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What are the four phases of AI adoption in go-to-market functions according to your framework?
AI adoption in go-to-market functions unfolds across four distinct phases, each transforming how organizations operate. Phase one eliminates all work that doesn't require humans talking to humans, freeing up selling time from 25–30% to 75% of a rep's day. Phase two deploys AI agent sellers to handle transactional sales and SMB markets. Phase three introduces AI agent buyers—systems that conduct deeper assessments than human committees ever could. Phase four dissolves the traditional boundaries between functions, turning departments into business-unit GMs operating in highly agent-enabled, cross-functional teams.
From Admin Work to Pure Selling
The first phase zeroes in on what wastes a salesperson's time. In historically best-in-class organizations, selling time has hovered around 25–30%—the rest consumed by admin, meetings, and busywork. AI changes this math by automating everything except the human conversation.
As Mark Roberge explains in the Proven Podcast, this phase isn't about replacing reps; it's about unleashing them to do what only humans can do: build relationships and close deals. When selling time reaches 75%, productivity per rep climbs dramatically without hiring more people.
AI Agents Enter the Sales Floor
Phase two brings AI agent sellers into the mix, taking ownership of customer conversations in predictable, transactional deals and SMB accounts. These aren't assistants to human reps—they're autonomous agents making decisions and closing sales within defined guardrails.
The logic is simple: not every deal requires human judgment. Standardized products, known buying patterns, and price-sensitive segments benefit from AI speed and consistency. This frees human sellers to focus on complex, relationship-driven accounts where their expertise commands real margin.
The Buyer Side Transforms
Phase three flips the script by introducing AI agent buyers. Instead of human committees debating a purchase for weeks, AI systems conduct deeper, more systematic assessments of vendors and solutions. They ask harder questions, demand cleaner data, and make faster decisions—all while removing bias from the evaluation.
This phase creates a new kind of sales challenge: you're no longer selling to a human stakeholder; you're selling to an intelligent system. The best-in-class sellers discussed in this episode will be those who understand how to structure an offer so that AI buyers can verify and validate it instantly.
When Departments Become Business Units
Phase four represents the deepest organizational shift. When enough work is agent-enabled, the boundaries between sales, marketing, customer success, and operations blur. Teams stop thinking of themselves as functional silos and start operating like independent business-unit GMs, each responsible for end-to-end customer outcomes.
A rep-to-manager ratio that historically ran 7-to-1 in tech can expand to 15-to-1 or beyond with AI enablement, creating flatter, more agile structures. The combination of selling-time gains and ratio improvements can at least double productivity per representative, fundamentally reshaping how organizations scale.
Mark Roberge — Managing Director at Stage Two Capital and Professor at Harvard Business School. Roberge was the fourth employee at HubSpot, joining as the first salesperson and serving as founding CRO through the IPO over a nine-year period ending in 2013. He has spent 13 years teaching sales to Harvard's MBA program and founded Stage Two Capital eight years ago with backing from Bessemer Venture Partners. The firm, run by the best sales and marketing leaders in tech, has deployed four funds across 150 startups. He is the author of The Sales Acceleration Formula and The Science of Scaling, with all proceeds from the latter donated to mental health causes.
Key takeaways
- Phase one redirects 45% of a rep's time from admin to selling by eliminating non-human work, lifting selling time from 25–30% to 75%.
- Phase two deploys autonomous AI agents to own transactional and SMB sales, allowing human reps to focus on complex, high-margin accounts.
- Phase three introduces AI agent buyers that conduct deeper assessments than human committees, forcing sellers to rethink how they present value.
- Phase four blurs functional boundaries, enabling flatter organizations where departments operate as independent business units with manager-to-rep ratios doubling or tripling.