Baylor ProSales at 40: AI, Efficiency and the Human Edge in Sales
At Baylor ProSales' 40-year symposium, scholars explored AI's $4.8T future in sales. Expect faster workflows and segmentation, with humans still vital for empathy and trust.
AI in Sales: Insights and Next Steps from Baylor ProSales' 40-Year Symposium
Baylor ProSales marked its 40th year by hosting a research symposium with 48 marketing and sales scholars from seven countries. Their focus: how artificial intelligence will affect sales communication, strategy and jobs.
With AI projected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2033, according to UN Trade and Development, the message was clear-sales teams that learn to work with AI will win more time, build better relationships and ship more revenue.
What scholars say AI changes-now
Dr. Jorge Jaramillo of the University of Texas at Arlington expects AI to lift efficiency by offloading repetitive tasks. "AI will make several processes, particularly repetitive processes, more efficient," he said. "Salespeople can leverage AI to better serve the customer and help the customer with problem-solving."
On the marketing side, he pointed to faster, smarter segmentation. Instead of manually clustering customers, teams can use AI to analyze variables and build models at speed.
He also offered historical perspective: like past tech shifts, AI will create new roles as productivity climbs. "History tells us that every technological innovation that increases human productivity eventually generates more jobs," Jaramillo said. "Jobs changed, but humanity was better off."
Where AI still falls short
Dr. Son Lam of the University of Georgia highlighted limits across mechanical, thinking and feeling capabilities. "AI hasn't got to the part where they can empathize with human beings yet," he said. "It will improve, but I don't think it will replace human beings in that space."
Lam also cautioned that algorithms mirror human input. "AI at the end of the day depends on the algorithm, and the algorithm at the end of the day depends on human beings," he said. "So the algorithm can be biased. AI is a tool. It can't solve every problem you have. You need to know how to use it effectively and be aware of its shortcomings."
How students are already using AI
At Baylor, sales students are testing tools like Humantic AI to shape cold calls and emails based on personality insights. Dr. Eric Swan, clinical associate professor of ProSales, said it helps students think strategically about prospecting and outreach.
Practical moves for sales leaders this quarter
- Automate the obvious: call summaries, CRM notes, lead research, meeting scheduling and first-draft emails.
- Upgrade segmentation: use AI clustering to spot micro-segments, then align offers, messaging and channels.
- Add AI to your discovery flow: draft questions, objection trees and value maps before calls.
- Use personality cues thoughtfully: tailor tone and pacing, but keep a human review before hitting send.
- Run two-week experiments: pick one workflow, set a clear metric (meetings set, cycle time, reply rate), iterate.
Guardrails that protect trust
- Human-in-the-loop for all prospect-facing content.
- Bias checks on segmentation models; avoid sensitive attributes.
- Privacy-first data use; stick to consented, compliant sources.
- Clear accountability: document which steps are AI-assisted.
Skills worth building
- Prompting for research, discovery, and outbound personalization.
- Data literacy: reading model outputs, spotting bias and noise.
- Tool integration: CRM workflows, sales engagement platforms and meeting intelligence.
- Relationship work: empathy, context, and creative problem-solving-the parts AI can't do.
A simple starter workflow
- Pre-call: AI drafts a one-page brief with account context, likely pains and three tailored discovery questions.
- Post-call: AI generates a call summary, updates CRM fields and drafts a recap email with agreed next steps.
- Outbound: AI creates three message variants per segment; rep selects, edits and sends.
- Review: weekly standup to compare results, refine prompts and templates.
Bottom line: AI won't replace the human side of selling. It gives you time back. As Lam noted, "You can spend less time on mundane things and you spend more time on creativity." Build systems that let AI handle the busywork while you deepen relationships and close better deals.
Level up your AI skills for sales
If you want structured training and tool comparisons geared to roles, explore these resources:
