Way back in ancient times — I mean a long time ago, specifically, the 1990s — offices switched from paper correspondence, typewriters and Interoffice Memos to computers, networks and email. If you were in the working world back then, I can confidently make two predictions:

1.    You had to don your “cheaters” to read this article;

2.    You remember that office automation was going to lead to the “paperless office.”

We’re getting closer to the paperless office today. Thanks to cloud storage, PDFs, DocuSign, AI notetakers and other handy conveniences, the only things I print nowadays are recipes and the “YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!” signs I make in PowerPoint. 

It didn’t start out that way, though. For years, office automation supercharged paper consumption in offices (see Figure 1). 

As you can see, from 1990 to 2018, paper consumption grew rapidly as it was really easy for each of us to print our own reports, MapQuest directions, charts, meeting handouts and funny cartoons to share with coworkers. So, we did. In most offices, you could find big, powerful, high-speed copiers and printers that we used during the day for business reasons and, when the boss went home at night, to copy invitations to our kids’ birthday parties. 

Technology tends to produce unintended gains, repercussions and consequences, and the “paperless office” idea was quickly drowned in a sea of letter-size, 20-pound bond supplied by Staples.

This time will be different!

Thanks to the awesome power of artificial intelligence (AI), the effects of technology adoption will be much different this time around. Meaning, things will be even more unpredictable. If you thought Jim Kramer was wrong in his 2004 prediction in New York Magazine that “Kmart is the next Berkshire Hathaway,” wait until you see how erroneous today’s “experts” turn out to be when they forecast how AI will change the world and — notably — your job. 

We’re already seeing similar surprises with AI. Early predictions that it would solve climate change problems have given way to the reality that enormous power requirements from data centers have been a boon to the coal industry — and others. According to City & State Pennsylvania, the energy company Constellation is restarting the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, which melted down to glowing reviews back in 1979 (https://bit.ly/4cFAeLk). The company claims the plant will be “fully operational by the middle of 2028,” which sounds uncomfortably like what they said about the Death Star in “Star Wars.”

A lot of people thought AI-enabled autonomous vehicles would wipe out jobs for professional drivers, but instead, there’s a huge demand for them. Meanwhile, business attorneys are seeing the impacts of millions of people turning to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity to write, review and redline contracts. That doesn’t make driver jobs safe, however; it only makes them safe for now. 

Sales is a safe haven from AI, until it isn’t

Despite my warning that experts aren’t good at predicting the coming changes AI will bring, I’m going to do just that here. We all have careers and businesses to manage, so we have to try to figure out what’s going to happen next, no matter how cloudy the future. 

As someone who works with and around companies at every stage of the supply chain, I think sales roles are going to be around for a while — like another 10 or 20 years or more. In fact, I have a litmus test for this: as long as your customers are people, you’ll need salespeople to manage those relationships. 

That’s not a joke: machines are increasingly becoming customers, as Don Scheibenreif and Mark Raskino discuss in their book, “When Machines Become Customers.” They’ve already taken over a lot of mundane purchasing: industrial vending machines and some storage bins send their own replenishment orders today. However, salespeople are needed to show the customer why those machines and bins are a good idea in the first place. 

Plus, I toured one plant with a great sales rep who showed me exactly how he persuaded nearly every decision-maker in the facility to contact him for their needs instead of relying on the machines his competitor installed. The people in the plant love him, so he wins most of those battles. It’s really tough to beat a great salesperson. 

However, the rise of the machines is inevitable. Increasing automation in manufacturing planning and construction project management is going to take out jobs on both the purchasing and selling sides of the table. So, I predict a gradual but steady decline in the number of professional B2B sellers over time. 

Since many people in these roles are retiring, I don’t think this is going to bring about a job crisis for skilled sellers anytime soon. However, I think there are ways to protect yourself from these effects so that when the “Terminator” theme music stops playing, you’re not the one without a chair. 

Evolution of the sales role in the age of AI

Here are the steps you should take to stay relevant in professional selling as AI continues to evolve the business landscape:

 Adopt AI in your job and company faster than your competitors. For all its long-term risks, AI has enabled tools available right now that can make you more effective, more productive and more successful. In our little company, we have automated many tasks thanks to large language models, customer relationship management, marketing automation, project management systems, and more — and it’s made a huge difference. 

We work faster, smarter and more efficiently than ever. This has reduced our need for agencies, headcount and technology, and we can react and respond faster to the market than we ever could have while relying on older tools. 

If you’re relying on Excel, Google Sheets, Outlook and traditional tools to manage projects, budgets or customer communications, you are behind your competitors. We use these tools for very specific tasks, but have transitioned out of them entirely for anything that looks like a standing process. 

If you don’t do this, you will lose to competitors who are becoming more effective and efficient than you, right now. 

 Immerse yourself in AI education. I get it — there’s far more information about AI than anyone could possibly absorb. That’s not an excuse to give up, throw up your hands and find yourself stuck in the past. Instead, look up solid AI resources specific to your industry, your job and your needs. Find and subscribe to quality newsletter, writers, podcasts and webcasts. 

In the words of that great philosopher, Ted Lasso: “All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. They thought they had everything figured out.” 

When it comes to AI, no one has it figured out. Beware the so-called experts who say things like (true example), “My cat is smarter than AI because it can jump from the sofa to the window.” Oh yeah? Can your cat ace the MCAT, the LSAT and GMAT, because ChatGPT can. 

Don’t belittle AI, be curious. This is one of those moments when the world is changing profoundly; you still have the opportunity to be an early adopter, but those days are numbered. Don’t waste them. 

 Expand your skills. As AI begins to take over and some of your customer contacts lose their jobs to automation, you’re going to need more advanced sales skills than ever. You may not need the same product expertise when the purchasing agent is replaced by a computer. However, you’re going to need sophisticated negotiating expertise to win the annual contract with the chief procurement officer who’s selecting strategic suppliers. 

Broadening your selling skills so that you are a sales executive will help advance your career, no matter what happens with AI. However, if you believe that as long as people are around to sell to, companies will need salespeople, then you should develop skills to interface with more senior-level customer contacts because they’re the ones deciding which jobs get replaced by technology. Tip: They’ll hold on to their jobs the longest. 

I’d rather be a sales professional than work in many other functions as the AI revolution sweeps across the business landscape. Don’t take it as reassurance that sales jobs won’t change — they will. However, it’s far different than other roles that will go away almost entirely, possibly soon. 

If you adopt AI, stay current on AI and continue to invest in your own training as a sales executive and leader, you’ll be in a good position not only to keep your job but to advance your career. That’s a pretty safe place to be in this new and crazy era of accelerating, transformational technology.