With continued debate on the benefits and risks associated with generative AI in the workforce, new data from Salesforce has revealed that despite the belief that it enhances the customer experience, sales and service teams are not adopting the technology at the same pace as their other colleagues.
The research shows that more than 50% of sales and service teams don’t know how to get the most value from generative AI, suggesting that sales and service teams lack the training and trust in the technology to successfully use it at work.
Customer-facing roles, like sales and service, report mixed levels of generative AI adoptionwith close to three-quarters (73%) of salespeople using or planning to use it and less than half (44%) of service professionals using or planning to use it. However, 71% of all employees use it or plan to, with marketers leading the way (83%).
These teams are concerned about the impact of generative AI on their role, expressing little knowledge on how to successfully use the technology. More than one-quarter (26%) of salespeople and over one-third (36%) of service professionals do not know how to get the most value out of generative AI and don’t know how to safely use it at work.
For customer-facing teams to successfully work alongside generative AI, businesses must close the trust and skills gap. Both sales and service professionals agree that trust in the technology is a critical precursor for them to successfully use the technology in their role. Enhanced security measures are the most critical factor (67.5%), closely followed by human oversight and trusted customer data (66.5%).