Key Takeaways
- GTM leaders are prioritizing speed to revenue, but disconnected tools and poor integration are slowing teams down.
- AI adoption is rising, yet confidence remains low because leaders still worry about output quality, ROI measurement, and governance.
Sales and distribution teams are under increased pressure to drive growth, retain customers and improve performance, even as disconnected systems, manual reporting and artificial intelligence (AI) uncertainty make execution harder.
That is the topline findings of Seismic’s The Priorities and Pressure Points Shaping Revenue Enablement report as 54% cited speed to revenue as a top revenue performance priority this year, followed by analytics and performance measurement, as well as customer retention and account growth, each at 50%.
Additionally, 56% of respondents cited poor integration with existing tools as a top obstacle preventing revenue teams from using current platforms at their highest level
Why AI Adoption is A Priority
The findings show that while AI adoption remains a priority, businesses still depend on customer-facing teams to create growth, said Rob Tarkoff, Chief Executive Officer, Seismic.
“Growth is still the mandate for every go-to-market team, even as AI changes how work is executed,” said Tarkoff in a statement. “Sales and distribution teams are being asked to move faster, strengthen customer relationships and improve performance without adding unnecessary complexity. The data is clear: Revenue Enablement has become a strategic catalyst for firms looking to align revenue growth, customer experience and AI strategy.”
What AI Concerns are GTM Leaders Talking About
The report finds that sales leaders are being asked to find more growth without adding headcount, gain efficiency through technology adoption, and deliver stronger customer experiences across every interaction. Proving impact remains a major obstacle: just over half (51%) said difficulty proving ROI is an unmet need with their current revenue enablement platforms. Other unmet needs include poor CRM and tool integration at 43%, weak AI quality and control at 37%, and no clear revenue impact data at 36%.
This is all happening as AI adoption is outpacing AI confidence: Only 9% of GTM leaders said AI is fully embedded into core workflows and regularly used to support decision-making, whereas approximately 4 in 10 (41%) said AI tools are partially adopted for specific tasks but not yet integrated into core workflows.
The leading concern about adopting AI tools is the quality and accuracy of AI outputs, cited by approximately one-quarter (24%) of respondents, followed by difficulty measuring ROI (18%), data security and privacy (16%), and integration with existing systems (14%).
Focus on Revenue Enablement
Enablement is becoming a strategic business driver as nearly 6 in 10 respondents said revenue enablement is “very strategic” and a core driver of go-to-market performance.
Tarkoff summarized that the report shows that organizations’ needs go beyond more tools or more AI, they need connected systems that help customer-facing teams act with clarity, consistency and confidence while giving leaders a clearer view into what is working.
Enablement is becoming a broader executive priority, with CMOs, CIOs, CEOs and CROs looking to enablement leaders to help improve sales and distribution performance, manage change and govern AI responsibly.
