-day free trial of Pocus AI Strategy. Fill out a quick form and we’ll set you up with access - no CRM integration required!
Read up on AI for GTM
- AI for GTM: What works now via Pocus blog
- Getting started with AI in sales via Pocus blog
- Step-by-step introduction to AI agents via The Product Compass
- How to approach AI SDRs via Andy Mowat (VP of GTM Ops @ Carta)
- AI growing faster than SaaS via Notorious PLG
- How elite CMOs are approaching AI via Hypergrowth Leadership
AI Tool Corner: HeyGen
Each month we share helpful AI tech that members of our community are using and loving. As part of our commitment to actionable advice without the hype, these product recommendations are always organic - no sponsored ads!
Today we’re featuring HeyGen, an AI-powered tool that allows you to produce studio-quality videos in 175 languages without a camera or crew. Simply write a script and generate a video. You can create an avatar of yourself or use one from HeyGen’s library of preexisting avatars.
HeyGen videos are great for product explainers, sales enablement, and creating personalized video content at scale.
You can start exploring and experimenting with HeyGen for free here.