{"id":345,"date":"2025-06-06T18:38:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clinicasantarosa.com\/?p=345"},"modified":"2025-06-11T14:53:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:53:41","slug":"the-ai-tradeoff-preserving-human-skills-in-an-ai-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.clinicasantarosa.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/06\/the-ai-tradeoff-preserving-human-skills-in-an-ai-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The AI Tradeoff: Preserving Human Skills in an AI World"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hello and welcome to The GTM Newsletter by GTMnow <\/strong>– read by 50,000+ to scale their companies and careers. GTMnow shares insight around the go-to-market strategies responsible for explosive company growth. GTMnow highlights the strategies, along with the stories from the top 1% of GTM executives, VCs, and founders behind these strategies and companies.<\/em><\/p>\n

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AI is transforming how go-to-market teams operate. SDRs are prospecting faster. Marketers are shipping more content. CSMs have summaries of every customer call. It all feels like progress.<\/p>\n

Is there a hidden cost? Every time we automate a task \u2013 prospecting, drafting, follow-up, analysis \u2013 we also outsource the skill-building that task enables. And over time, those muscles start to atrophy.<\/p>\n

These \u201cskill byproducts\u201d are essential to long-term success. Leaders need to rethink how to balance technology adoption with the need to cultivate the human skills that drive high performance in sales. Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBack in the day, most jobs made us physically strong. Now, we have to hit the gym. The same is true for cognitive skills\u2014we need to deliberately build them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Peter Kazanjy<\/a>, Co-founder of Atrium<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

AI isn\u2019t a threat, it\u2019s an opportunity. Understanding which skills will still need reinforcing is simply the consideration.<\/p>\n

The skill byproduct framework<\/h3>\n

Every task we perform builds an adjacent skill \u2013 a byproduct<\/em> of doing it manually and repeatedly.<\/p>\n

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When these are automated too early, the reps never get the reps.<\/p>\n

What leaders are doing about this<\/h3>\n

We asked leaders how they feel about this, and what (if anything) they\u2019re doing to address it. Overall, the sentiment was optimistic, with a dash of concern.<\/p>\n

This is change. Overall, the benefits astronomically outweigh the skill byproducts. That said, it\u2019s important to address them.<\/p>\n

Here are several ways we heard from leaders that they\u2019re actively doing to reinforce certain skill development:<\/p>\n

Manual before automation.
\n<\/strong>Operators reinforced that “if you\u2019re blocked on automating something, do it manually.”<\/em> Many SaaS teams now require new GTM hires to complete onboarding steps by hand (prospecting, call notes, follow-ups) to develop the muscle before layering in automation.<\/p>\n

AI as a coach, not a crutch.
\n<\/strong>Leaders like Kevin “KD” Dorsey<\/a> use AI to surface rep weaknesses, diagnose call issues, and build targeted training. For example, reps getting to practice pitch delivery and objection handling at scale (not to eliminate reps, but to sharpen them).<\/p>\n

Codify \u201cwhat good looks like.\u201d
\n<\/strong>You can\u2019t coach what isn\u2019t defined. Companies like Gong and HubSpot use rubrics to define great discovery, follow-up, or segmentation. Then, AI scores or simulates those tasks against the benchmark, reinforcing human judgment.<\/p>\n

Balance automation with creativity.
\n<\/strong>Kyle Coleman<\/a> warns against full automation. In his words, it\u2019s like “burning down an orchard for one harvest.”<\/em> Reps use AI to surface insights, but own messaging, storytelling, and relationship-building.<\/p>\n

Personalized AI systems.
\n<\/strong>Salesforce and HubSpot encourage reps to use AI-curated suggestions, but only as a first draft. Human sellers refine with context, empathy, and narrative.<\/p>\n

Tighten quality standards.
\n<\/strong>Adam Schoenfeld<\/a> calls this the anti-FOMO GTM stack: use AI to create value for a smaller group<\/em>, not volume for everyone. Less spray-and-pray. More quality and resonance.<\/p>\n

A playbook for rebuilding GTM muscle<\/h3>\n

1. \u201cSkill gyms\u201d by function<\/h4>\n