Empathy, Not AI, Is Today’s Real Sales Advantage

What makes sales kickoffs either catalytic or a Vegas-grade waste of money? You’ll find out in this episode of the Work Tech Weekly podcast, when Steve Smith welcomes Ryan Estis — former Fortune 500 CRO, bestselling author, and leadership keynote speaker — for a candid conversation on sales, leadership, kickoffs and (of course) AI. They dig into why human-centered leadership is a performance multiplier. Right now, command-and-control sales leaders are falling behind, and empathy is becoming the most valuable (and hardest) skill in sales. They wrap up by talking about why the time for AI experimentation is over and how the most effective teams are using it to free up time for empathy, coaching and focus on the customer.