• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 9 hours ago

B2B brands have jumped into AI, but not as fully as you might think, judging by AI Implementation, a new study by Pipedrive.   

Of the companies polled, 37% have implemented AI into their sales process, and 47% plan to in the near future. And, 41% have integrated AI into their marketing.

The main hurdles to AI adoption? Data privacy (35%), security (40%), anxiety over AI replacing jobs (60%). However, 53% believe training and education can reduce AI anxiety. 

Clearly, companies need help: 57% of salespeople met their quotas in 2024, down 4% from the prior year and 7% from 2021. In the U.S., only 45% hit their targets.

But AI can assist them. Of those who have implemented it, 74% have seen a productivity boost and 67% say it saves them from two to five hours a week, the study states. 

Firms that use AI in their sales process do so primarily to generate content:  

• Writing emails and other communications — 74%
• Summarizing content (e.g. of emails or documents) — 56%
• Preparing sales materials (e.g. comparison tables, sales playbooks, pitches) — 46%
• Preparing presentations — 39% 
• Transcribing sales calls, summarizing them and suggesting follow-ups — 37%
• Researching potential prospects — 35% 
• Analyzing data to identify sales patterns and customer insights — 23% 
• Identifying new leads — 22%
• Predicting market trends — 14%
• Scoring and prioritizing leads — 13% 
• Sales forecasting — 10% 
• Other — 3%

Meanwhile, on the marketing side, they use AI for:

• Generating social media posts — 62% 
• Creating ad copy — 58% 
• Creating blog articles — 56% 
• Summarizing content (e.g. of emails or documents) — 53% 
• Creating images or illustrations — 43% 
• Email marketing automation — 41% 
• Keyword research — 38% 
• Analyzing data to create personalized content — 30% 
• Competitive analysis — 29%
• Creating videos — 23% 
• Ad optimization — 19%
• Analyzing data to predict future actions—15%
• Image or voice recognition — 10%
• Programmatic advertising — 8% 
• Sentiment analysis — 8%
• Other — 3% 

This portion of the study was largely answered by CEO/Founders, marketing managers and marketers. 

Pipedrive surveyed 948 sales and marketing professionals, business owners, and leaders across 85 countries.