【麥肯錫】2025生成式AI助力B2B業(yè)務盈利增長研究報告七大用例

March2025

Mcsey

&company

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI

GenAIcanenhanceprofitableB2Bsalesgrowth.SevenusecasesshowhowB2BleaderscanmaximizebenefitsanddrivesustainableimpactwithatailoredgenAIstrategy.

byAlexanderDierksandRichelleDeveau

withSiamakSarvariandSoniaJosephGriffin

B2Bleadersareaccustomedtousingtechnologytohelpthemachieveprofitablegrowth.Latelythey’vebeenlookingatatechnologythathas

thepotentialtoacceleratesalestransformations

acrosstheentiresellerjourney—

genAI

.GenAIcanhelp

driveoutsized,profitablegrowth

by

boostingrevenuegeneration,increasingsalesproductivity,andstreamlininginternalprocesses.Theseleadersbelievethepotentialisgreat.Accordingto

McKinsey’slatestB2BPulseSurvey

ofB2Bdecision-makers,19percentofrespondentsarealreadyimplementinggenAIusecases

forB2Bbuyingandselling,andanother23percentareintheprocessofdoingso.

That’spromising.However,theflipsideisthatmostB2BleadershaveyettoembracegenAIor

evenengagewithit.Afewleaderstellustheyareunsurewherethebenefitswouldcomefromandwhetherthebusinessimpactjustifiestheinvestment.Somefeeloverwhelmedbytheabundanceofideasandseekadviceonwhattoprioritize.

Inthisarticle,weexploresevencompellingusecasesacrossthedealcyclebyanalyzinggenAI

deploymentsandtheirimpactonsalesROIandcustomerexperience(exhibit).1Theseusecasescanimproveeffectivenessandefficiencyandstartdeliveringnear-immediateimpact.Wealsoexamineactualdeploymentsbyleadingorganizations.Finally,wesuggestkeyconsiderationsthatcanhelp

organizationsestablishagenAIimplementationstrategythatalignswiththeirgoalsanddesirestodriveprofitablegrowthinsales.

Exhibit

GenAIcanafecttheentireB2Bdealcycle.

PotentialgenAIimpactinusecasesacrossB2Bdealcycle,nonexhaustive

AwarenessandoutreachEngagementandacquisitionSuccessandgrowth

Il

Next-best

opportunity

GenAIcan

gatherinsightsandintelligence;AIcanidentify,enrich,and

prioritizeleadsacrossaccountsandproducts

Next-bestaction

AI-andgen-

AI-powered

personalizationcandeterminenext-beststepfornurturing

andclosingaprioritizedlead

Meeting

Proposal

Smartpricing

Smartresearch

support

responder

AIcan

assistant

GenAIcan

GenAIcan

determine

AIagentscan

supportsellers

createand

optimalpricing

helpsellers

before,during,

iterateanswers

basedon

facilitate

andafter

torequests

willingnessto

researchand

meetings,

forproposals,

payand

improve

including

freeingup

propensityto

customer

withrapid

sellers’timefor

buy;genAIcan

interactions

preparation

othertasks

assistwith

usingmost

negotiation

relevantinsights

support

SmartcoachGenAIand

otherAItoolscananalyzecustomer

interactions,determine

performanceneeds,and

ofertailoredcoachingtosellers

McKinsey&Company

1GenAIismostoftendeployedincombinationwithanalyticalAIandmachinelearning(aswellasotherbroaderAIcapabilities),

oftenstrengtheningthem.Inthisarticle,weuse“AI”torefertothefullsetofAIcapabilitiesincludinggenAI.Weuse“genAI”whenreferringonlytothatspecificsubsetofAI.

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI2

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI3

Chapter

1.Next-bestopportunity

B2Bsellersoftenstrugglewithoversimplifiedrules,manualcustomerresearch,alackofdata

integration,orinadequatetrainingonsalestools.AIcanhelpleadthemtotheir“next-best

opportunity.”Itcanprocessmultipledisparatedatasourcestoprioritizepossibilities.GenAIcanparsesignificantamountsofunstructureddata(forexample,PDFs,flatfiles,orphotographs)

toprovideadvancedrecommendationsandinstructions.GenAIcanalsosynthesizerelevant

informationaboutleadsontoaconsolidatedbattlecard,allowingsellerstochasetheirnext-bestopportunitybasedonclear,criticalinformation.

