What business results can AI deliver in sales?

I started my career more than 20 years ago, and if you had told me then that artificial intelligence would one day run a forecast for me, I would have thought you were describing science fiction. Today, that future is here. Agentic work is happening right now, and the companies winning are completely immersing themselves in this new reality.

Many business leaders compare learning AI today to learning how to use spreadsheets in the 1980s or the internet in the 1990s. My early interactions with AI were highly transactional. I treated it like a search engine to get simple answers. But my real breakthrough happened when I started treating AI as a true thought partner.

At our annual customer conference, Unleash 2026, I sat down with Utkarsh Bahadur, Global Head of Go-to-Market Strategy and Operations at SAP, to discuss the real gains revenue teams are getting from artificial intelligence. We explored how agentic AI turns manager inspection into active intervention, saving time for representatives and driving predictable growth.  

If you’re a CFO or revenue leader looking for concrete proof, these benchmarks and real-world examples will show exactly what agentic AI can do for your bottom line.

Agentic AI goes beyond answering questions. It acts on behalf of the user; automatically planning daily workflows, drafting follow-up emails, updating CRM data, and identifying deal risks before they escalate. Unlike copilot AI, agentic AI operates autonomously on routine tasks so revenue teams can focus on high-value selling.

Benchmark at a glance

How AI increases pipeline and seller productivity

Sellers spend nearly 70 percent of their time on non-selling work. They are overwhelmed by admin tasks and disjointed tools. Our agentic AI platform automates this busy work so teams can focus on driving revenue.

SAP case study: $1.5B in pipeline  

SAP realized significant outcomes by partnering with Outreach. With our platform, SAP booked over 40,000 customer meetings and created 10,000 opportunities. The total value of that pipeline reached $1.5 billion.

By rolling out Outreach agents, SAP reduced manual outreach by 80 percent in their North American digital hub. The agent handles the follow-up activities that sales development representatives used to do manually. This gives frontliners more time to focus on value-adding activities and getting in front of customers.

"Fundamentally, we don't have a demand problem. What we struggle with is how do we get our frontliners to spend less time on non-value-adding activity. Productivity comes from doing more with less." — Utkarsh Bahadur, SAP

Choose agentic AI if you need to eliminate manual data entry and want your sellers to spend their hours on closing deals instead.

The financial impact of AI consolidation

CFOs constantly evaluate tool costs and return on investment. Agentic AI helps organizations consolidate tools while increasing output.

Amplitude case study: $600K saved, 50% larger deals  

Consider Outreach customer Amplitude. They consolidated five different tools and saved $600,000. But the benefits went beyond cost savings. Amplitude also increased their deal size by 50 percent. When you take every single deal and increase it by 50 percent, the impact on the bottom line is massive.

Artificial intelligence also protects margin decisions. Agents play a phenomenal role in quoting and price protection, helping businesses navigate arduous approval processes and secure smarter deal economics.

"Better decisions and de-risking top line are not always easy to measure, but they definitely have a big impact on business and financial outcomes." — Utkarsh Bahadur, SAP

How AI improves forecast accuracy

Nothing erodes board confidence faster than inconsistent forecasting. You need one source of truth for pacing and performance. Outreach provides real-time deal health using over 17 distinct signals, delivering up to a 98 percent forecast accuracy rate.

Siemens case study: 190-country standardization  

Siemens empowers companies of all sizes within the process and discrete manufacturing industries to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformation across the entire value chain. Their cutting-edge automation and software portfolio revolutionizes the design, realization and optimization of products and production.  

Managing forecasting across 190 countries requires consistency, visibility, and alignment. With Outreach, Siemens standardized forecasting processes globally and gained real-time insights into deal health and pipeline performance. This gives leaders greater confidence in their forecasts and helps drive alignment across the business.

Three layers of AI transformation in revenue teams

According to Utkarsh, organizations must approach artificial intelligence at three distinct levels to realize full value.

"There must be high complexity and value to justify the change." — Utkarsh Bahadur, SAP

1. Individual transformation: Leaders and frontliners must embrace artificial intelligence in their daily routines. Top-down enablement must meet bottom-up adoption. Leaders should act as power users to symbolize artificial intelligence usage.

‍2. Process improvement: Organizations must map out processes and identify which workflows require agentification. Companies must hold internal teams to a high bar and leverage third-party tools like Outreach when those tools have a better right to play.

‍3. Operating model reimagination: Companies must revisit roles, skills, and organizational setups. When you give time back to frontliners, you must redefine role expectations so the time translates to bottom-line impact.

SAP is currently creating role-specific assistants to orchestrate across all agents, bringing simplicity to how frontline roles engage with artificial intelligence.

Start building your AI strategy today  

The question is no longer if AI will change the way we work. It already is. This is not an experiment anymore. Will you use AI like a basic search engine, or will you immerse yourself in what is truly possible?

I see my team operating at a completely different level thanks to agentic AI. We outperformed our forecast through monster wins and strong execution, and the energy was electric! Become believers, become builders, and become power users.

Frequently asked questions about sales AI

What is agentic AI in sales?

Agentic artificial intelligence goes beyond answering questions by acting on behalf of the user. In sales, an agentic artificial intelligence platform like Outreach can automatically plan daily workflows, draft follow-up emails, update CRM data, and identify deal risks before they escalate.

How much time does AI save sales representatives?

Outreach customers typically see a 60 percent productivity lift. Sellers currently spend about 70 percent of their time on administrative tasks. By automating manual data entry and follow-ups, artificial intelligence frees up hours of selling time each week.

Can AI improve sales forecasting?

Yes. Agentic artificial intelligence analyzes dozens of deal signals to provide objective, real-time deal health scores. Outreach delivers up to 98 percent forecast accuracy, helping organizations standardize forecasting without relying on seller intuition.

Does AI reduce software costs?

Yes. Artificial intelligence platforms can reduce total software costs through vendor consolidation. Amplitude saved $600,000 by consolidating five separate tools into Outreach, while simultaneously increasing their average deal size by 50 percent.