The world of B2B sales is no stranger to hype. Every year brings a new silver bullet. This year, it’s AI—again. As sales leaders, we’re encouraged to believe that AI will not just optimize our pipelines but redefine what it means to sell. But here’s the hard truth: most are falling for the same old trap: mistaking tools and information for transformation.
A recent debate from the AI research community offers a timely wake-up call. The claim? AI isn’t some mystical force. It’s just technology. “Normal” technology. Like electricity. Like the Internet. It’s massively powerful, yes, but not magic. This line of thinking, put forward by researchers Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, may sound mundane, but it’s deeply relevant to how we lead and sell in complex B2B environments.
Let’s unpack what this means.
AI Is Technology, Not a Human
Too many sales teams are being told that AI can replace human judgment. Forecasts built on AI are seen as the objective truth. Sales outreach? Done by agents. Coaching? Outsourced to LLMs. On paper, this seems efficient. In practice, it can make us less effective.
If we treat AI like a superhuman oracle, we risk creating lazy organizations.
Why? Because AI today is not general intelligence. It’s not even close. It doesn’t understand context, nuance, or emotional complexity, the very things that make complex sales work. When we forget this, we defer decisions to systems that can’t grasp the full picture.
It’s not just a tech problem. It’s a leadership problem.
Beware the Complacency Trap
Here’s where the “AI is normal tech” argument gets controversial. If we downplay AI’s capabilities, we risk ignoring its very real impacts. If we overhype it, we risk complacency of another kind: believing the tool will think for us.
Neither is helpful.
Good leaders walk the line. We should treat AI like any other powerful tool: useful, fallible, and dependent on the skill of the person wielding it. It’s the same way we treat CRM systems, business intelligence dashboards, or even the humble spreadsheet. When used with insight and intention, these tools make us better. When relied on blindly, they erode the craft.
Complex Sales Is Still Human-Centered
Let’s get to the gist of it. Complex sales require structured thinking. You don’t close a multimillion-dollar deal because a bot predicted every step. You close it because you built trust. You understood unspoken relationship dynamics. You challenged the status quo in a way no script could anticipate.
That doesn’t mean AI has no place. But let’s use it where it shines: surfacing information, summarizing content, and automating boring tasks, not replacing the art and science of sales.
Think of it this way: AI can analyze your call transcripts, but only you can know when silence meant resistance or enthusiasm was suppressed. AI can summarize your sales opportunity based on available data, but only you can tell if the champion’s influence is growing or fading by identifying group dynamics in meetings. AI can suggest the “next best action,” but only you can decide if it’s the right action.
The Cost of Magical Thinking
Here’s what worries me most. If we keep treating AI like a superhuman oracle, we risk creating lazy organizations. Sales teams stop thinking. Managers stop coaching. Leaders stop questioning. Instead, we end up with dashboards that look great and pipelines that fall apart.
Complex sales demand clarity, not just in data but also in decision-making. That clarity starts with understanding the true capabilities of our tools. AI is powerful, but it’s not prophetic.
We should be skeptical of anyone who tells us otherwise (unless they bring proof).
Time to Recalibrate
So what’s the takeaway?
If you’re leading a sales team today, you need to do three things:
- Demystify AI for your team
It’s not a magic wand. Treat it like a tool, only transformative when applied with skill. - Stay strategic
Use AI to inform decisions, not make them. Your judgment, experience, and values still matter more than any model. - Double down on coaching
An LLM can‘t navigate unspoken power structures, read a room, or build a trusted connection. Coach your people to hold themselves accountable.
AI is here to stay. But so are the fundamentals of selling. Relationships. Business acumen. Empathy. Structured thinking. Let’s not forget that.
As always, it’s not the tech that wins. It’s how we use it.
