After a conference in Austin, CEO Jeannie Weiss returned buzzing about generative AI. PulsePoint has impressive revenue growth, but its profitability lags peers. She saw demos of chatbots that were “conversant, empathetic” and promised to outperform human reps. Her CTO, John, shares her excitement yet worries about hallucinations, privacy and losing control of the model. Jeannie imagines leapfrogging rivals; he frets about the risks.
I believe PulsePoint should explore this technology, but a wholesale replacement of the sales force would be premature. The skepticism voiced inside the company is telling. Sales head Mark emphasizes that business‑to‑business selling hinges on intuition and trust; an algorithm may close routine deals yet miss opportunities for upselling and building relationships. Chief customer officer Linda warns that layoffs could tarnish the brand and that more queries could swamp an AI system, noting that “in lots of scenarios, wouldn’t we still need – or want – a human touch?”. And a major client has already asked to be exempt, citing data‑privacy fears and a preference for personal service.
Those concerns suggest that the conversation should start with strategy. Jim Lecinski advises Jeannie to focus on the fundamental problem of boosting margins rather than chasing a shiny tool. AI can certainly help by automating lead scoring, drafting proposals or guiding reps during calls, but it should augment people, not replace them. Customers also want control: surveys show most want the option to transfer to a human agent. Positioning the initiative as a way to improve service, rather than a cost‑cutting move, will ease employee and client anxiety.
Generative AI is evolving fast; Dharmesh Shah notes that capabilities double every six to nine months. A measured approach – piloting internal tools and a hybrid customer‑facing chatbot with an opt‑out – allows PulsePoint to learn while maintaining trust. By staying strategically grounded and keeping humans in the loop, the company can harness AI’s promise without sacrificing the relationships at the heart of its business.
