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Oct 19

Gartner’s 13 ways GenAI is improving B2B Sales is the roadmap every business needs

Generative AI (GenAI) ‘s potential for streamlining the most time-consuming processes in B2B sales is just getting started. As businesses increasingly rely on AI to enhance efficiency, automate routine tasks, and personalize customer engagement, GenAI is set to become a critical differentiator in the race for B2B sales and market leadership.

B2B sales organizations using GenAI-embedded sales technologies will reduce the time they spend prospecting and preparing for customer meetings by over 50% within two years.
Conversational interfaces based on GenAI will gain momentum and further revolutionize B2B selling. In 2028, they will be the driving force behind up to 60% of B2B sales interactions, up from less than 5% in 2023.
Centralized GenAI operations teams are also on the way, championed by Chief Revenue Officers (CROs). These teams will focus on integrating AI-driven strategies into sales and revenue operations. 35% of CROs will have GenAI operations teams online and incorporated into their companies’ strategic planning process by 2025.

The goal: find the most likely wins for GenAI in B2B Sales

Gartner’s recent report, 13 Generative AI Use Cases for B2B Sales, provides an analysis of where GenAI is helping improve B2B sales now and in the future.

“Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping the sales technology landscape, offering innovative solutions in areas such as prospecting, sales analytics, forecasting, and sales enablement. Tools infused with GenAI capabilities are embedded in use cases across the sales function, supporting key priorities such as revenue growth, GTM, cost optimization, and risk mitigation,” write the authors of Gartner’s study.

In defining and ranking the most valuable use cases of GenAI in B2B sales, Gartner examined where the technology is being most effectively applied to improve sales operations, increase seller productivity, and fuel future transformation.

The following multidimensional grid defines the use cases by value and feasibility.

Source: Generative AI Use Cases for B2B Sales, Gartner, Inc.

Gartner evaluated each use case for GenAI in B2B sales by scoring them on two key factors: business value and feasibility. The figure below shows the breakout of value and feasibility factors Gartner has used as a framework to rank the 13 use cases: “While we’ve defined the dimensions of value and feasibility according to our research criteria, companies are encouraged to customize these parameters to align with their own business needs,” the report states.

Source: Gartner, Inc. (2024) Generative AI Use Cases for B2B Sales

Mapping GenAI Use Cases Across Business Functions

Gartner also provides a GenAI use-case pipeline as part of their analysis to graphically explain how the 13 AI-driven strategies or use cases are distributed across business functions, including marketing, sales, and customer success.

The goal is to help organizations identify and take action on the use cases that will deliver the most significant potential impact. Gartner advises that use cases that span multiple stages of the pipeline typically deliver greater overall business value, making them strategic targets for investment. Additionally, the pipeline acts as a guide to identifying the relevant stakeholders within the organization, enabling more focused discussions and alignment on AI implementation priorities.

GenAI is redefining the future of B2B Sales

Within the next three years, GenAI will emerge as one of the main factors that differentiate the most efficient and financially successful B2B sales organizations. With CROs creating operations teams to scale AI improvements across every phase of the sales process and sales teams using AI to automate reporting and manually-intensive tasks, GenAI is supposed to revamp the time-consuming work that gets in the way of selling.

Gartner’s analysis highlights that AI-driven strategies will soon dominate, with significant gains in efficiency and customer engagement. The message is clear: for sales organizations looking to stay ahead, embracing GenAI is not optional—it’s essential. Those who act now will position themselves as leaders in the evolving world of B2B sales, while those who hesitate risk being left behind.

Oct 6

Top ten insights CEOs need to know about GenAI going into 2025

CEOs and C-level executives, including line-of-business leaders managing enterprises, no longer have time for AI hype—they need actionable plans that deliver measurable results.

Every CEO I know has a Gen AI tech trends deck ready for board meetings. They’re all impatient for results.

Gartner’s 2024 Generative AI Planning Survey, published yesterday, reflects how impatient CEOs and their teams are gaining traction with GenAI pilots and AI initiatives. The survey involved 822 business executives from North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific across eight corporate functions.

Key insights from the GenAI planning survey include the following:

11.3% to 19.7% cost savings are expected from GenAI, with the lowest in finance and highest in marketing and HR, as predicted by CEOs and C-level leaders.
87% of CEOs/C-suite are driving GenAI adoption in areas like sales and finance, pushing top-down initiatives for implementation.
Legal departments: 26% rolling out GenAI for contract review in 6 months; already widely used for legal research and analysis.
19.7% cost savings in marketing driven by GenAI, making it the most impacted department for efficiency gains.
28% of leaders cite technical challenges as the top barrier to GenAI implementation, followed by talent acquisition (26%) and costs (24%).
69% of GenAI-advanced companies focus on upskilling staff, while 64% are creating new AI-specific roles to meet talent needs.

