June 2026 | Vertical Advantage

The conversation around AI in sales often centres on replacement. How many SDRs can be automated? How much of the sales process can AI take over?

A more interesting question is what happens when every salesperson has access to the same productivity advantages.

Research, prospecting, account mapping, email drafting, CRM updates, call summaries. Much of the work that once consumed hours can now be completed in minutes. The efficiency gains are real, and they’re becoming increasingly accessible. The result isn’t that great salespeople become obsolete. It’s that baseline productivity becomes less of a differentiator. When everyone can move faster, the advantage shifts elsewhere.

The gap is increasingly being created in areas AI struggles to replicate: commercial judgement, stakeholder management, influencing decisions, building consensus, and navigating complex buying environments. In complex enterprise level sales, knowing who to contact is rarely the challenge. Understanding how decisions get made, identifying blockers, creating urgency, and guiding buyers through uncertainty is where deals are won and lost. A human touch of being able to read a room and understand context is essential.

That’s why the strongest sales teams aren’t replacing people with AI. They’re using AI to remove friction so their people can spend more time on the parts of selling that actually drive outcomes. AI is changing sales. But the biggest change may not be headcount reduction. It’s that the standard for what good salespeople are expected to deliver is getting significantly higher.

What This Means for Hiring

This shift is already changing the profile of sales talent that organisations need. Many companies are hiring fewer entry-level salespeople than they were two years ago. At the same time, demand is growing for individuals who can think commercially, communicate effectively, and operate confidently in complex buying environments.

The strongest candidates today tend to share three characteristics:

They’re AI-literate. They know how to leverage technology to work smarter and move faster.
They’re commercially minded. They understand business problems, not just sales processes.
They’re relationship builders. Because even in an AI-enabled world, people still buy from people.

A Framework Worth Considering:

A sales leader recently shared a model with me that captures the current reality quite well.

Think of your sales function as:

10% human strategy – defining ICPs, messaging, positioning and market approach
80% AI-assisted execution – research, outreach, analysis and administration
10% human influence – discovery, negotiation, stakeholder management and deal progression

Whether the percentages are exactly right is almost irrelevant. The principle is what matters. Technology should handle the repeatable work. Your people should focus on the moments that actually determine whether a deal is won or lost.

The debate shouldn’t be whether AI will replace salespeople. The next step for successful GTM leaders will build leaner teams, improve productivity, and create more capacity for the activities that genuinely drive revenue.

Because while AI is changing how sales gets done, it hasn’t changed what ultimately closes deals. Trust remains fundamental & that’s still a very human advantage.

Looking back to look forward

Back in the olden days when I started hiring into FMCG – 2006 to be exact – the most sought-after brands to work for and poach from were very much the blue chips….. L’Oreal, Mars, P&G, Unilever, Diageo all had exceptional graduate talent that coursed throughout their businesses and moving between those top tier brands was commonplace and the liked of Innocent or Gu, did brilliantly by enticing that talent with a challenger opportunity.

Fast forward 20 years and that talent is less in demand – why?

For today’s challenger brands, it makes sense on paper. They’ve worked with elite leadership teams. They’ve got the training. They know what “good” looks like. Surely, they’ll bring all that magic to your business?

However, I speak with SME leaders in FMCG every week who are wrestling with this exact question. And while bringing in Blue Chip talent can work wonderfully in the right circumstances, it can also go spectacularly wrong. Let me share what I’ve learned from countless conversations with both sides of this equation.

The need for grit

Whether it’s a generational thing or its simply the nature of how FMCG / Grocery has evolved, there is challenge around every corner for commercial teams but the challenges Unilever and Mars face are intrinsically different to challengers – when you’re the 4th, 5th, or even 7th brand in your category, you’re fighting for every scrap of attention. You don’t get the same airtime with buyers that the market leaders enjoy and the budgets are dwarfed by the category leaders – in short, the path to winning is very, very different and therefore the talent needs to have the grit, even sheer bloody mindedness to keep going despite the knocks.

Its more salesy, more creative and far broader – in a challenger the founder may know less than the NAM about a JBP. You won’t have an NAE, Trade & Category, a field sales team……. So, the role is broader, the need to do the admin, the selling & the numbers is all encompassing – it’s A LOT! Those who can’t multi- task and where 20 different hats on a given day may struggle and unfortunately, the longer an individual remains within the blue-chip circuit the more indoctrinated into structure they become.

Interview focus

So, whilst every interview can be different, my advice is to focus that first stage on identifying the following traits – by creating a scorecard for each, a founder can assess these criteria objectively……. Avoidance of hiring on pure gut feel or having worked for the “right” brands for sales roles something to avoid.

Resilience: The ability to hear “no” repeatedly and keep going with genuine enthusiasm
Sales hunger: A real drive to win new business, not just manage existing accounts
Adaptability: Comfort with ambiguity and changing priorities
Self-sufficiency: The ability to work without extensive support structures
Commercial awareness: Understanding that every penny matters

Someone who’s built their career at a challenger brand or another SME often has these qualities in abundance. Whilst its not to say a blue-chip trained candidate won’t have these skills but any strong founder or commercial leader will need to deep dive into potential candidates psyches to make that final assessment.

The Bottom Line

The best hire for your growing business might have a CV that looks very different from what you imagined. Someone who’s succeeded at another challenger brand, who’s had to fight for every win, who understands that resilience and hustle matter as much as process and polish, could be exactly what you need.

Blue Chip experience isn’t a guarantee of success in an SME environment. And SME experience isn’t a consolation prize.