AI Finds Rapid Adoption in Enablement Solutions But with Challenges

The State of AI in Enablement shows AI investments are paying off and helping sales leaders show growth in revenue goals.

Seismic, the global sales enablement platform, released the findings of The State of AI in Enablement: 2023 Report. The survey constituted responses from 600+ full-time employees in a sales, enablement, or customer success role at the management level or above in the United States. Key findings indicate that AI-powered enablement technology is proving to be transformational for businesses looking to drive revenue growth quickly and efficiently as they fight the economic storm.

AI is catalyzing Sales Enablement

Sales enablement is more crucial than ever as companies face budget cuts and the need to do more with less. Artificial intelligence (AI) comes to the rescue with AI tools helping fast-track business sales efforts. Sales leaders are inclined towards using AI to improve revenue targets and lead generation. With its ability to handle time-consuming tasks with speed and accuracy, AI is fast becoming the go-to technology partner for most sales teams. However, the question of return on investment remains. 

Seismic’s The State of AI in Enablement: 2023 Report found that go-to-market (GTM) leaders expect investments in AI to pay off in dividends, with 85% of respondents believing the fusion of AI and GTM strategy will lead to revenue growth for their organization. Leaders also predict that 23% of growth will be directly attributed to AI utilization over the next five years. 

Most leaders use enablement technology, which 84% find mission-critical for achieving revenue goals. This leads to 89% planning to invest further in 2024. Significant advancements in AI are believed to increase enablement budgets by 19% next year. Naturally, 93% of the surveyed leaders vouch for AI advancements as a major driver for their company’s increasing investment in enablement technology going into next year. 

Challenges with AI in Sales Enablement

Sales leaders have witnessed results in utilizing AI to automate manual efforts, train staff, gain data-driven insights, etc. However, these results take time to become visible. Driving the adoption of new technology while overcoming the challenges will impact the timing of the expected results.  

More than half (66%) of GTM leaders surveyed in the report encountered initial hurdles before eventually realizing positive outcomes. Fifty-one percent have reported implementation and adoption as their greatest areas of concern regarding using AI in enablement. However, on the positive side, 83% feel optimistic about deploying more AI solutions for their team within the next 12 months, implying that the challenges won’t be significant hurdles on the way forward towards AI implementation. 

Key findings from the study also include:

• In 2024, 93% of GTM leaders who intend to boost their investment in enablement technology attribute their decision to the significant advancements in AI
• 54% of GTM leaders say their organization already uses AI-powered tools for sales enablement
• The three top functions that GTM leaders are leveraging AI-powered enablement tools for are: 

• 53% use it for content analytics
• 50% use it for content distribution
• 48% use it for learning and coaching
• 91% of those who have implemented AI tools say that their company has noted an increase in customer satisfaction since implementing AI into their enablement processes 
• Of those who faced challenges, 54% reported integration issues, 41% reported a lack of understanding, and 34% reported security or privacy concerns
• 63% of GTM leaders believe that AI is the primary force behind evolving customer experiences today
• 73% believe that companies that fail to incorporate AI into their GTM processes effectively will fall behind their competitors within the next three years

It all comes down to doing more with less, in terms of both resources and time. With AI, sales teams can accelerate their processes, emphasizing high-potential leads. With AI’s efficient data analysis, sales leaders can enable teams to gain insights faster and more accurately.