Cutting through the hype: What CEOs need to know about GenAI going into next year

Rhetoric into results is the new mantra of the C-suite going into 2025.

That’s especially the case with GenAI.

Board members are worried they’re about to get lapped or, worse, see their companies become gradually irrelevant by competitors who are more focused on making GenAI pay than they are. The greater the acuity and insight of how to turn GenAI into a competitive strength, the greater the speed at which an enterprise executes and gets solid results. Speed isn’t optional anymore, it’s table stakes to compete.

Just as every business needs to keep challenging itself to find new paths to reinvent itself to make AI a competitive strength, the same holds for working professionals. There has never been a better time to double down on new skills and master AI tools, technologies, and knowledge.

The following are ten insights every CEO needs to know about GenAI going into 2025:

Over the next 12-18 months, GenAI will boost productivity by 22.6%, outpacing revenue growth at 15.8% and cost savings at 15.2%. While cost efficiency and revenue gains matter, the most immediate and substantial impact will be on operational efficiency. Gartner predicts that enterprises that prioritize GenAI integration will see significant increases in both workflow optimization and financial performance.

Top ten insights CEOs need to know about GenAI going into 2025 — Source: Gartner’s 2024 Gartner Generative AI Planning Survey

30% of leaders plan to reduce headcount by 3% to 5% in 2024 due to GenAI-driven automation, with an overall average savings of 4.6%. These reductions will primarily affect roles tied to repetitive or manual tasks as organizations seek to streamline operations. Another 18% anticipate more minor cuts of 1% to 3%, while 14% expect deeper reductions of 8% to 10%, signaling that GenAI’s impact will vary by function. Only 10% foresee no layoffs.

87% of sales teams are following CEO or C-suite directives to implement GenAI, demonstrating a top-down strategy that prioritizes AI for revenue growth and a more significant competitive advantage. Supply chain (79%) and finance (74%) also see intense executive pressure, indicating that leadership views AI as critical for optimizing operational efficiency and financial management.

84% of organizations prioritize embedding GenAI into existing applications as the top method for enabling their use cases, with 34% making it their first choice. Customizing existing models (74%) and training custom models (65%) follow, while only 59% opt for stand-alone tools. Enterprises are focusing on integrating GenAI within their current systems to drive efficiency and impact rather than relying on isolated or siloed solutions.

HR leads GenAI budget allocation at 7.1%, followed closely by customer service (7.0%) and finance (6.9%). Across functions, business leaders plan to allocate 5.4% to 7.1% of their 2024 budgets to GenAI initiatives, including spending on technology licensing and employee deployment costs. Gartner observes that this shows a solid commitment to embedding GenAI across departments, with HR and customer service prioritizing it for operational efficiency and innovation.

54% of C-level executives prioritize privacy concerns as the top GenAI risk, followed closely by misuse (49%) and job displacement fears (48%). These top concerns highlight the critical need for strong governance and risk management frameworks and plans to ensure ethical, secure AI deployment. CEOs need to step up the pace on this now if they’re going to compete in this dimension of their business in 2025.

According to 28% of leaders, technical implementation, talent acquisition (26%), and governance issues (25%) are the top three barriers to GenAI adoption. North America struggles more with measuring value (30%), while Europe faces higher cultural resistance (24%). These barriers highlight the need for focused strategies to overcome implementation and talent gaps across regions.

32% of service-centric industries struggle with measuring value from GenAI initiatives, significantly more than asset-centric industries. The top barriers for both include the cost of running AI, technical implementation (32% each), and getting the necessary talent (28%). To excel, enterprises need to address these common challenges and tailor strategies that overcome sector-specific obstacles, including data availability (28% for service-centric industries).

Customer service leads GenAI adoption with 40% using real-time speech and text translation, followed by marketing (38% with chatbots and digital humans), sales (34% with generative business intelligence), HR (29% for job descriptions and skills data), supply chain (30% for chatbots and code generation), finance (22% for coding assistance), legal/risk (17% for legal research), and procurement (18% for contract lifecycle management).

76% of mature AI organizations actively recruit additional headcount for existing roles to meet GenAI talent needs, significantly more than the 52% of less mature organizations. They also prioritize running AI literacy programs (67%) and upskilling staff with GenAI skills (67%) to ensure their workforce remains competitive. Mature organizations are also more likely to create new roles for GenAI (67%) and establish AI centers of excellence (45%), showing their commitment to both talent acquisition and long-term AI capability development.