Oct. 26, 2025, 10:17 a.m.
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Why Certain Sales Teams Are Thriving Alongside AI - Harvard Business Review
Brief news summary
In 2016, Harvard Business Review addressed concerns that advancements in technology, particularly AI, would drastically reduce the number of business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. Despite widespread predictions that new technologies would lead to significant job losses in sales—some forecasts even suggesting that one million B2B sales roles would disappear by 2020—the article argued against this trend. Instead of shrinking, some sales teams have actually grown alongside AI. This growth is attributed to the way AI enhances rather than replaces human sales capabilities, allowing sales professionals to become more efficient, focused, and strategic. AI tools help with data analysis, customer insights, and routine tasks, freeing salespeople to cultivate stronger client relationships and close deals more effectively. As a result, the integration of AI doesn’t threaten sales jobs but transforms them, enabling teams to expand and thrive in an evolving business landscape.SKIP TO CONTENT Harvard Business Review Logo Why Certain Sales Teams Are Thriving Alongside AI Back in 2016, we released an HBR article titled “Despite Dire Predictions, Salespeople Aren’t Going Away. ” At that time, numerous forecasts suggested that emerging technologies would cause companies to reduce their salesforce, including a striking prediction that one million business-to-business (B2B) sales roles would be eliminated by 2020.
However, we remained skeptical.
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Why Certain Sales Teams Are Thriving Alongside AI - Harvard Business Review
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