#602 AI Can Set Meetings. It Still Can’t Build Trust | Alex Grant

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, Mehmet sits down with Alex Grant, SVP of Sales at North. Alex brings more than 16 years of experience building sales teams across fintech, payments technology, and SaaS. The conversation centers on a hard tension: AI can create more opportunities, but it still cannot create trust by itself.The conversation reframes AI in sales and fintech as an execution problem rather than a technology topic. Alex explains why companies are using AI to move faster, secure payment systems, and generate more qualified opportunities, while also showing why complex software still needs a human seller who can translate risk, value, and trust for the buyer.If you are leading revenue, building fintech products, investing in AI-enabled software, or selling complex enterprise technology, this conversation shows where AI can accelerate the system and where human judgment still carries the deal.About the GuestAlex Grant is the SVP of Sales at North, where he is building the company’s first coast-to-coast W-2 outside sales channel. Before joining North, Alex spent more than 16 years building sales teams in fintech, payments technology, software, and SaaS, including time at a Fortune 500 company.At North, Alex focuses on building full-time sales teams that can sell payment technology, AI-supported security, and software solutions with a structured career path, training model, and field-led culture. His perspective is grounded in the operational reality of selling fintech and payments technology to businesses of different sizes.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralexgrant/Website: https://north.comKey TakeawaysAI can generate meetings, but it cannot replace trust in complex technology sales.Buyers want AI, but many still struggle to define what they actually need.Payment security is one of the clearest practical use cases for AI in fintech.Smaller businesses often underestimate security risk until they become easier targets.AI lowers the cost of testing new software ideas before committing years of development.Automated SDR workflows will pressure traditional appointment-setting models.Human sellers still matter when buyers need confidence before signing large contracts.Sales teams perform better when leadership gives field teams real access and voice.What You Will LearnHow AI is changing prospecting and appointment setting in fintech sales.Why payment security is becoming a stronger AI use case than generic productivity.The reason smaller merchants often misunderstand their exposure to fraud and breaches.How buyers talk about AI when they know they need it but cannot define the purchase.Why complex software still needs human interpretation during the sales process.When W-2 sales teams create more control than 1099 agent-led distribution.What sales leaders can do to keep field teams engaged, heard, and useful.Episode Highlights00:00: AI sales needs a human interpreter05:00: Payment security becomes the practical AI case07:30: Small businesses misread their breach exposure11:30: Buyers want AI before defining the need14:00: AI lowers software development risk17:00: Automated SDRs pressure old appointment models19:00: Trust still decides large software purchases28:30: North shifts toward a W-2 sales model36:00: Salespeople need access, not just incentives45:30: Door-to-door selling still creates human trust50:00: AI turns ideas into working prototypes fasterResources MentionedNorth: https://north.comW-2 sales model: referenced as North’s full-time sales channel structure1099 agent model: referenced as the traditional distribution model in payments technologyListen NowAvailable on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.Connect with the ShowFollow The CTO Show with Mehmet for more conversations at the intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital.