Issue 7: Sales Manager

AI job disruption forecasting — Issue 7

A Sales Manager is responsible for leading and motivating sales teams, building strong client relationships, setting revenue targets, and developing strategies to achieve them. In the age of AI, Sales Managers face both opportunities and challenges: AI-driven analytics, CRM automation, and customer insights tools can significantly enhance efficiency and decision-making, but they also disrupt traditional sales practices.

We used the job description of a Sales Manager posted on a public job portal.

Figure 1 shows the expected automation impact on various responsibilities of a Sales Manager. While strategic activities like negotiating contracts and developing business plans show moderate disruption potential (65–70%), more administrative and transactional tasks such as maintaining financial records or preparing documentation could be automated by up to 90%, some as early as 2025–2026. Overall, activities that rely on structured data and standardised processes are most at risk in the near term.

In Figure 2, we see a comparison between current automation capabilities and those projected under an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) scenario. While immediate automation potential remains moderate for most tasks (25–55%), AGI could push the ceiling higher, affecting nearly every aspect. Particularly vulnerable are report generation, documentation, and clerical tasks, all of which reach near-total automation under AGI forecasts.

These insights highlight a need for Sales Managers to emphasise relationship-building, strategic decision-making, and client engagement skills to maintain their competitive edge.