AI Integration Forces a Shift in Sales Managers’ Leadership Roles

As AI takes over routine tasks, sales managers face the challenge of balancing cutting-edge technology with people-focused leadership to build trust and adaptability in evolving financial teams.

Research: Sales managers' perceptions of interpersonal communication competence in leading AI-integrated sales teams. Image Credit: Shutterstock AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming work in the financial sector. A recent study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland explored how integrating AI into sales teams affects the interpersonal communication competence required of sales managers. The study found that handing routine tasks over to AI improved efficiency and freed up sales managers' time for more complex tasks. However, as the integration of AI progressed, sales managers faced new communication challenges, including those related to overcoming fears and resistance to change.

"Members of sales teams needed encouragement in the use of AI systems, and their self-direction also needed support. Sales managers' contribution was also vital in adapting to constant digital changes and in maintaining trust within the team," says Associate Professor Jonna Koponen of the University of Eastern Finland.

The longitudinal study is based on 35 expert interviews conducted over five years, from 2019 to 2024, and on secondary data gathered from one of Scandinavia's most prominent financial groups. The findings show that consideration of ethical perspectives and adaptability was significant when integrating AI into sales teams in addition to traditional managerial interpersonal communication competence.

Sales managers play a crucial role in leading their teams, managing daily operations, and implementing strategic changes. AI is already playing a significant role in the digital transformation of sales teams, requiring new skills from both managers and team members.

The study categorized AI into three types—mechanical AI for routine tasks, thinking AI for systematic decision-making, and feeling AI for empathetic interactions. In 2023–2024, generative AI, a form of feeling AI, was introduced, marking a significant shift in AI's capabilities and role within teams.

The study highlighted the benefits, concerns, and communication challenges brought about by AI integration, which requires both traditional communication skills and new AI-related skills. In addition to routine tasks, more advanced AI performed tasks requiring learning and adaptation, such as customer interaction, in collaboration with humans.

Sales managers described how AI systems evolved into collaborators, often being treated as team members. They were given human names and referred to as personal assistants, underscoring the personalization of AI within sales teams.

Emphasis on People Management

Effective sales team management while navigating an evolving technological landscape requires sales managers to combine traditional interpersonal communication competence with new AI-related skills. Sales managers' traditional interpersonal communication competence consists of four components. The first involves motivation to interact with people and willingness to be a team leader. The second component pertains to knowledge and understanding: sales managers need knowledge of communication and leadership and a sense of how to use AI-produced data for decision-making and employee interactions.

The third component is related to communication skills, including empathy, listening, argumentation skills, sharing information openly, and supporting co-management within the team. In addition, the study highlighted the ability to craft effective prompts for generative AI and speak politely, similarly to AI. The fourth component is adaptability. The study found that in the work of sales managers, it is important to be able to adapt interpersonal communication behavior to different contexts, various employees, and their different communication needs.

"Our findings suggest that the introduction of AI by sales teams also created a need for sales managers to focus more on the management of people, and less on the management of things. Furthermore, with the introduction of AI, ethical perspectives and understanding the role of AI as that of a team member also became central."

The study suggests that sales managers' interpersonal communication competence significantly impacts team relationships and tasks, such as building trust, maintaining a sense of community, supporting employee engagement, and enhancing job satisfaction.

"With good interpersonal communication competence, sales managers can ensure that work goals get achieved. Good interpersonal communication competence can also promote decision-making and be used to communicate the significance of human work in the era of AI."