The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools by marketing and sales professionals continues to grow but specific training for the duties they are performing continues to lag behind.
New research from General Assembly found 68% of sales and marketing professionals use AI at work— including just over half performing duties with the help of AI agents. But just 17% received comprehensive, job-specific training on AI that officials warns create risks related to governance and brand safety.
The survey of more than 300 marketing and sales employees in the U.S. and the United Kingdom found 55% of respondents use AI less than five times a day— with a cohort of 20% using it more than 10 times per day. Respondents say they use AI for content creation (57%), market research and analytics (49%), sales operations (47%), customer relationship management (42%) and advertising (41%).
AI Training Lacking
Jourdan Hathaway, Chief Business Officer at General Assembly, offered that sales and marketing teams have been early and avid adopters of AI, but a persistent skills gap prevents them from reaching their full potential.
“Generic, one-size-fits-all AI training might have worked three years ago,” said Hathaway in a statement. “Today, every department needs role-specific training.”
Impact on Sales & Marketing Teams
That statement is backed up by nearly one-third (32%) of sales and marketing professionals reporting they received no formal AI training. Twenty percent received training that was too generic, 15% report their training was too focused on concepts over real applications and 16% sought out AI training on their own.
In terms of what would motivate them to start using AI at work, 39% of sales professionals want hands-on training specific to sales tasks and workflows, while 49% of marketers want clear examples of how AI can help with daily responsibilities.
The survey did fine that AI is already delivering positive outcomes for sales and marketing teams: 67% report the tool has freed up their time to focus on more strategic work and 56% saying their teams have become more productive.
ROI Increase Unknown
But three out of five who answered the survey are not very confident that their use of AI increases revenue, and 46% aren’t very confident that it improves the customer experience. Additionally, 22% say AI has not impacted their team’s productivity, and 18% say AI has created more work for them and pulled them away from other strategic priorities. This reinforces the need for targeted, role-based training that can help sales and marketing professionals maximize ROI from AI adoption.
“As AI agents handle increasingly complex tasks, it’s critical….marketing and sales teams have the skills to implement and manage them effectively,” said Hathaway