Thisusecasecansignificantlyacceleratethetime-consumingprocessofconductingaccount

research,mappingrelationships,andidentifyingadditionalstakeholders.GenAImodulescanbe

trainedtoanswerquestionsbyminingavarietyofsources,suchasnewsarticles,companyreports,andtransactiondata.Theresultingoutputscanbeintegrateddirectlyintoacompany’scustomer

relationshipmanagement(CRM)tohelpsellersprioritizecustomersandopportunities.

Businessesthatdealwithalargenumberofproductsandleadsaremostexcitedaboutthis

usecase.In

theB2BPulseSurvey

,B2Bcommercialleadersinconstructionmaterials,shipping,chemicals,orpetrochemicalscompanies—whereleadsareoftengeneratedandmanaged

manually—weredisproportionatelymoreenthusiasticaboutthisusecasecomparedwithothers.2

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:

Superchargingoutreach

Adistributorofindustrialmaterials

waslookingtoboostgrowthbutfacedchallengesidentifyingandactingon

opportunities.Theprocesscouldbecumbersomeandtime-intensive.For

example,fieldsellerswoulddriveavehiclearoundacityortowntovisuallyidentify

newconstructionprojectlocations.To

addresstheissue,thecompanyfirst

builtanAIenginethatusedbothinternalandexternaldatasourcestoscore

andprioritizeexistingopportunities,

andtoidentifytargetedproduct

recommendations.ItthenusedgenAItoextractinsightsaboutupcomingcapital

projectsfromunstructuredpublicdata(inthiscase,constructionpermits),identifyingnewopportunitiesandimproving

prioritizationonexistingones.Finally,it

leveragedgenAItopersonalizeoutreachatscale.Thisresultedinmorethan$1billion

worthofnewopportunities(increasing

theirpipelineby10percent),andmorethandoublingclick-throughratesinthefirst

fiscalyear.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Various,disconnectedopportunitylists(e.g.inconsistent

informationinspreadsheetsandaCRMsystem,orparallellistsbetweennewandexistingcustomers)

Prioritizedlistofcustomer-specificrecommendations,helpingsellerstargettherightopportunitiesbyintegratingexternalandinternaldata

Limitedornoguidanceonwheretobeginwithopportunities

Prescriptiverankingofnextbestopportunitiesinformedbyinteractionhistory

Unclearpropensityscores(whichevaluatesthelikelihoodacustomerwilltakeaction),wherenumbersoropportunityrankingsaredisplayedwithoutexplanations

Clearexplanationofrankingmethodologytosupportsellerdiscussions

2McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April3–24,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI4

Chapter

2.Next-bestaction

Evenwhenopportunitiesareprioritizedbasedonengagementandintentdata,somesales

organizationsstruggletoknowwhatstepsareneededtotakeadvantageofopportunitiesthatrequireimmediateengagement.

GenAIandmachinelearningcanimproveguidancetosellersonthe“next-bestaction”totake,

suchaswhethertoplacealeadinalow-engagementnurturingsegmentforalatermonthorinthequeueforatop-prioritymarketingcampaign.GenAIcanalsocategorizeleadsbychannelactions,suchasidentifyingwhotoinvitetoawebinarorwhomaybenefitfromimmediateone-to-one

interaction.GenAIcanevenpersonalizeoutreach,suchassuggestingemailorvoicemailscriptsbasedonchurnrisk.

IntheB2BPulseSurvey,next-bestactionstandsoutasoneofthemostexcitingusecasesin

industriessuchastechservices,durableequipment,andinsurance,wheresellersarefacedwitharelativelylargesetofoptionstoexpandaccountsandadvanceopportunities.3

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:

Acceleratingaftermarketandservicessales

Aleadingenterpriseequipment

manufacturerwantedtoaccelerateits

aftermarketandservicessales.The

companysmainchallengeswereareactive

salesforce,ahighlyfragmentedcustomerbase,significantchurn,andlowvisibility

oninstallationsatcustomersites.Aftera

fewmonthsofdevelopment,theOEMwasabletodeployalead-generationenginetocleanupsalesdata,feedaliveaftermarketdatabase,andbuildanalyticstogenerateopportunities.Thealgorithmsidentified

thenext-bestactionforthecompanybypredictingmaintenanceschedules.

