Working with Generative AI in B2B Sales: Experiences from Sales Professionals

While firms and managers are increasingly exposed to the transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), empirical research on how they engage with it in B2B contexts remains limited, particularly regarding strategic functions such as sales. This study addresses this gap by investigating how B2B sales professionals use GenAI in their everyday work practices. Based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with Italian sales managers across diverse industries, the study reveals how GenAI is used (and not) in sales activities. In doing so, it unveils which tasks sales professionals perceive as augmentable through GenAI and which dimensions of their work remain inherently human. The study contributes to the emerging literature on GenAI in B2B sales by providing a fine-grained empirical understanding of how GenAI is enacted in practice throughout the sales process.