How to Use AI to Become the CRO of Your Own Territory
In a rapidly evolving sales landscape, revenue teams face mounting pressure to hit higher quotas with fewer resources, faster execution, and tighter timelines. The rise of AI has certainly promised a degree of relief — but without the right data and context, even the most advanced tools and teams can fall short.
This was the central theme of Clari's recent webinar, “Become the CRO of Your Own Territory: How Managers and Reps Can Scale Revenue Success.” Clari’s VP of EMEA, Revenue Ro Corrigan, and I had a great conversation, which was moderated by April Rassa, VP of Portfolio & Solutions Marketing. Together, we explored the shifting seller landscape, the power of Revenue Context, and how data-driven execution is transforming the way high-performing teams operate.
The New Reality: Seller Productivity in Decline
We started off by taking a look at recent numbers, which give an eye-opening look at the current sales climate:
- 67% of sellers missed quota last year
- Reps spend just 2 hours a day actually selling
- Win rates are down while quotas continue to climb
What’s going wrong? For one, most revenue teams still lack the context needed to make their data actionable, despite the promise of AI. Revenue data is scattered across CRMs, emails, call recordings, and billing systems. Even when all that data is captured, it’s often fragmented and unstructured, making it difficult to extract actionable insights.
Without the right context, at best, AI just becomes a noisy, expensive tool in an organization’s tech stack. Worse yet: reps have a harder time closing deals, managers are less effective coaches, and teams fall behind.
"My instincts aren’t enough anymore — AI and data are now core to how I run the team."
AI with Context: Driving Clarity and Focus
Ro emphasized how AI, when powered by the right data, has significantly transformed her leadership style. “My instincts aren’t enough anymore,” she noted. "AI and data are now core to how I run the team."
For managers, it offers visibility into deal health and pipeline risk, enabling them to coach with facts, not guesswork. And for reps, AI automates much of their admin work while also flagging where to focus — this helps them take proactive action instead of resorting to reactive scrambling.
“The AI in Clari gives me true revenue context,” Ro said. “It pulls scattered data into one system, creating insights that help with pipeline creation, progression, closing, and retention."
"Three years ago, this wasn’t even a topic, but today, it’s critical. Without Revenue Context, AI is just another expensive tool that doesn’t work."
From Guesswork to Guidance: Revenue Context in Action
The conversation then shifted to the concept of Revenue Context: the ability to connect actions to outcomes across the revenue stack. It tells AI who did what, when, and what the outcome was, turning insights from informative to prescriptive.
As an account executive, I shared how Revenue Context has become a cornerstone of my selling strategy. Three years ago, this wasn’t even a topic of discussion in my field, but today, it’s critical. Without Revenue Context, AI is just another expensive tool that doesn’t work.
Last year, enterprises spent $13.8 Billion on AI initiatives, but 67% of revenue leaders don’t trust the revenue data their AI relies on. This means they’re unable to trust its answers to basic questions like:
- What changed in this deal?
- Who followed up after the last meeting?
- Which plays moved the needle last quarter?
When tools lack context, reps waste time switching between platforms, often missing key signals; and their AI gives vague suggestions, misfires on next steps, and fails to drive real outcomes.
"If your competitor is using AI and you’re not, you’re already behind."
The Rep Performance Gap: What Top Sellers Do Differently
Next, we discussed seller performance, using data from a recent Clari Labs report as our backdrop, which found:
- The top 10% of reps drive 65% of revenue
- The bottom 50% account for just 7.6%
As a longtime manager, Ro confirmed these trends, noting that performance gaps aren't just about effort. She emphasized, "It’s about how reps work. Without clear insights, managers can't coach effectively."
She shared an example where Clari flagged a $150K deal as at-risk due to inactivity, despite the rep being confident. With that insight, Ro was able to intervene early and adjust her team’s strategy to re-engage the right stakeholders and secure the deal.
Becoming a top seller isn’t about hustle alone — it's about working smart with repeatable, data-driven strategies. If your competitor is using AI and you’re not, you’re already behind.
"Cadences streamline coaching. Call recordings mean I don’t take notes live. I can spot issues early and redirect reps before deals go sideways."
Running Your Territory Like a CRO
Top reps don’t just run deals — they run their business. That mindset is enabled by Revenue Cadences: structured, repeatable workflows aligned to revenue goals.
At Clari, over 3,000 cadences have been built to drive activities like pipeline reviews, forecasting, and account planning. It’s important to note that cadences are not meetings or check-the-box exercises — they’re the operational engine behind consistent execution.
As a seller, I use cadences to stay focused and keep deals on track. I know exactly what metrics will come up in my 1:1s and reviews, and I’m able to prep in advance and course-correct before issues snowball.
Ro echoed this from a manager’s perspective: "Cadences streamline coaching. Call recordings mean I don’t take notes live. I can spot issues early and redirect reps before deals go sideways."
"You manage reps the way they need to be managed, not how you want to. Clari gives me real-time data so I can see exactly where to jump in."
Coaching in the Moment: Discipline Meets Insight
When reps miss quota, the issue isn’t just effort — it’s also coaching.
Ro shared how her approach to coaching has changed: "You manage reps the way they need to be managed, not how you want to. Clari gives me real-time data so I can see exactly where to jump in."
From my own experience in past roles, "My 1:1s used to be checklists. Now, they’re collaborative. My manager comes in with a POV backed by data. We spend more time problem-solving and less time catching up."
"My 1:1s used to be checklists. Now, they’re collaborative. My manager comes in with a POV backed by data. We spend more time problem-solving and less time catching up."
Strategy in Action: The Right Tools for the Right Moments
Closing out the session, Ro and I went over the tools we use to stay ahead.
As a manager, Ro relies on:
- Cadence Dashboards for weekly focus
- Waterfall to track deal changes
- Flow to find stuck deals
- Funnel to spot performance gaps
- Accounts for activity, whitespace, and intent signals
- Opportunity Scoring for real-time deal health
As a seller, the keys to my success are:
- Accounts to centralize usage, support, intent data
- Start with account mastery: past calls, fiscal calendars, objections
- Partner with CSMs for long-range renewal planning
- Run outreach via Groove, personalized by Clari insights
"Spreadsheets can't compete with this level of visibility. If I’m being held to a higher bar, I expect tools that help me work smarter."
Closing the Gap Between Insight and Action
If you’re a revenue leader trying to scale performance, or a rep looking to operate like a CRO, the message from this webinar is clear: context is everything.
Whether you're building a disciplined sales motion, coaching with clarity, or closing complex enterprise deals — the difference between good and great often comes down to having the right data, structured the right way, at the right time.
And with Revenue Context, you're no longer guessing. You're leading with insight, acting with confidence, and winning with consistency.
Want to dig deeper into these strategies?
Watch the full Clari webinar on-demand or explore our Clari Labs research to see how your team can close the performance gap and drive predictable revenue.
And check out “The Sale’s Manager’s Playbook: 5 AI-Powered Moves to Turn Reps Into Rainmakers.”