Sellersreceivedprioritizedlistsofleads

embeddedintheirCRM,categorizedby

upsellingorcross-sellingopportunities

withanestimateddealvalue.Avirtualsalesassistanttheninitiatedcustomercontact

throughhyper-personalizedemails,

filteringresponsestopasshotleadsbacktosellers.Overall,theOEMincreaseditspipelinefromnewandexistingcustomersbymorethan20percentoftotalrevenue.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Overwhelmingandlonglistsoftaskswithoutclearurgencyforoutreach

Clearprescriptiveguidance(e.g.,prioritizedtasks,nextstepsforeachaccount)

Lackofinstructionsforsellersormarketersonwhatactionstotake

Categorizationandprioritizationofactionsbasedonrecommendation

Limitedguidanceonwhichchannelsaremostappropriateforengagement

Personalizedoutreachtailoredtospecificchannels

3McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April324,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI5

Chapter

3.Meetingsupport

Sincesellersstrugglewithlotsofcomplexinformation,preparingforkeyclientmeetingscanbeatime-intensiveprocess.GenAIandothertypesofautomationcansavesellerstimeandimprove

conversations.Thetechnologiescansynthesizecriticalinformationfrommultiplesources(suchasserviceticketsortransactiondata)andproviderelevantinsightsinaneasy-to-consumeformat.Alargelanguagemodel(LLM)canevendrafttalkingpointsandresponsestoobjectionsformore

efficientpreparationwithoutsacrificingconversationquality.

Meetingsupportdoesnothavetotakealongtimetodeploy.Therearereadilyavailablegen-AI-

enabledtoolsthatarerelativelyindustry-agnostic,canreferencemeaningfulsourcesacrossawidearrayofindustries,andcanbecustomizedeasilywithoff-the-shelfsolutions.

Themeetingsupportusecasetendstogeneratethemostexcitementamongindustrieswithlongsalescycles,numerousmeetings,andlargedealvalues,wherethesavingsonadministrative

timecanbesignificant.Forexample,morethan40percentofB2BPulseSurveyrespondentsinaerospaceanddefense,oilandgasrefining,andenergydistributionindicatedtheyareexcitedaboutthisusecase.4

targets.Forexample,only20percentof

itssellers’timewasspentinmeetings

withcustomers(whereassuccessfulB2Bsalesteamsinothercompaniesacrossallindustriescanspendathirdtohalfoftheirtimewithcustomers).Todecreasemeetingpreparationtime,thiscompanyusedAItoprioritizekeyopportunitiesandgenAIto

generateresearchmaterialsandscripts,

aswellashandlestraightforwardcustomeroutreach.AgenAItooltocraftmeeting

prepnoteswasdevelopedinsevenweeks,

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:Drivingsalesproductivity

Materialsindustriesareoftencomplex,

withahighvolumeofproductsandproductapplications.Successfulsellersneeda

deepunderstandingofthemarket,and

preparingformeetingscanbeanoneroustask.Onematerialscompanyfaced

challengesinreachingambitiousgrowth

reflectinginputfrommorethan30sellersandintegratingmorethan20datasources.Thegen-AI-producedmeetingnotes

includedasummaryoffinancials,strategicgoals,historicsalesdata,insightsand

actionsfrompastmeetings,asummaryofknowncustomerpreferencesand

requirements,andinformationaboutkeystakeholders.Theresultwasmorethan

10percentoftimefreedupforthetargetsellergroup.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Time-intensive,manualpreparationforcustomerinteractions

Pre-draftedsalessupportcollateral(includingtalkingpoints,interactionobjectives,andobjection-handlingresponses)

Unconnectedplatformswithsilosofcustomerinformation

Synthesizedinformationfrommultiplesources(e.g.,conciseinsightsfromreal-timepublicinformation,consolidated

updatesfromasuiteofinternalcontent)

Unstructuredassociationofkeyfactorscontributingtoimprovedoutcomesfromameeting

Continuousimprovementoftooloutputbasedonengagementandwinrateoutcomes

4McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April3–24,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

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Chapter

4.Requestforproposalresponses

Respondingtorequestsforproposals(RFPs)canbeatimesink.ButgenAIcanimprovethe

efficiencyandaccuracyofRFPresponses,reduceresponsetimes,andmanageinternaltracking.GenAIhelpsdriveconsistencyandimprovethecustomerexperienceasmultiplefunctionalteamsgiveinputonhowtorespondtoanRFP.

