Hiring a great sales professional has traditionally required managers to review a candidate’s sales skills. They also checked out how well a candidate might fit into the organization, often assessing soft skills. As technology advances, hiring managers should maintain awareness of another key organizational need: AI readiness.

What is AI Readiness?

Ataccama​.com defines AI readiness as “the degree to which a company is prepared to adopt, integrate, and build value from AI initiatives.”

While the full impact of AI on business is still unfolding, it’s clear that the technology is here to stay. Business decision-​makers are embracing AI.

According to our B2B BuyerSCAN survey:

• 28% of business decision-​makers say AI and automation will be one of their top business challenges in the next year.
• 34% believe AI will help solve key problems.
• 27% feel confident they understand how AI can drive team success.

Why Sales Teams Must Embrace AI

Most organizational leaders will achieve AI readiness by hiring for roles such as IT and data scientists. But sales professionals also need a level of AI literacy. They will increasingly encounter prospects who want to discuss solutions through the lens of AI. Sales professionals who demonstrate AI knowledge and agility will instantly boost their credibility.

How Sales Professionals Use AI

Generative AI is enabling all departments, including sales, to work more productively. The technology automates repetitive tasks such as writing emails. Of course, it’s critical to review the output created by AI, but sales professionals can save time when they use the technology correctly.

Tech-​savvy sales reps jumped on this technology as soon as it was available. But other sales professionals aren’t ready to take the plunge. Sales managers will need to work with their team to build AI readiness.

Building AI Readiness in Sales Organizations

Encouraging AI adoption starts at the top. Sales leaders should:

• Set clear guidelines for AI use.
• Hold training sessions to update workflows.
• Assign team members to track AI trends and opportunities.

At the same time, CEOs are acutely aware that “they must turn AI intent into measurable impact.” In this way, they will save their jobs and maintain competitive advantage. 

Leaders also need to educate employees. If they don’t, employees will resist learning and adopting new processes. A significant percentage of recently surveyed employees, 33%, believe that AI “diminishes their value and creativity.”

AI Readiness: A Sales Hiring Imperative

Today’s leading organizations possess AI readiness. This phrase refers to how well a business can incorporate the latest AI technology. Forward-​thinking leaders are always looking for ways to use AI to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. This mindset puts their teams ahead of their competition.

Another way to upgrade the organization’s AI readiness is to hire sales professionals who possess personal AI readiness. Traditional sales assessments remain important, but adding an evaluation of AI familiarity can elevate a team’s potential. AI-​ready reps will help organizations leap ahead of competitors.

Our forthcoming AudienceSCAN 2025 survey reveals that sales professionals have a generally positive attitude about AI.

• Over 30% have already experimented with platforms such as ChatGPT.
• 29% believe that AI can help them become better writers.

How to Assess a Sales Candidate’s Personal AI Readiness

Don’t assume a positive attitude equates to personal AI readiness. Instead, use assessments like TeamTrait. Specifically, TeamTrait's Sales Acumen assessment is a situational judgement test for salespeople that also measures their personal readiness in using AI for sales.

Key evaluation areas include:

• Ability to adopt, adapt, and responsibly use AI.
• Understanding how and when to apply AI in the sales process.
• Emotional intelligence to know when not to rely on AI.

Note: Sales professionals don’t need to be technical experts or prompt engineers — but they do need to integrate AI tools smartly into their workflow.

Emotional Intelligence and AI

C. Lee Smith, creator of TeamTrait, says “Sales is a human relationships game.” A sales candidate with AI agility will understand that basic fact.

Specifically, the candidate will demonstrate knowing when they should use AI in their interactions with buyers. They need to know when to emphasize the personal interaction when talking with a prospect. And they should indicate the ability to use critical thinking when it comes to AI. They should understand when, and when not, to incorporate AI in their work process and product.

Summary

AI is already outscoring humans on intelligence tests. But it doesn’t come close to outperforming humans on empathy and emotional intelligence. Sales candidates with personal AI readiness will understand the power of this quickly changing technology. They’ll also demonstrate their critical thinking abilities and lead the next wave of sales success.