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Skip to main contentMay 12, 2025
How much is a seller’s time worth? Quite a lot, from a revenue generating point of view. On average, sellers globally spend just 21% of their time actually selling, according to 2,000+ CROs and sales leaders. But when their time is freed from the administrative burden to focus on selling—and they increase that portion to 50%—their win rates also jump 50%.
That’s a compelling argument for using AI to take care of many other sales-related tasks.
At a recent Korn Ferry Driving Sales Transform with AI event in Sydney, AI expert and author Katie King described AI as the defining technology of our generation.
“AI is impacting every job function, in every industry sector and in every part of the world,” she told the audience of Australian sales and marketing leaders. “It takes away the ‘finger in the air’ guesswork, turning instincts into insight. And others who can do what you do better, with more insights, in a more strategic way, faster, are going to win the business.”
Generative AI is the next wave in the AI revolution, and almost one in five organisations globally are already implementing its use cases for buying and selling. It’s impacting every stage of the buyer life cycle.
But how can sales leaders make sure their investment in AI-enabled sales tools is effective?
“AI is not going to be on your five-year business plan. It's now,” said King. “But it needs a strategic approach.”
As Korn Ferry Senior Partner Adam Thorp explained at the event, “There are so many tools out there. You've got to start with the problem you’re trying to fix. If you don’t put the customer first, and understand the way they interact with you, you will not get where you need to be.”
AI is a game-changer for everyday productivity. But it is also helping sales and marketing teams differentiate and define a new competitive advantage.
Among AI’s many potential problem-solving use cases, predictive lead scoring is already a stand-out. For example, Cisco uses an in-house AI-powered sales prospecting tool to prioritise customer outreach, making sense of millions of data points. This has allowed it to scale personalised engagement to over 100 customers per rep.
Korn Ferry Sell now integrates with Salesforce’s AI engine to prompt a seller through the optimal sales strategy based on the Miller Heiman Blue Sheet data—saving administrative time while increasing effectiveness.
“AI can predict win rates, so sellers aren’t wasting time on deals that are never likely to come off,” explained King. “It finds correlations, anomalies and unusual patterns of behaviour.”
With prospects now expecting faster turnaround on RFPs, generative AI can provide an accurate first draft across multiple languages and geographies. “That’s game-changing. We will look back in a few years and wonder how we coped without it,” she commented.
And Agentic AI, including virtual sales agents, is emerging as an uncannily human-like force for closing the deal. However, it’s important to keep the human in the loop to maintain trust between buyer and seller.
While using AI-enabled sales tech can significantly increase win rates, selling is still a human interaction between buyer and seller. The fundamental buyer cycle remains the same, even though it might happen more online and the tools for engagement have changed.
Korn Ferry’s latest Workforce Survey found 55% of Australian employees are excited about the opportunity for AI to help them perform their role more efficiently and effectively. There is an appetite for change internally—and reducing the admin load can be very motivating for high performing sellers.
“Salespeople want to get out there, engage with customers, find solutions, and focus on landing the deals,” observed Cyrus Cavina, an assessment expert with Korn Ferry. “But sales leaders also want to ensure the time AI frees up is being used effectively.”
This is where data, coupled with effective sales training and coaching, can help. Korn Ferry has built over 11,000 Success Profiles, including many for existing and emerging sales roles.
“We can codify what high performance looks like in a sales organisation, and assess sales teams to identify gaps and opportunities,” Thorp explained.
He shared the example of a group of sales managers who, following assessment, showed challenges around accountability, collaboration, influence, and communication. But they had high learning agility, indicating the potential for change.
“When you know the DNA of a high sales performer—the skills required to be a high performer—you can recruit and develop to that profile,” he said.
This can also help you identify the sellers who are more open to change, able to manage ambiguity and show curiosity—all traits of sellers more likely to adopt and use AI sales tools effectively.
“It’s also about mindset. Fear can come from lack of education, but change is going to be constant throughout the rest of our careers,” noted King. And that might mean changing other aspects of roles—including how people are measured and incentivised.
Breakthrough to immediate, predictable and sustainable sales effectiveness
While talk of AI’s promise has reached fever pitch, hard realities bite—nearly half of Australian employees doubt their leaders even grasp what AI could mean for their success. As King pointed out, we might be in a “trough of disillusionment,” but staying cynical only guarantees missed opportunity. And the “plateau of productivity” is still ahead of us.
The future of sales isn’t just about adopting AI—it’s about embracing the uncomfortable work needed to make it stick. The way we work (and sell) is changing. Are you ready to change with it?
Learn more about Korn Ferry Sales Effectiveness Consulting.
