The AI Agent Rollout Playbook for Revenue Teams

Enabling AI adoption at scale isn’t just a one-and-done approach. It’s a strategic process that should be aligned with your business. 

Because that work takes time, AI agent adoption often stalls and teams lose their competitive edge. 

That’s why Salesloft developed a proven framework to scale AI adoption, practical enablement ideas tested with our own teams, and a checklist to keep your company on track.

Why AI agent adoption stalls: 4 blockers to AI adoption

AI is key to working smarter and building skills, but sales teams often stall before they really get off the ground. Here’s why:

1. Low trust: Reps need to feel like AI isn’t just “another thing to learn,” but a strategic initiative that will help them work faster and smarter. This is a change-management challenge.

2. Lack of ownership: Scaling AI adoption can’t just come from the top down, though leaders must embrace the push. It’s up to everyone — from C- suite, to middle management, to employees themselves — to champion the change and help each other in the process.

3. Pushing efficiency and ignoring development: AI agents aren’t just about productivity — they can also provide transformative job development for reps. Focus on the low-hanging fruit, like AI use cases that drive efficiency and provide immediate value, but don’t lose sight of the more impactful agents that take longer to pay off. These are more aligned with revenue growth and will make sellers better at what they do.

4. Disconnected pilots over a holistic program: AI’s rapid ascension to a must-use tool means that training and communication are often scattered between different pilot programs rather than approached holistically as a strategy that touches all departments and functions. Lasting change comes from a comprehensive process.

You have to set employees up for AI success from day one. Treat it as any other technology they’re expected to learn, then set expectations for AI use and give them time to train with it from the onboarding stage.

What top teams do differently: What good really looks like

Top teams understand that AI adoption is an all-hands-on-deck approach. Here’s what some of the best leaders do to ensure adoption goes smoothly.

1. They choose platforms with integrated AI so it’s not “just another thing to learn,” but an enhancement of the tools they already use every day. Built-in tools save time without requiring reps to steptoo far out of their daily routines.
   
   “If newer reps aren't sure what to do, they can simply open up Salesloft and use Rhythm to help manage themselves and see what needs to be prioritized," said Shawn Fontaine, Sales Leader at Vention. "Then with the ease of the Draft with AI capability for making stagnant email templates, they can hit the ground running.”
   

2. They create safe spaces to organically and operationally share stories of their AI trials, wins, and even failures. Peer-to-peer collaboration when adopting new technology enables solution-sharing and lets people know it’s okay not to have all the answers, which builds trust.
   
   "People are nervous because they don't have allthe answers, but you don't need all the answers," said Ben Weikert, Senior Director, Product Marketing & GTM Innovation at Salesloft."In fact, that's relatable and makes people feel safe to 'yes, and' in a way that forms community and results in collaboration.”
   

3. They create a holistic approach that touches all teams. De-siloing AI training doesn’t just mean taking it out of the platform and into the strategy — it means integrating all departments into a culture of adoption that’s rooted in a “no one left behind” mindset.
   
   "I think the team collaboration and coaching aspect is a huge piece," said Jessica Nelson, Global VP of Sales at Stream. "Giving the team access to what everyone is doing globally, giving them visibility into what's working, what messages are resonating — that's invaluable.”
   
4. They start with low-hanging fruit, like conversation summaries, to get quick efficiency wins that prove immediate impact. But they balance those wins with long-term development, like leader coaching, that connects to revenue goals and helps reps become better — not just faster.
   
   "Hours of our week are now being given back to us,” said Andres Quijano, Sales Manager at Envirosuite.

Think of AI agents in two ways:

AI adoption rollout framework: Your blueprint to AI adoption

These are the fundamental elements that will help you build a theory of motivation for your agents when it comes to adopting AI. Each one helps sellers in a different way, and when you use them together, they make adoption easier, speed up productivity, and simplify the way work gets done.

Onboarding and training

1. Agents in onboarding: Make AI agents part of new seller training so they’re embedded into workflows and expectations from day one.

2. Mandatory training: Ensure all users understand what agents do, how to work with them, and where they create leverage.

3. Workflow integration: Adoption improves when agents are built into daily activities within systems that sellers already rely on.

4. Technology buy-in: Integrate AI agents into the tools sellers already use to drive real usage to create a more natural adoption.

Ownership and support

1. Support from the top, but lead from the middle: AI agent adoption accelerates when CROs and RevOps leaders set the vision, define success, and publicly support the rollout — but building enablement around peer-to-peer training will create groundswell for the technology.

2. Governance and standards: A clear structure for ownership, expectations, and accountability ensures consistency across teams and use cases.

3. AI Council: Form a cross-functional group that includes reps to steer adoption, provide feedback, and evolve best practices based on real usage.

4. Early seller involvement: Adoption works best when it’s a team sport. Give reps a voice early, through feedback sessions or a seat on your AI steering group.

Learning and enablement

1. Culture of best practice sharing: Create visible, repeatable ways to celebrate wins, troubleshoot blockers, and spread what’s working.

2. Operational and organic enablement opportunities: Weekly meetings where peers can ask questions and share experiences will encourage solution-sharing in a safe learning environment, and organic Slack channels promote a culture of consistently and easily communicating wins and learnings.

3. Clear success criteria and timeline: Define what success looks like (e.g., usage, impact on KPIs, pipeline) and track adoption against a visible timeline.

4. Show value from the start: It’s essential for reps to feel like they are getting value from the first use of an AI agent. The speed to value offered by efficiency-focused agents helps managers see value fast — sometimes within the hour.

It’s such a new technology that people are bursting at the seams to share. With organic sharing, you don’t need all the answers because people feel safe to form communities and collaborate on solutions.

AI agent adoption checklist

Successful AI adoption isn’t about a single tool or quick win — it’s about building trust, involving sellers early, and balancing efficiency with long-term skill development. The next step is understanding how prepared your organization is to put those pieces into practice.

Want to see where your organization stands today?  Take our free AI maturity 3-minute assessment to identify where to focus your AI efforts.