Thisusecaseisexcitingforleadersacrossawidevarietyofindustries,withparticularinterestfromlifesciencescompanies,whichfrequentlyhandlehighlycomplex,regulated,anddata-intensive

RFPresponsesthatnormallyrequireextensivemanualeffortstoaddress.Roughly40percentofbiopharmaceuticalleadersand30percentofhealthcareleadersrespondingtotheB2BPulse

Surveywereextremelyexcitedaboutthepotentialforagen-AI-enabledRFPresponder.5

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:

Streamliningresponses

Ahealthcaremanagedcareorganization

(MCO)transformedhowitrespondedto

RFPsbyadoptinggenAI.Whiledoing

researchtodraftresponses,itssalesteamsfrequentlyhadtosiftthroughhundredsofdocuments,eachwiththousandsofpages.InanindustrywhereanRFPmayonly

beissuedonceeverythreetofouryears

foreachmarket,thestakeswerehigh.

Intensecompetitiondemandedresponsesthathighlightedfinancialrobustnessand

specificcapabilitiesthatoutshonethoseof

competitors.Anymisstepcould

resultinalostcontractworthbillionsofdollarsannually.

TheintroductionofagenAItool

markedaparadigmshift.Byfeeding

genAIwithunstructureddatafromtheMCOshistoricalresponsesalong

withinformationfrompubliclyavailable

contractrecordsthesalesteamcould

generatecompetitiveintelligenceinmereseconds.Thistoolprovidedinstantaccesstorelevantinnovationsandcompetitor

benchmarks,enablingmorestrategicandinformeddecision-makingduringthedraftingprocess.Forexample,the

genAItoolcouldinstantlysynthesize

customerexpectationsofresponsetimestoprovidervoicemails,call-centerhours

ofoperation,andthetimetakentosecurepriorauthorization,criticaldetailsthat

previouslyrequiredextensivemanual

research.Sincetheintroductionofthetool,theMCOwasabletocutthetimerequiredtoassesscompetitorscapabilitiesby

60to80percent.Theinsightsgeneratedstrengtheneditsproposalinresponse

toacompetitiveRFP.Thetoolenabled

increasedefficiencyandbolsteredthe

MCOscompetitiveedgeinaninformation-richindustrywhereeveryRFPcounts.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Time-intensiveRFPresponseprocesses

FasterturnaroundtimesandImprovedaccuracyinRFPresponsedetails

InconsistentanswersforB2Bcustomerswithavarietyofinputsacrosstheorgandprocess

Consistentorganization-widebrandingandguardrailswhencompilingRFPresponsesacrossstakeholders

Manualresponsestoavarietyofunstructuredandvariablequestions

TailoredresponsesthatanswerspecificpointswithinanRFP

5McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April324,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

UnlockingprofitableB2BgrowththroughgenAI7

Chapter

5.Smartpricing

TheimpactofAIonpricingcanbehuge.ManyB2Bindustriesrelypredominantlyonbasicanalyticsandcommercialacumenofthesalesteam.AIcreatestheopportunityforsignificantinnovation.It

allowsB2Bplayerstotailormodelsthathavemostlybeenusedonlyinhigh-pacedB2Cindustries

(forinstance,onlineretail).Theresultisnewopportunitiesforfirstmoversandnewrisksforlaggards.

ThereareseveralpredominantapplicationsofAIandgenAIforsmartpricing.OneisinAI-ledprice

setting,inwhichthemicrosegmentationofcustomersallowsforanassessmentofcustomers

willingnesstopayandtobuyatagivenpricepoint.Additionalapplicationsincludegen-AI-enabled

negotiationsupportandpricingadministration.CompanieshavestartedtousegenAItoanalyze

publiclyavailabledataandinteractionswithcustomersandtracktheeffectivenessandperformanceofnegotiations,aswellascreatetailoredarguments.Thisalsoequipssellerswithascoreand

rationaleforhowmuchnegotiationpowertheyhave.GenAIisalsoprovingeffectiveintheuseofautomationinpriceadministration,includingsystemupdatesandapprovalworkflows.

IntheB2BPulseSurvey,smartpricingwasprioritizedbyrespondentsinindustrieswherepricinghasasignificantimpactonprofitability,andproductshavelessdifferentiationandvariability(forexample,paperandpackaging,energydistribution,andshipping).6

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:Dynamicdealscoring

ManyB2Borganizationslistfortheir

customerspricesthatarelaterdiscountedinnegotiationstoclosedeals.Thisleads

toawidevarianceinactualfinalprices.

