I’ve been thinking about what I’d do differently if I went back to my corporate days at AT&T.

The answer keeps me up at night because the gap between what I knew then and what I know now isn’t just about tactics. It’s about survival.

The rules changed while most people weren’t paying attention. And the professionals who don’t adapt in the next five years won’t just fall behind. They’ll become irrelevant.

The Buyer Already Knows Everything

Here’s what’s happening right now. Buyers conduct 96% of their research before they ever speak to a salesperson. They show up knowing 90-95% of what they need to know about your product.

By the time they contact you, they’re two-thirds through their buying journey. And here’s the part that should terrify you: 95% of buyers ultimately purchase from one of the four vendors on their Day One shortlist.

If you’re not on that shortlist before the buying journey begins, you already lost.

The window for influence is closing before most salespeople even know the opportunity exists. You can’t control the information flow anymore. You can’t educate prospects on features and benefits because they already educated themselves.

So what’s left?

The Human Advantage Is Shrinking Fast

AI users report being 47% more productive and saving an average of 12 hours per week. Sales professionals who adopted AI see a 50% increase in leads and appointments, with 30% better win rates throughout their sales funnel.

But here’s what matters more than the productivity gain. What you do with those reclaimed 12 hours determines who survives.

Because 2026 will be the year AI agents expand from making humans more productive to automating work itself. An estimated 11.7% of jobs could already be automated using AI. Experts warn that 2026 could bring another round of layoffs as businesses turn to AI to cut costs.

This transformation is happening right now.

The salespeople I talk to every day are feeling it. Prospects are getting inundated with content via LinkedIn where they can learn as much about any tool or product as they want. When they finally get on the phone, they expect you to have all the answers immediately.

And if you don’t close the deal almost right away, they move to the next company they researched.

What AI Can’t Replace

While AI can crunch data and identify patterns faster and at much greater scale than any human, there’s one skill AI lacks: the emotional intelligence to create trust and build long-lasting customer relationships.

58% of organizations are targeting emotional intelligence and 55% focusing on empathy in leadership training. Research shows a significant correlation between emotional intelligence competencies and superior individual performance.

When prospects already know 90-95% of what they need before speaking to you, the human advantage isn’t information delivery. It’s psychological understanding and authentic connection.

You need to be extremely intelligent emotionally and intellectually. You need to understand psychology, consideration, concern, empathy. You need to work with all different types of people from all walks of life, from every possible background imaginable.

You need to truly be a chameleon in every single way.

The Authority Gap Is Becoming a Canyon

78% of B2B buyers shortlist only 3 vendors to evaluate deeply. 71% of buyers went with their first choice product after creating their short list.

And here’s the stat that explains everything: The vendor buyers contact first wins the deal about 80% of the time.

This is why individual authority and visibility have become non-negotiable. You can’t influence a shortlist you’re not on. And you can’t get on a shortlist if nobody knows you exist.

Sales professionals will start 95% of their research with AI by 2027, up from just 20% in 2024. Nearly half of workers’ core skills will be disrupted within the next four years.

Yet organizations are neglecting investing in human skills, even those needed to effectively adopt and implement AI.

The gap between what professionals need and what organizations provide is creating an exodus pattern. High performers are quietly building external support systems because they recognize their employers won’t provide them.

The Infrastructure Your Employer Won’t Build

I see this pattern every single day. Professionals who understand what’s coming are establishing authority on social platforms. They’re housing their knowledge where people interested in buying from them can see what they’ve posted historically.

They’re making themselves visible on every social platform every single day.

Because that’s the easiest way for potential clients to evaluate if you’re someone they want to buy from.

Organizations that master decision velocity are seeing dramatic results. Companies reducing their sales cycles to 30-45 days achieve 38% higher velocity. Companies with weekly velocity monitoring achieve 34% annual revenue growth compared to 11% for those with irregular tracking patterns.

The professionals who understand how to compress time-to-transaction without sacrificing deal quality will own the next five years.

But most companies won’t invest in building this infrastructure for their people. They’ll expect you to figure it out on your own while you’re already drowning in quotas and meetings.

What This Means for You

If I went back to AT&T today, I’d dominate LinkedIn. I’d use every advanced tool and consulting service available to establish professional authority.

I wouldn’t wait for my employer to provide the support system I needed. I’d build it myself.

Because the pace and velocity of sales is going to increase rapidly due to the proliferation of AI tools. The future of the sales professional is one of very high level authority.

You’re going to have to be an A player all day, every day.

The middle ground is disappearing. Either you’re exceptional and irreplaceable, or you risk being automated away.

I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying it because I see the pattern emerging. And the professionals who adapt now will have a massive advantage over those who wait.

The infrastructure gap is real. The authority economy is here. The velocity problem is accelerating.

What you do about it in the next 12 months will determine where you are in five years.

If you’re feeling this pressure and want to talk through what building your own support infrastructure looks like, I’m here. You can reach me at PulseSocial.ai/contact or send me a direct message.

We’re all figuring this out together. But some of us are moving faster than others.