Sales professionals expect major efficiency gains as AI agents reshape workloads and support growing revenue targets.
Irish sales teams are leaning heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) as they enter 2026 with sharper targets and tighter resources.
A new Salesforce survey of more than 4,000 sales professionals, including 100 in Ireland, finds that AI and AI agents have become one of the most relied‑upon tools for driving growth, reflecting mounting pressure on teams to deliver more with limited time.
“We used to let these leads fall to the floor like sawdust. Now agents sweep them up and sift for gold”
The findings point to a widening gap between what customers expect and the hours sellers have available to meet those demands. Much of that pressure is falling on less experienced staff, who report heavier administrative workloads and fewer coaching opportunities.
AI in the sales cycle
Adam Alfano, executive vice president of sales at Salesforce, said adoption of AI agents is reshaping how his teams operate.
“We want to kill the busywork so our teams can focus on what actually moves deals forward. AI agents make that possible,” he said.
AI has moved firmly into the mainstream of Irish selling organisations. The survey shows that 87% of Irish teams now use some form of AI, whether for prospecting, forecasting, lead scoring or drafting communications.
Among those using these tools, 89% say AI helps them better understand customers and 79% say it reduces day‑to‑day stress.
AI agents in particular are seeing a rapid rise in adoption. Almost half of Irish sellers report using them and just over half expect to do so by 2027. Respondents believe the tools will cut both prospect research and email drafting time by more than a third once fully deployed.
Alfano said the shift is already noticeable. “AI agents have changed how we operate. They help us onboard reps and quote complex deals faster, and personalise outreach with better intelligence. They are prospecting around the clock. It is not just one department seeing gains. The impact spans the whole sales engine.”
Prospecting for gold
High‑performing sellers are more likely to turn to agents as part of their outreach efforts. Globally, those reporting strong year‑over‑year revenue growth are 1.7 times more likely to use prospecting agents than those whose revenue was flat or falling.
Prospecting remains one of the most time‑consuming and disliked parts of the job. 39% of Irish sales representatives say cold calling is the toughest aspect of their work. Many acknowledge they cannot keep up with demand. Although they spend nearly a full day each week on prospecting, 41% say they do not have enough capacity to support adequate outreach.
Almost half of Irish sellers already use AI for prospecting and a further 51% plan to adopt it. Globally, 92% of sellers using agents say the tools have improved their prospecting results.
Alfano highlighted the gains Salesforce has recorded. “We use agents to work all our untouched leads. We used to let these leads fall to the floor like sawdust. Now agents sweep them up and sift for gold. In four months they contacted 130,000 leads and created 3,200 opportunities. Next year we expect those numbers to be ten times higher.”
Admin weighs heaviest on younger staff
The survey suggests that junior sellers are feeling the effects of administrative friction more acutely than colleagues. On average, sellers spend 40% of their time in customer‑facing activity. For Gen Z representatives, that figure drops to 35%. Much of the gap stems from time spent on manual data entry, which more experienced staff devote instead to researching prospects and developing relationships.
Younger sellers also report a lack of structured support. Almost half say they rarely receive feedback on sales conversations and a similar share say they do not get enough role‑play practice before customer calls. They identify limited manager availability as the main obstacle to effective enablement. Older generations are more likely to cite limited access to data and insights.
The findings appear to be influencing retention. Gen Z respondents show the highest openness to leaving their current role and rank limited advancement pathways as the top driver.
Data quality is a priority
Teams working with AI tools are placing renewed emphasis on connected and reliable data. More than half of Irish sales leaders using AI say disconnected systems are slowing progress. In response, 73% of Irish sales professionals say they are prioritising work such as removing duplicates, correcting errors and standardising formats across systems.
High‑performing teams are investing even more heavily in this area. Seventy‑nine% say data hygiene is a major focus, compared with 54% of underperforming teams.
Alfano said the importance of high‑quality data cannot be overstated.
“The secret sauce for sales AI agents is unified data. Stand‑alone agents without comprehensive customer context tend to fail. To get accurate results they need the full picture. Otherwise you get garbage outputs.”
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