What does it take to build a culture of excellence in 2025? From AI and other emerging technologies to building go-to-market teams from the ground up, it can be difficult to separate the signal from the noise.
In this panel discussion, we chat with James Roth, CRO at ZoomInfo; Matt DeLauro, President at SEON; and Kyle Norton, CRO at Owner.com, to explore how organizations can build and scale high-performing GTM teams.
How AI is Changing Sales
There’s no question AI is transforming how pipelines are generated and how deals get done. But does that mean reps will soon be replaced by robots?
“One of the most popular questions in GTM is, ‘When is there going to be an army of AI agents doing everybody’s job?’” says James. “Where we’re seeing AI be successful is in its ability to amalgamate huge amounts of data that would have taken reps a very long time to do.”
Where AI really changes the game for sales is in helping organizations replicate the actions of their top performers — without all the extra work. Rather than digging through 10 or 20 different sources, reps can get an instant briefing on what happened during the last earnings call or who recently joined the executive committee. This insight helps them do their jobs better by providing detailed information about the company they’re prospecting. As a result, they’re free to focus on building personal relationships rather than being bogged down by research.
“How I see it [AI] over the next few years is helping sellers do more selling by obfuscating non-revenue generating work, like data entry and pre-call prep,” says James. “We’re focused on using AI to pull as much out of the reps day to day as possible.”
The panelists all agree that AI is changing sales—but not taking over. Instead, it’s being used as a tool to streamline manual tasks and help reps improve their productivity.
But does this mean fewer people on the team? Kyle doesn’t think so: “I see a future where the best sellers make a lot more money and there’s more headcount at companies. The only people at risk of replacement are the worst sellers. If you’re a generic inbound SDR who’s not adding a lot of value, AI can come for your job,” he explains.
Building High-Performing GTM Teams from Scratch
When it comes to building high-performing GTM teams from scratch, excellence starts with who you hire. “Every hire that doesn’t exceed the bar of the team makes us worse,” says James. “You need to find A+ talent. If you’re just starting out, you have to get creative and find diamonds in the rough who might not have the resume but have the DNA to become great.”
High performers have the following qualities:
- They’re driven to excel
- They have a desire to do things that are unsexy and hard
- They’re proactive and act on feedback
James also stressed the importance of putting the right systems and processes in place to enable your teams. “You need to reinforce the behaviors you want, reduce friction for everything that’s positive, and induce friction for everything that’s negative,” he says.
For example, if you have a highly enriched CRM and your goal is to get people to take great notes, you need to figure out how to make it easy for them to do this. Or, if you want to limit bad handoffs to onboarding, you need to find ways to make this less challenging. James considers these “behavioral economics 101.”
He also recommends being highly intentional about your tech stack, business process design, and rituals and routines. “One of my seven leadership pillars is to make sure every leader on my team submits a weekly summary to me, in a standard format. This diligence and discipline is crucial for maintaining clarity and accountability.”
Standardization, process, and rigor are also important elements of execution excellence. These are the building blocks on which high-performing teams are built. “The first 90 days are super important for a sales rep,” says Kyle. “They set the tempo for what they believe their expectations are.”
When hiring, look for people who are agile and able to move quickly. You also need to empower your reps by building interpersonal relationships with them early in their tenure, which will help them feel supported, build trust, and accelerate their learning curve. Pay close attention to your cultural values because they define how your team operates, the principles you uphold, and the behaviors you expect. If someone doesn’t fit those values, it can undermine team cohesion and performance, so don’t hire them.
Establishing Operational Cadence & Core Processes
Operational excellence begins with consistent processes and the implementation of clear, foundational procedures for your GTM team. Asking questions like “Why are they making the change?” and “Why now?” provides an essential starting point for prospecting.
“If you can begin by building around qualification and pipeline management, and maintain a consistent voice from the leadership team — from the CEO on down, which is crucial when talking to customers — that becomes your foundation,” says Matt. “You can then build on a shared language. Marketing, sales, and customer success should have a single customer engagement methodology across the entire journey — from awareness through referral status. A strong operational infrastructure gives you a center of excellence and ensures that people know exactly where to go with questions.”
All the panelists agree that you should not overcomplicate your processes. Keep them simple and straightforward.
“You’ve got to make the process easy. It can’t be a bunch of fields to fill out in the CRM just to get to the next stage; otherwise, people won’t do it right away,” continues Matt.
This simplicity is critical because it drives immediate adoption, prevents data entry bottlenecks, and establishes consistent execution across the entire team.
Closing thoughts
Ultimately, building high-performing GTM teams and creating a culture of excellence begins on day one. By training your people to adapt quickly to evolving market challenges, and by providing them with tools that automate manual tasks and streamline their daily workflows, you’ll create a team that can devote its full energy to revenue-generating activities and close more deals in less time.
