SALES TECH

Anna Kim, Photos: Adobe Stock

AI has impacted virtually all sales roles, but arguably business development reps (BDRs) and sales development reps (SDRs) have seen the most material impact on their trajectory thanks to the proliferation of sales intelligence and automation platforms. The path from SDR to account executive (AE) is well-trodden, even if it’s far from straightforward. The big question: Do AI-powered platforms for sales teams help or hinder that journey?

While the jury is still out on whether AI is eliminating early sales roles, some experts think the technology can help young professionals learn the requisite skills to move swiftly up the ranks.

“I don’t think it’s going to be OK to not embrace this technology,” said Steve Harding, international SVP at revenue orchestration platform Clari + Salesloft. “There are some technologies that come in waves and there are others that come in tsunamis. This is one that is coming in a tsunami, so it’s a pressured imperative that people get up to speed.”

Shifting skills

AI-powered automation has removed some of the busy work that has historically bogged down early sales professionals (while also creating some slop in the process), which Harding thinks can help them focus more on developing their seller skills.

“We can find more time in our day to do what sellers should do: i.e., the real art of selling, so being personal, being present, being informed, being a trusted advisor, being in service of the customers,” Harding said. “Many of those things are human traits. The SDR, as another sales agent, has an opportunity to actually elevate the way that they work within the sales cycle because a lot of the background work can be done for them.”

Mark Schopmeyer, co-founder and co-CEO of sales commission software CaptivateIQ, believes AI automation has eliminated some barriers to growth.

“It’s leveling the playing field in a way for BDRs,” he said. “Instead of a couple BDRs being truly exceptional in their role, a lot of these tools are making a lot more of the BDR workforce as productive as your top performing BDRs. As a result of that, you’re seeing some of the flip side, which is everyone’s driving outcomes a little bit more consistently because you don’t have to be reliant on who does the best research and who does the best personalization.”

Read more on AI increasing opportunities for early sales professionals.—LI

      

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REVENUE STRATEGY & LEADERSHIP

Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images

If at first you don’t succeed, try again. And then try a third time, too. That’s how Shein has approached its seemingly ill-fated IPO.

The Chinese-founded, now Singapore-based, fashion colossus initially attempted to go public in New York in 2023, but lawmakers essentially blocked the company from doing so in the US amid allegations of using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. Then, it was full steam ahead on London in 2025, though roadblocks emerged in the form of lawmaker opposition, the growing impact of tariffs, and a lack of approval from regulators in China, where the brand’s clothing is manufactured.

Now, its IPO will happen on September 1 in Hong Kong, which Chinese regulators have already signed off on—the “friendliest” location for the company, but also its “market of last resort,” Sky Canaves, principal retail analyst at Emarketer, told Morning Brew.

And more than just the location of the company’s IPO has changed since it was initially valued at $100 billion in 2022. For one, the company is now valued at $27 billion.

“[The retail industry in 2022] was a very different landscape that has since shifted,” Canaves said. “Shein hasn’t quite lived up to some of its promises of evolving its business model to keep up with those changes.”

Though the company has room to (re)grow, it’s not being granted any more time by investors. The deadline for share redemptions is coming up at the end of the year, which is why Shein is IPO-ing at a “much lower valuation than it originally would have wanted or would like if it could wait a few more years until it sufficiently evolves its business model,” Canaves told Morning Brew.

Even so, Canaves said that the IPO probably won’t lead to a big surge in investment for the company.

“They still spend a lot on marketing and customer acquisition, which indicates that without a lot of targeting and promotions and incentives to customers, they might not keep coming back,” Canaves told Morning Brew. “That’s also been a red flag for investors.”.—TC

      

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Francis Scialabba

AI is creating mo’ solutions, and maybe problems.

Many recruiters use AI tools to sift through résumés and source candidates, but more and more HR pros are growing concerned about the rise of AI application fraud.

While 78% of people pros say AI increases hiring and onboarding efficiency, 36% report the rise of AI-generated candidate information has reduced their confidence in hiring decisions, an Equifax report found. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of HR pros have seen “fabricated or misleading candidate information.”

“What we’re seeing is there’s more efficiency. It’s a faster process…The challenge is the stories of the folks who slip through,” Chris Johnson, a SVP and general manager of employer services at Equifax, said. “They’re stories both of human error in the process, but they’re also stories of opportunities for us to incorporate AI into the process, so we can check for fraud along the way.”

What HR can look out for. Recruiters and talent pros need to be vigilant when cross-checking information on résumés and cover letters, Johnson told HR Brew, because AI tools can exaggerate or fabricate details. But perhaps a bigger concern that HR needs to be wary of, he added, is candidates using false identities.

“This would be a worker who is running two or more full-time W-2 jobs, will fabricate a resume, create an identity, onboard using that identity, get paid for it for a period of time, and often for a nefarious purpose that’s beyond simply capturing an extra paycheck,” Johnson said. “This person might actually be a fraudster or a hacker trying to get into your system.”

Read how application fraud is not a new problem for people pros.—MC

      

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