Somevariancemakessense,butdiscountsfromdifferencesinsalesrepnegotiation

skillsorsaleshistory,forexample,maybeunnecessary.

OneB2Bservicescompanyaimedtoreininitsdiscountvarianceandtightenitspricing

model.UsinganAItool,itcreatedapricingstructurebasedonhundredsofcustomeranddealparameterswithseparatemodelsfornewdealsandrenewals.Thiswas

packagedforthesalesteaminanintuitiveappwheretheirdealswereanalyzedand

scored,providingthemwitharangeof

desirablediscountingoptions.This,inturn,fedintoanapprovalworkflowintheCRM,givinginstantvisibilityintohowgooda

dealreallywas.Finally,theinsightsfrom

theAImodelwereusedtotrainthesales

teams.Thoseinsightsrevealedwhatdrovewantedandunwanteddiscountvariance,equippingsalesteamswithguidanceon

wheretoholdtheirgroundorwheretogiveinduringnegotiations.

AsaresultofusingAIforsmartpricing,

thecompanysawa10percentupliftin

earnings.Notably,thepricingsolutionwasnotsolelyaboutincreasingprice.Rather,

itfocusedonoptimization,guidingteams

towardhigherpriceswherepossiblewhileallowingforlowerpriceswherenecessary.Thiskindofnuanceallowscompaniesto

actively

steerpricingtowardtheirstrategic

objectives

,whetherthatsmargin,volume,orabalancedcombination.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Inconsistentdiscountingheavilyinfluencedbyasellersgutfeeling

Dealscoringbasedontransactiondataanddealcharacteristics

Manualpricingcalculationsandindividualspreadsheets

Seamlessintegrationofpricingoptionsandscenariosintosellertoolsandworkflows

Opaqueandtime-consumingapprovalprocess

Clearlinkofquoteapprovalsandsellerperformancetotargets

6McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April324,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

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Chapter

6.Smartresearchassistant

High-performingB2Bsellersspendconsiderabletimeresearchingcustomers,prospects,and

products.Pullingtogetherinsightsfromcorporatewebsites,annualreports,andearningscalls,

aswellasemailsandinternaldata,takessignificanttime.Thiscanbeespeciallycumbersomefor

sellerswhoaretryingtoengageacustomeronalivecallwhilestrugglingtoquicklylocate,digest,

andsynthesizerelevantinformation.ThiscustomerinteractionhasbeentransformedbygenAI,

whichcanassistsellerswithquickfact-findingduringcalls.Asaresult,sellersaresharperandmoreinsightful,whichimprovestheoverallexperience.

RespondentstotheB2BPulseSurveyshowedthehighestaverageinterestinthesmartresearchassistantusecase,with27percentsayingtheywereexcitedaboutitsprospects.7

teninternalandexternaldatasources

tomapouttheuniverseofexistingand

potentialnewcustomers,prioritizedby

shareofwalletandaccountpotential.ThecompanyalsousedanAIagenttohelpitarticulatethevaluepropositionforeachlead,includinghowitfaredcompared

withcompetitorsacrosscrucialbuyingfactors.Thistechenablementequippedthecompanywithmorerobustresearch,allowingacommercialorganization

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:Drivingsellerproductivity

Astagnatingglobalindustrialscompanywaslookingtoreigniteprofitablegrowthandproductivityinavolatilemarket

environment.ItdevelopedanAI-enabledgrowthenginetohelpwithmarket

research.Thetoolcombinedmorethan

totransitionfromitstraditionalfocus

on“farming”businessamongknown

customerstoincreasingly“hunting”

fortrulynewopportunitiesinproduct

applicationsneverbeforeimagined.Thisledto40percenthigherconversionratesand30percentfasterleadexecutionbythesalesteamoncethesolutionwasfullyimplementedoverafewmonths.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Time-intensiveresearchtolocateinformation

Acceleratedfact-findingacrossmultiplesources

Conflictingresourceswithnosinglesourceoftruth

Factssupportedbylinkedreferences,boostingsellerconfidence

Poorcustomerbuyingexperience

Fewerredundantconversationsforbuyers

7McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April3–24,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

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Chapter

7.Smartcoach

GiventhelengthandcomplexityofsomeB2Bsalesprocessesanddealcycles,it’soften

challengingforsalesmanagersandleaderstoeffectivelybenchmarksellerperformance.GenAIcananalyzesellerperformanceacrossallcustomerinteractionstoprovidemanagerswitha

comprehensiveviewofperformanceandrecommendtargetedcoachingbasedonseller-specificneeds.Itcanalsoprovidepersonalizedperformanceinsightsdirectlytosellerstoallowfor

personaldevelopmentandgrowth.

