AI in B2B Sales

1. The LLM Era (2022–2024): AI as a Sales Assistant

Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-3 changed the game for sales reps.

They automated repetitive tasks:

• Writing personalized cold emails

• Summarizing call notes

• Drafting follow-ups

Biggest takeaway: LLMs helped scale outreach but stopped short of making actual decisions.

2. The Agent Era (2025): AI as a Sales Rep

This year we entered the agent era. AI moving beyond passive tools and starting to act like a jr SDR.

Sales agents, powered by LLMs, can now:

• Research prospects and qualify leads.

• Send personalized emails and follow-ups at scale.

• Schedule meetings directly on your calendar and handle followup.

Key difference: These tools take initiative, they' aren’t just reactive anymore. But they still require guardrails, they lack nuance in prioritising accounts or adapting to unique deal cycles.

3. The Next Wave (2026): AI as the Sales Strategist

AI agents will communicate across tools.

A seamless network of interconnected tools that work together to drive sales.

Systems that analyse your pipeline every morning, flags any risks, recommends next steps, gathers necessary real-time research & automates all follow-ups and nurturing.

No longer relying on AI just for outreach but for STRATEGY too.

Sales team headcount will plummet and be solely comprised of CLOSERS.