The Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) is possibly the only go-to-market (GTM) role immune to AI, yet it must undergo significant transformation in the next two years.
AI is transforming GTM strategies across the board:
- Customer support: Already highly automated, with platforms like Intercom/Fin, Gorgias, Zendesk, and Decagon experiencing over 60% automation in issue resolution.
- Marketing: CMOs unfamiliar with AI are increasingly concerned.
- SDRs: These roles are diminishing in necessity.
- Customer Success: AI is rapidly advancing in managing renewal conversations.
- One Call Close Sales Rep: AI is exploring this domain next.
Amid these changes, the CRO role is not only surviving but becoming more crucial as AI shifts the landscape.
The Great GTM Disruption Has Already Begun
AI is already handling up to 80% of customer support issues. Marketing benefits from AI’s superior copywriting and campaign optimization. The SDR role is being replaced by AI that can send thousands of personalized messages more effectively. In Customer Success, AI predicts churn, automates health scores, and manages routine interactions.
AI might take over 50% of transactional SMB Account Executive roles in 2-4 years, as it handles mundane tasks more efficiently. This evolution points towards fewer transactional interactions and more strategic roles.
The New Talent Equation: Technical Depth Over Volume
While AI reduces the need for some traditional sales roles, it increases demand for others, such as solutions engineers who engage in technical demos earlier in the sales process. Microsoft is an example, replacing traditional sales roles with technical expertise to meet demand for in-depth technical discussions earlier in the sales cycle.
Companies are shifting towards solutions architects and experts who manage complex technical conversations that AI currently cannot. Microsoft’s strategy includes reducing sales focus areas and hiring more technical sales roles to compete with AI-driven companies.
But … Someone Has to Orchestrate the Symphony
AI cannot independently integrate and manage diverse revenue streams. The CRO of 2027 will orchestrate a hybrid human-AI revenue model, building teams with strong technical skills. Key focus areas for the CRO include:
- Building teams around technical depth rather than generalist skills, as exemplified by Microsoft’s shift.
- Managing the AI-human interaction, determining when AI or human input is best used.
- Constantly updating sales playbooks to incorporate AI advancements.
- Hiring for skills required in an AI-driven future, emphasizing technical and industry knowledge that AI cannot replicate.
- Navigating customer interactions to effectively balance AI’s role without compromising the human touch.
Even small teams like Team SaaStr have integrated AI in operation, iterating and training daily. Insight into managing AI agents is expanding.
The Strategic Evolution of the CRO. It’s Coming Fast.
Successful CROs are embracing AI, leveraging it to handle administrative tasks while human teams focus on problem-solving and strategy. AI-powered teams achieve significantly higher response rates and efficiency compared to traditional methods.
CROs are evolving into AI product managers, continuously evaluating tools and AI investments. They shift hiring strategy from broad generalists to specialized roles requiring deep expertise.
The Last Human Standing
As AI reshapes GTM roles, the CRO role becomes more complex, requiring strategic thinking and human-judgment integration with AI. The CRO of the future will blend sales leadership, AI strategy, psychology, and trend forecasting, maintaining balance in a rapidly AI-driven market.
The window for transformation is narrow. Companies adopting AI-first approaches now will outpace others, leaving skilled CROs as invaluable orchestrators in a world where AI is prevalent in GTM functions.
The future CRO will be the vital human element in managing the revenue symphony comprised of both human and AI capabilities.