EPISODE · May 24, 2026 · 25 MIN
🇬🇧 #36 - More Performance Through AI? The Future of Incentives & Sales with Caroline Rocha
from The Commission Corner - Learnings from CFOs, Sales leaders and RevOps
🇬🇧 #36 - More Performance Through AI? The Future of Incentives & Sales with Caroline Rocha"AI will increase sales performance."That assumption does also have an impact on sales compensation plans.Raising quotas for example as a natural consequence.Gregor and I talked with Caroline Rocha, a sales compensation expert, about what AI is actually doing inside revenue teams. Here is what we learned:Some companies assumed sellers would close more once AI cleared the prep work. It didn't pan out.Why?Top reps were already doing that work. Just at 10pm on a Sunday.AI didn't unlock hidden hours. It gave people their nights back. That's a different thing.Which means the comp argument flips.If AI is absorbing invisible labor instead of generating new output, then raising quotas isn't automatically justified. A rep doing the same number with less burnout is still a result.And if research, admin, and follow-ups get automated, what's left is harder to measure - judgment, the ability to read a room, knowing when to push and when to shut up, navigating a deal that's about to fall apart.That's not a productivity story. It's a different job. And most comp plans aren't built for it.While companies in the USA are already thinking about AI's impact on commissions, most companies in Germany are still not making use of sales compensation.Gregor and I see it every day when we talk to decision makers at for example manufacturing companies. It's usually just a bonus at the end of the year, that's not an incentive for sales. The ones that figure out that commission is actually an enabler to steer the sales team in the right direction and drive company goals will ask a different question: what behavior are we actually trying to incentivize now?For those that have already understood that, here's a high level overview of the podcast episode:1) AI’s real impact on sales productivity2) How AI changes sales compensation and quota setting3) AI inside compensation operations and toolingNow online on Spotify and co.
What this episode covers
🇬🇧 #36 - More Performance Through AI? The Future of Incentives & Sales with Caroline Rocha"AI will increase sales performance."That assumption does also have an impact on sales compensation plans.Raising quotas for example as a natural consequence.Gregor and I talked with Caroline Rocha, a sales compensation expert, about what AI is actually doing inside revenue teams. Here is what we learned:Some companies assumed sellers would close more once AI cleared the prep work. It didn't pan out.Why?Top reps were already doing that work. Just at 10pm on a Sunday.AI didn't unlock hidden hours. It gave people their nights back. That's a different thing.Which means the comp argument flips.If AI is absorbing invisible labor instead of generating new output, then raising quotas isn't automatically justified. A rep doing the same number with less burnout is still a result.And if research, admin, and follow-ups get automated, what's left is harder to measure - judgment, the ability to read a room, knowing when to push and when to shut up, navigating a deal that's about to fall apart.That's not a productivity story. It's a different job. And most comp plans aren't built for it.While companies in the USA are already thinking about AI's impact on commissions, most companies in Germany are still not making use of sales compensation.Gregor and I see it every day when we talk to decision makers at for example manufacturing companies. It's usually just a bonus at the end of the year, that's not an incentive for sales. The ones that figure out that commission is actually an enabler to steer the sales team in the right direction and drive company goals will ask a different question: what behavior are we actually trying to incentivize now?For those that have already understood that, here's a high level overview of the podcast episode:1) AI’s real impact on sales productivity2) How AI changes sales compensation and quota setting3) AI inside compensation operations and toolingNow online on Spotify and co.
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🇬🇧 #36 - More Performance Through AI? The Future of Incentives & Sales with Caroline Rocha
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