AI Role Guide in 2024: What Makes a Successful Account Executive at Tech Companies?

Dec 7, 2024

AI Role Guide in 2024: What Makes a Successful Account Executive at Tech Companies?

The AE role is one of the most important components of a successful sales team, especially in tech companies. But what is an AE in sales and what do they actually do?

In business, Account Executives (AE) are the main source of contact between a company and its clients. AEs in sales are responsible for building and maintaining relationships with clients, as well as upselling products and services the client might need. AEs also manage contract issues and arrange for other services, such as technical support.

The AE meaning sales is a full-cycle contributor who does everything from prospecting to closing deals. While SDRs focus on finding prospects, AEs work to close deals and nurture leads through the sales pipeline.

AEs are crucial for companies who want to provide a great customer experience, but their roles and responsibilities can get a little murky – especially in small tech companies and startups that may be operating with small teams. In these situations, Account Executives often spend the majority of their time building their pipeline and end up neglecting prospects that are already engaged.

In this article, we’ll show you AI can free up your AEs to focus on relationship building and prospect nurturing. We’ll also explore the key skills and responsibilities of the typical AE role, particularly in tech environments.

What is an AE in Sales? Core Responsibilities and Skills

Key Skills

Anyone in an AE role must have great communication and storytelling abilities, and they should be able to empathize and come up with solutions for client pain points.

A modern Account Executive should also be good at analyzing data using CRM tools and key sales metrics. They must also be able to use this data to make informed client decisions, as well as constantly adapt to the latest AI sales tools to boost their efficiency and productivity.

Responsibilities

Depending on the role, an AE might own the entire sales cycle from prospecting and qualification to closing deals – or they might be passed a client from an SDR after the qualification stage.

Either way, a key responsibility for an AE is to maintain a strong relationship with clients and prospects, collaborating with SDRs, customer success teams and marketing departments for the good of the business — they shouldn’t be bogged down with finding leads.

KPIs for the AE Role

Most professionals in AE roles will need to hit quarterly KPIs. These goals might include revenue growth, pipeline expansion or increased retention rates. KPIs are important for both business growth and career progression for the AE.

AE Meaning in Business: The Average Day

AE meaning in business can vary. But on an average day, an Account Executive might start by reviewing prospect lists and outreach sequences, then move on to discovery calls, client demos and other customer communications.

They will also spend time collaborating with other members of the sales team to identify challenges or tasks that need to be completed, as well as any bottlenecks in the sales cycle.

AEs will also need to analyze data and deal metrics to help them refine their outreach and client management strategies. Again, they may collaborate with other team members and stakeholders to optimize their approach or identify new areas for expansion.

Tech Companies and the Evolving AE Role

Historically, SDR and AE roles have worked in tandem. The SDR worked on finding and qualifying leads and handed clients over to the AE, who nurtured them through the remainder of the sales cycle.

But this isn’t always the case in modern business structures – especially in scaling companies with 50-200 employees, where the focus is on leaner and more agile teams. Sales has also shifted as an industry, with high-pressure selling being left behind in favor of a more consultative approach.

Now, the AE often has full-cycle responsibility, guiding clients through the entire process of prospecting, qualification and closing. This is great for the strength of client relationships, and it helps to build trust in the business. It can be difficult for the AE though, who is often juggling several client accounts at once while also having to generate new leads.

Thankfully, the rise of AI tools means AEs can now automate many of the manual parts of their role — particularly lead generation — allowing them to focus on higher-value activities and authentic relationship building.

Topo: How to Leverage AI in an AE Role

There is no shortage of AI sales assistants on the market, but not all of them are created equal. While other sales tools will automate tasks like data input and CRM management, Topo will handle the entire lead generation process from beginning to end.

Topo covers tasks like prospect research and qualification, email sequencing, follow-up messaging and data enrichment, freeing up the AE role to focus on strategy and relationship-building instead of time-consuming admin tasks.

Our AIs are trained on industry-specific data, ensuring the right leads are engaged at the right times with highly relevant and accurate messaging.

The average full-cycle AE spends at least 30% of their time building their pipeline. Topo can give AEs multiple hours back per week to focus on higher-value tasks. Our AI tool works behind the scenes to identify high-quality leads that fit your ICP, maintaining a layer of human oversight to harness your AE’s expertise and skill.

Why Full-Cycle Sales Models Work Best in Tech Companies

Siloed sales teams are normal in larger, more established companies, where SDRs and AEs work alongside one another to fulfill the sales cycle – but this isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Silos can create inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the sales cycle, as well as communication errors and greater overheads.

In smaller companies and startups, a full-cycle sales approach often works best because it is a leaner and more agile method, resulting in:

  • More consistent messaging

  • Better accountability for the AE role

  • Improved client relationships

  • Reduced overhead costs

  • Greater agility to test new markets and verticals

AI tools like Topo work with AEs – not instead of them – to streamline and supercharge lead generation and CRM tasks.

Topo is unique in that its AI SDRs automate the entire lead generation process and can be trained with industry-specific data so they’re better equipped to help you meet your company goals.

Our tool also integrates seamlessly into existing workflows, including CRMs like Salesforce and email systems.

With Topo, you can achieve a better balance of efficiency and relationship-building, driving sustained business growth. Plus, you’ll make dramatic cost savings compared to the traditional AE and SDR model – our AI SDRs are 10 times cheaper than the average sales hire!

Topo: Empowering AEs with AI-Driven Efficiency

If you want to future-proof your sales strategy while achieving long-term growth, blending human skills with AI automation is the answer.

AE meaning in business often equals time-consuming manual tasks like lead generation, but the AE role should be reserved for strategic relationship building. Free up your Account Executives, reduce employee burnout and optimize your sales processes with Topo.

Book your free demo today, and start your journey towards maximum ROI and scalability.

Agents

Resources

Book a demo