While the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on sales and marketing has been the dominant story in 2025, the generational shift in the key decisions makers is one that B2B marketers have been confronting as well
From Gen Z to Boomers, each generation differs in its preferences around outreach methods, technology, content, and more. Seismic, a leader in sales and marketing enablement software, recently commissioned a survey of 1,000 respondents across the U.S. uncovered a clear divide: younger buyers want modern, tech-enabled experiences, while older generations are more prone to traditional paths.
Effective Enablement Programs
For revenue teams, delivering consistent, personalized encounters to meet each generation’s needs is an uphill battle without the right tools. To win in an environment with shifting buyer demands, revenue teams must embrace generational nuance in outreach, content, and technology, said Irina Soriano, Vice President of Strategic Enablement at Seismic.
“This is where enablement enters the picture. Effective enablement programs are customer-focused, shaping how a company sells and serves its customers,” said Soriano. “Enablement assists with hyper-personalization, giving sellers clarity on not only if and when AI should be used in a customer interaction, but also how to use it in a way that resonates with each customer’s preferences.”
AI in the Sales Journey
As brands look to embed AI into their customer experiences and revenue tech stacks, younger buyers are eager to engage with the technology. Gen Z is the most likely to encounter AI chatbots (51%) and personalized product recommendations (42%), while over half of Boomers (56%) say they neither encountered— nor received— AI-powered recommendations at all. In the same vain, Gen Z shows higher confidence in AI-generated recommendations (31%), but only 14% of Boomers are very likely to trust them, indicating AI is still optional and even mistrusted by this purchasing group.
Beyond AI, generational preferences around outreach from sellers remain mixed as well. As sellers seek to reach different generations of buyers, a mix of tried-and-true channels with emerging preferences will require adaptability and agility.
Email remains the dominant outreach method across all generations (39%), Gen Z is much more open to alternative channels. When it comes to social media outreach, 14% of Gen Z are open to social outreach; text messages (SMS) resonate with Gen X (21%) and Gen Z (19%), but less so with Boomers (12%).
Content Preferences Are Polarized
B2B marketers are increasingly tasked with having to match their content to generational preferences, ensuring tone and context hit the right mark. To that end, Gen Z (78%) and Millennials (68%) find social video content helpful throughout the purchasing journey, while only 1 in 6 Boomers agree. Older generations tend to gravitate towards traditional marketing materials, such as research reports, which 75% of Boomers prefer.
This divide impacts outreach as well as with younger buyers are both more open and trusting with social media, it’s no surprise they find more value in social content. This divide only grows when it comes to influencers, with 18% of Gen Z trusting them compared to only 3% of Boomers.
Generational differences are shaping how modern sellers connect with buyers and provide them with the right content, according to Soriano. Trust in technology only deepens these divides, making it crucial for sellers to tailor approaches across generations.
“The sellers who succeed will be those who blend innovation with personalization, ensuring buyers at every stage— and of every age— feel understood and supported,” said Soriano. “Tools like enablement are essential to making this possible, helping sellers adapt to the modern sales landscape and elevate every buyer interaction.”
