Roughly two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses now use artificial intelligence tools, yet the humans who sell, plan, and negotiate advertising campaigns are not being pushed aside. New survey data from Borrell Associates shows that while AI adoption is soaring for tasks like content creation and social media analytics, businesses overwhelmingly avoid using the technology to decide where ad dollars go. For sales professionals, the findings signal a future where AI boosts efficiency but does not automate away relationships or strategic judgment.
Where AI Is Gaining Traction
Content creation leads business AI use, with 36% of SMBs reporting they rely on these tools for writing and design work. Social media analytics follows at 26%. For those working in advertising and marketing, AI for Marketing already helps with generating posts, analyzing engagement, and handling administrative tasks. These applications are fast, cheap, and don't require the AI to understand the nuances of budget allocation or media negotiation.
Where AI Falls Short for Advertising Decisions
When it comes to core ad functions, the numbers drop sharply. Just 9% of SMBs use AI for ad optimization, 8% for ad planning, and 7% for ad targeting. The same survey reveals that many businesses remain hesitant because large language models, the engines behind AI tools, are error-prone. "AI does hallucinate, which is a nice way of saying AI does make mistakes," says IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur on Borrell's "Local Marketing Trends" podcast. He points out that the quality of an AI recommendation depends entirely on the quality of the underlying data - and advertising data is often messy and incomplete.
The Five-Year Outlook for Sales Teams
Katsur does not see a future where AI independently plans, negotiates, buys, and reconciles campaigns. "You may need a smaller sales organization, but by no means do I see any time in the next five years where the industry is just going to let AI run rampant from the point of planning, negotiating, buying, and reconciling a campaign. There needs to be a human in the loop across multiple steps of how advertising dollars are lit up in the industry." He encourages businesses to test AI for ad placement and ROI analysis, but his prediction leaves sales roles firmly in the picture - just potentially leaner and more focused on high-value work.
Why this matters for sales professionals
The data argues against fears of rapid job displacement. Instead, salespeople who learn to complement their skills with AI will be positioned to handle larger workloads and deliver sharper insights. Exploring AI for Sales training can help professionals understand where the technology fits into prospecting, reporting, and client communication. The human element - building trust, interpreting nuance, and closing complex deals - remains the part of the job that AI can't replicate. For the foreseeable future, that protects the role even as tools change.
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