Here’s a prediction making salespeople uncomfortable: 40% of sellers won’t survive the AI era. But we’re not watching AI replace salespeople—we’re watching it expose which sellers were never really selling in the first place. The difference comes down to three critical skills that AI can’t automate.
Here’s a prediction that’s making a lot of salespeople uncomfortable: 40 percent of sellers won’t survive the AI era.
I said this recently on Startup Sales Talk with Dom Urniezius, and the reaction was immediate. Some people thought I was being dramatic. Others said I was being too conservative.
But here’s what I actually believe: we’re not watching AI replace salespeople. We’re watching AI expose which salespeople were never really selling in the first place.
What’s actually happening right now
Walk into most sales organizations and you’ll see two types of sellers operating side by side.
The first type spends their day on activities. Dials made. Emails sent. Meetings booked. They’re productive in the way a machine is productive. Lots of motion. Lots of output. Very little thinking about whether any of it matters.
The second type spends their day on outcomes. They’re asking why this prospect, why now, why us. They’re connecting dots between what they’re hearing and what they know about the market. They’re using data to get smarter, not just to get busier.
AI is going to be very good to that second group. And it’s going to be brutal to the first.
The skills that mattered before
For years, being good at sales meant being good at finding. You could win by having better lists. By making more calls. By simply outlasting everyone else in the grind.
That skill still has value. But it’s not scarce anymore.
Every team has access to the same data now. Every team can automate outreach. Every team can scale their top-of-funnel with the same tools. The playing field is flat.
So if everyone can find leads equally well, what separates the great sellers from the ones who are just filling a chair?
What actually matters now
The 60 percent who survive, and thrive, are the ones who understand something fundamental: AI doesn’t replace judgment. It amplifies it.
Great sellers in the AI era will do three things exceptionally well.
First, they’ll know how to read signals, not just data. They’ll see a Series B announcement and understand what it means for budget timing. They’ll notice a new CMO hire and know that means the buying committee just changed. They’ll feel market shifts before they show up in the CRM.
Second, they’ll ask better questions. Not scripted discovery questions from a playbook. Real questions that come from actually understanding the business they’re talking to. The kind of questions AI can’t generate because they require human curiosity and context.
Third, they’ll build relationships that matter. Not transactional check-ins. Not automated touchpoints. Real trust with real people who remember why they took the meeting in the first place.
These aren’t soft skills. These are the only skills that matter when everything else can be automated.
Why 40 percent won’t make it
The reality is that a lot of what we’ve called sales for the past decade wasn’t really sales. It was data entry. It was manual research. It was repetitive tasks that felt like work because they took time.
AI is going to do all of that. Faster. Cheaper. Without complaining.
The sellers who built their careers on activity metrics are going to struggle. Because when AI can send a thousand personalized emails in the time it takes you to send ten, volume stops being your advantage.
When AI can research a company in seconds and surface the three insights that actually matter, your ability to read a LinkedIn page isn’t impressive anymore.
When AI can update the CRM, schedule follow-ups, and trigger the next step in the sequence automatically, being good with process isn’t a skill worth paying for.
The 40 percent who won’t survive aren’t bad people. They’re just people who were doing jobs that are about to stop existing.
How the smart ones are adapting
I’ve been watching the sellers who get it. They’re not fighting AI. They’re not pretending it’s overhyped. They’re learning to work with it in ways that make them more valuable, not less.
They’re using AI to handle research so they can spend more time actually talking to customers. They’re letting automation handle the follow-up so they can focus on the conversations that move deals forward. They’re treating AI like their best research analyst, so they can operate more like a strategic advisor.
The best part? They’re not working harder. They’re working different.
They’re spending less time on tasks and more time on thinking. Less time updating systems and more time understanding people. Less time chasing and more time closing.
That’s what survival looks like in the AI era. Not doing more of what you’ve always done. Doing what only you can do, and letting AI handle the rest.
The opportunity hiding in the challenge
Here’s what nobody’s saying clearly enough: if 40 percent of sellers are going to struggle, that means there’s going to be a massive talent gap.
Companies still need revenue. They still need people who can navigate complex deals, build executive relationships, and close business that matters. They’re just not going to need people who were really doing administrative work disguised as sales.
For the 60 percent who adapt, this is the best time in history to be in sales. Less competition. Higher value. More leverage. Better tools.
But you have to choose to be in that 60 percent. It’s not going to happen by accident.
What you should do next
Stop measuring yourself by activity. Start measuring yourself by insight.
Stop trying to send more emails. Start trying to understand more context.
Stop treating AI like a threat to your job. Start treating it like a tool that makes your job possible.
And if you’re still doing tasks that a well-trained algorithm could handle, ask yourself: am I building skills that matter, or am I just staying busy?
The AI era isn’t coming. It’s here. The only question left is whether you’re going to be in the 60 percent who thrive, or the 40 percent who wonder what happened.
Watch the full conversation: Startup Sales Talk #27 with Dom Urniezius, and see Yoni break it down on GrowTech: “40% of Sellers won’t Survive AI. How to be in the 60% Who Do?“
Read more by Yoni Tserruya: Why compliance-first AI data powers RevOps success
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FAQs
Because much of what we’ve called sales for the past decade was really data entry, manual research, and repetitive tasks. AI now handles all of that faster and cheaper. Sellers who built careers on activity metrics—dials made, emails sent—will struggle because volume is no longer an advantage when AI can automate outreach at scale.
Three things: First, reading signals, not just data—understanding what a Series B raise or new CMO hire actually means. Second, asking real questions that come from genuine curiosity and context, not scripted playbooks. Third, building authentic relationships based on trust, not transactional check-ins. These require human judgment that AI amplifies but can’t replace.
Stop measuring yourself by activity and start measuring by insight. Use AI to handle research, data entry, and follow-up automation so you can focus on strategic conversations and relationship building. Treat AI like your best research analyst, not a threat to your job. The sellers thriving now spend less time on tasks and more time on thinking.
Sales Streaming is Lusha’s AI-powered approach that continuously streams the most relevant, high-intent leads to RevOps and sales teams—so they can focus on closing deals, not chasing them. As featured in global outlets like Techday Australia and E-CommerceNews Asia, Lusha is leading the shift from Sales Seeking to Sales Streaming.
Yes, for the 60% who adapt. There will be less competition, higher value for strategic sellers, more leverage, and better tools. Companies still need people who can navigate complex deals and build executive relationships—they just don’t need people doing administrative work disguised as sales. The opportunity is massive for those who choose to build skills that matter.
