After six years in enablement and a career that started at the bottom of the sales ladder, I've seen enough to know when our profession is at a crossroads. And friends, we're standing right at that intersection today...

Here's something that should make you sit up straight: Sales enablement search volume on Google Trends has been flatlining while operational roles are climbing like they're on rocket fuel. Revenue enablement? It doesn't even register as a blip. Meanwhile, if I tried to add AI to the same graph, it would dwarf everything else so dramatically that you couldn't see any other lines.

This isn't meant to scare you – let's call it “unsettling” instead. But it's a reality check we need to face head-on.

Three hard truths about our future

1. The proof gap

Here's the thing: ops teams speak the language of investors and business owners: cold, hard data. They lead with numbers, metrics, and measurable outcomes. Meanwhile, many of us came from sales backgrounds, focusing on soft skills and relationships. We're great at what we do, but we're not always great at proving it.

2. The scale problem

Put yourself in your leader's shoes for a moment. They're being asked to do more with less every single day. If you report to them, you need to be on their team solving that same challenge. The trend is clear: outside of giants like Oracle and Microsoft, enablement teams are shrinking. AI is the culprit, sure, but here's my take: you can either get mad at that reality or learn to work with it.

Remember what Henry Ford said:

“Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.”

3. The innovation mandate

Your leadership is being judged on innovation. So what are you doing to become an innovation center for them? While foundational concepts like storytelling and change management remain crucial (and many great talks at our conference covered these timeless truths), we also need to embrace what's new, modern, and innovative.

Learning from science fiction: The adaptive approach

Remember Ender's Game? Written in the 1980s, it featured a “mind game” that adapted to each player's psychological state. Today, we can actually build this with AI.

Think about the feedback you constantly hear: “That text is too long,” “I won't watch that video,” “I'm not that kind of learner.” Sound familiar? Well, now we can fix these issues in about 30 seconds with the right tools.

I'm not here to pitch specific platforms. The point is this: you should be exploring how to make your content adaptive. Want to turn that lengthy PDF into a podcast? That hour-long video into a one-pager? That static content into an interactive role-play? It's all possible, and I'm saying this as someone who can't even spell HTML.

Practical AI applications you can start tomorrow

Competitive intelligence on autopilot

Almost everyone I asked has been tasked with competitive intelligence. Here's the game-changer: tools now exist that can monitor your competitors' websites continuously. Every time they update their site or get a new G2 review, you get an alert with a summary formatted for your sales team. No more manual checking, it's all automated.

Meeting prep that actually gets used

John Barrows recently shared how he pulls CRM data into Notebook LM (Google's free tool) to create podcast-style meeting prep. Ten minutes of listening beats thirty minutes of reading scattered notes any day. If you haven't introduced your team to Notebook LM yet, why not?

Territory planning made simple

When reps get new territories, AI can essentially do the heavy lifting of analysis and planning. What used to take days now takes hours.

Follow-up automation

Most call recording software can now summarize meetings and send follow-up notes automatically. This one's been around for a while – it's safe, simple, and saves time.

Real innovation from real practitioners

During my talk, Marco shared a brilliant example: his team uses AI to create Jeopardy-style games for their onboarding programs. They feed session transcripts into AI and get quiz questions instantly. That's the kind of creative thinking we need more of.

I used similar tactics when building our LMS – taking video transcripts, having AI generate quiz questions, and selecting the best ones. It accelerated my productivity dramatically.

Addressing the elephant in the room: Trust and security

When it comes to AI concerns, and those worried about sharing company information, here's some perspective: your marketing team already pulls your strengths and weaknesses from public sources like G2 reviews. Your competitors have access to the same information. Most of what we think is “private” is actually already public.

That said, if you're in a highly regulated industry or your company has specific policies, work within those boundaries. Many large organizations now have private data lakes with Microsoft or Google, giving you protected AI capabilities.

The business case for embracing AI

One attendee asked a crucial question: “What if leadership is hesitant while reps are going rogue with AI tools?”

My answer? Build a business case they can't ignore. Show them that competitors are using these tools. Demonstrate that the risk of not adopting AI far exceeds the risk of embracing it responsibly. Speak their language: use numbers, show efficiency gains, demonstrate ROI.

Think of it like social media's emergence. The younger generation adopted it, while parents and teachers scrambled to understand it. Don't let your organization be caught in that position with AI.

Becoming an innovation leader

Here's how AI knowledge can get you that coveted seat at the table: Instead of approaching leadership with tool recommendations, approach them with solutions to real problems.

“Hey, reps are reporting this fifteen-step process is killing productivity. I have a solution to make it a three-step process. Training will be shorter, adoption will be higher, and results will improve. Want to hear how?”

That's a vision executives care about. The fact that it involves AI is secondary to the problem it solves.

The path forward

The choice is clear: we can fear AI and watch our profession stagnate, or we can embrace it and lead the charge toward a more efficient, impactful future. The tools are accessible – many are free. The learning curve isn't as steep as you think. And the potential impact on your career and your organization is massive.

Don't wait for permission. Don't let fear hold you back. Start small, experiment responsibly, and show results. Because in the end, AI isn't replacing sales enablement professionals, it's replacing those who refuse to evolve.

The future of sales enablement isn't about choosing between human touch and technology. It's about combining them in ways that multiply our impact. And that future is already here. The only question is: are you ready to embrace it?

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This article was adapted from Brandon's talk at our Sales Enablement Summit in Austin, Texas.

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