B2BPulseSurveyrespondentsinserviceindustriesthatuserelativelyconsistentsalespitchesarethemosteagertohelptheirsellerswithgen-AI-enabledsmartcoaches.Forexample,35percentofleadersintheB2Binsurancespaceindicatedtheyareenthusiasticaboutthesmartcoachusecase.8

ItdevelopedagenAIsolutiontoassess

sellerperformanceandfedtheinsights

intoacoachingengine.Thetoolwas

trainedoncalltranscriptstiedtosales

andsatisfactionoutcomes.ItusedgenAI

toanalyzethecallstructureandidentify

competencemarkerssuchasempathy

thathelpexplainstrongperformance.

Theinsightswerethenusedtoprovide

coachingsuggestionstocall-centeragents

CASESTUDY

GenAIinthefield:

Improvingcall-centersales

Atelecomcompanyaimedtoimprove

customersatisfactionandsales

performanceinitscallcenter,where

pitchingspecificoffersconsistentlyduringeveryservicecallwasacriticalmetric.

aftereachcallandwereincorporated

intolonger-termcoachingprograms

tailoredforeachagent.Thispersonalizedcapability-buildingledtoaseven-point

increaseincustomersatisfactionscore(ametricthatmeasureshowlikelycustomersaretorecommendacompany’sproductsorservicestoothers)anda20percent

reductionintrainingcosts.

WithoutAI

WithAI

Assessingskillsandcoachingrepsisdifficultwhenmanagerscanonlyobserveperformancesporadically

Performanceinsightsareeffectivelybasedonallcalls,providingarichfactbaseforcoaching

Managerfeedbacklacksspecificityandfrequency,andsalestrainingsaregeneric

Feedbackisspecificandtimely,andtrainingsarepersonalized,allbasedonwhatdrivesbusinessoutcomes

Launchesareslowedbysellerlearningcurvesandteamproductivityislow

Sharpperformanceinsightsandtailoredcoachingacceleratesellerreadinessanddriveproductivity

8McKinseyGlobalB2BPulseSurvey,April3–24,2024;n=3,942B2Bdecision-makersacross34sectorsineightmajorindustriesin13countries.

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ThesesevencasestudiesrevealthepotentialofgenAItotransformtheend-to-endsalesjourney.Industryleadersareexcitedabouttheseusecases,buttheyareevenmoreinterestedinthenextwaveofinnovation,agenticAI.Withlimitedhumanintervention,agentscanreason,interpret,andmakeautonomousdecisionsforanactivityorworkflow.Considernext-best-actionusecases:

AgenticAIwillnotonlyidentifyspecificactions

(suchasclassifyingaleadasmediumpriority,

requiringonetotwowarm-upoutreachemails)butwillactuallyexecutetheactionbyautomaticallyreachingouttoaprospect,evaluatingtheirinterest,andrespondingback(forexample,bysendingamessagethatreads,“Wenoticedyouwereinterestedinaspecificproduct,sowewantedtoprovidemoredetail”).AIagentscanalsonurturearelationshipwithasalesprospectthroughmultiple

communicationsaboutpotentialactions,suchassettingupameetingbetweenthecustomerandseller.AIagentsaresopowerfulthattheyhavethepotentialtobringallthesevenusecasestothenextlevel.

FivekeylessonsfordeployinggenAIinB2Bsales

ThesevencasestudiesillustratehowcompaniescanleverageAItofundamentallyrewiretheir

salescapabilityforoutsize,profitablegrowth.EffectivedeploymentofgenAIiscrucialforsuccess.Whetherstartingtheirfirstpilotorscalinginitialefforts,anycompanylookingtoachievelasting

changeacrosstheirsalesorganizationshouldconsiderthesefivelessons.

Startwiththeproblem,notthetechnology

ThedecisiontousegenAIoranyothertechnologyshouldbeguidedbyspecificbusiness

considerations.ForB2Bsales,theprimaryconsiderationsh