How do you know AI has actually been adopted in your commercial team?
Point of view · AI and commercial teams
How do you know AI has actually been adopted in your commercial team?
AI has been adopted only when the decisions that matter change, not when usage rates go up. A useful test: if the system were switched off tomorrow, would pricing, targeting or account decisions be made any differently? If not, authority has not moved, and the AI is an advisor nobody has to follow.
What is happening
Harvard Business School professor and ISBM Fellow Das Narayandas argues that employees override AI systems that work, not because they distrust the technology, but because they read their organization’s accountability structure correctly. If their name is on the report when something goes wrong, review steps multiply and the system never actually decides.
Why it matters for B2B commercial teams
Pricing engines, lead scoring and account prioritization tools are arriving in sales and marketing teams now. Usage dashboards will look healthy while sales reps keep discounting the way they always have and account managers keep chasing the same accounts. The investment pays back only when decision rights move with the tool.
Our point of view
This is the same lesson we see with frameworks. A segmentation or a value map changes nothing until someone is accountable for acting on it. Before scaling any AI system, agree who loses discretion, who gains authority over which decisions, who explains outcomes when the system is followed, and who carries the risk while people learn.
What to do about it
01
Name the decisions
List the commercial decisions the system is meant to change: price approvals, discount limits, target accounts.
02
Move the authority
Agree who decides when the system and a person disagree.
03
Protect the learner
Decide who absorbs the risk during the learning curve, so people are not punished for following the system.
04
Measure decisions, not logins
Track how often decisions follow the recommendation and what happens when they do.
Tools that help
Market Edge tools that apply to this question.
Key Account PlanTool · A Key Account Plan sets out how you will grow a strategic account: its strategy and financial position, your share of wallet, new value propositions, joint initiatives and the resources you commit.Opportunity assessment and NPVTool · Opportunity assessment and NPV evaluate innovation ideas before R&D starts: a short qualitative overview, a financial model, and a score on significance, ability to execute and technical and commercial feasibility.
Questions about this
Is high usage a sign of AI adoption?
No. Usage shows people open the tool. Adoption means the decisions that matter are made differently because of it.
Why do good employees override AI?
Because they remain personally accountable for outcomes. Until accountability is redesigned, keeping the decision is the rational choice.
How does Market Edge help?
We help commercial leaders define decision rights, align frameworks and training with them, and assess whether teams can use AI output with judgment.
Adapted from a Market Edge post in the Market Edge Alumni Network, October 2026, sharing work by Das Narayandas (HBR, Nov–Dec 2026). Join the conversation in the Market Edge Alumni Network.
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