90% of sales teams use AI agents – but half of them have the same data problem

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

According to the 2026 State of Sales Report from Salesforce, 94% of sales leaders with agents say they’re critical for meeting business demands. For the seventh edition of the State of Sales report, Salesforce surveyed 4,050 sales professionals from 22 countries to learn more about: 

• AI agent adoption, use cases, and benefits
• Data considerations to improve agent outcomes
• Key revenue models for driving growth
• Tactics to improve the sales rep experience

Also: AI project stalled? Blame your outdated, fragmented workflow – and redesign it now

Here are four key findings of the 2026 State of Sales Report: 

1. Sellers welcome AI agents to the team. Caught between high customer expectations and limited capacity to deliver on them, nine in 10 sales teams look to agents. They report benefits to sales planning, customer retention, and prospecting. 94% of sales leaders with agents say they’re critical for meeting business demands.
2. AI agent adoption requires better data and fewer tools. Sales teams are unifying data and simplifying tech to improve AI and agent outcomes. Sales pros have data concerns, such as manual errors and duplicate data. Others say bloated tech stacks delay their AI initiatives. 84% of teams without an all-in-one platform plan to consolidate tech.
3. Sales teams pull on three key levers for growth. Sellers are looking beyond AI to identify three key tactics for growth: emphasizing sales planning, investing in partners, and adopting usage-based pricing. 76% of sales leaders say usage-based pricing is more important to customers now than it was last year.
4. Beyond pay, here’s what reps really want. Sales reps want more personalized coaching and greater transparency in pay. Leaders are bringing in agents and automation that can help. Many reps also say community is the key to their success. High performers are 2.5x more likely to regularly participate in a sales community outside their company. 

The focus of this article will be on the first two key findings: adoption of AI agents and the need for better data and consolidated tools. 

Sellers welcome AI agents to the team 

Sales representatives are facing a capacity crisis, caught between rising customer expectations and limited time to meet them. Customers now demand a clear return on investment (ROI), personalized interactions, and comprehensive education before committing to a purchase. This has led to longer sales cycles as customers delay their decision-making. 

Also: AI agent adoption and budgets will rise significantly in 2026, despite challenges

The core issue isn’t a lack of motivation or competence among reps, but rather a lack of time. In fact, reps dedicate over half their working hours to non-selling activities, such as data entry and prospecting. Given the finite nature of both the workday and the sales force, sales organizations must determine how to maximize output with fewer resources. 

Changing customer demands is the number one challenge in sales.

AI agents: Essential for modern sales success

In the face of growing pressure, sales professionals are increasingly relying on AI agents to maintain a competitive edge. These agents work around the clock on behalf of sales teams, with 94% of sales leaders who use them deeming them critical for meeting current business demands. Sales professionals report that AI agents significantly enhance the human sales experience, driving stronger pipeline growth, more deal closures, and higher revenue. The wide-ranging benefits reported include:

• Improved productivity and efficiency: Reps are more productive, make sales planning more efficient, and increase their odds of hitting sales targets.
• Better data and customer understanding: AI improves data accuracy and helps reps gain a deeper understanding of their customers.
• Enhanced customer engagement and retention: Agents drive customer retention and engage prospects who were previously overlooked.

Top areas where AI agents deliver benefits include: data accuracy, sales planning, customer retention, customer and prospect engagement, and cost savings.

AI agents: Sales adoption across the entire sales cycle 

The adoption of AI agents in sales is rapidly increasing, with a projected nine out of 10 sales teams either currently utilizing them or planning to do so within the next two years. AI agents are already transforming the entire sales cycle, enabling representatives to overcome capacity constraints and accelerate processes. This is achieved while still delivering the high level of personalization customers expect.

Also: AI agents are fast, loose and out of control, MIT study finds

Key applications for these agents include streamlining the closing process by creating quotes, improving the customer experience through efficient order fulfillment, and enabling usage-based pricing by tracking product consumption. The financial sector is a significant adopter, accounting for three of the top five industries utilizing sales agents. For instance, wealth managers leverage agents as assistants to schedule meetings and generate financial reports, freeing up their time to focus on client engagement. The rise of AI agents in sales is not a future trend — it is a present reality.

AI agent adoption requires better data and fewer tools

For agents to deliver accurate, personalized results, they need comprehensive, unified customer and business data. However, achieving this presents challenges. A staggering 84% of data and analytics leaders feel their current data strategies need a complete overhaul to meet their AI objectives.

The need for unified data highlights tough data realities, such as issues with manual errors and duplicate data. Security is another major concern, with most sales professionals reporting that customers ask detailed questions about data privacy and security. Furthermore, over half of sales pros say security concerns delay AI initiatives. This underscores the critical need for sales technology that can securely mine customer data for insights while simultaneously protecting it. Top data issues among teams with agents are: manual errors, duplicate data, security concerns, incomplete data, and corrupt data.

Also: These top 30 AI agents deliver a mix of functions and autonomy

Most sales teams rely on a mix of standalone tools — an average of eight per team — instead of a single, all-in-one platform. This approach, used by two-thirds of sales teams, leads to technology bloat, with nearly half of sales representatives reporting feeling overwhelmed.

Equally concerning are the implications for data. Standalone tools keep data siloed, making it difficult to access and leverage, even when the data itself is high-quality. Data and analytics leaders estimate that 19% of their data is inaccessible, and many believe this inaccessible portion holds their most valuable business insights. This trapped data severely limits visibility across sales operations and hinders both agent outcomes and AI effectiveness. In fact, 51% of sales leaders who use AI say these technology silos are a barrier that delays or limits their AI initiatives.

To maximize the benefits of AI and agents, sales teams are focusing on foundational elements: streamlined technology and quality data. Most teams are consolidating their tech stacks; over 80% of teams without a single platform plan to do so. High performers are leading this shift, being 1.3x more likely to adopt a platform and 1.5x more likely to prioritize data hygiene for better AI results.

10 key takeaways

Here are the top 10 key takeaways of the 2026 State of Sales Report: 

1. Nine in 10 sales teams use agents today or expect to within two years.
2. 94% of sales leaders with agents say agents are critical for meeting business demands.
3. High performers are 1.7x more likely than underperformers to use prospecting agents.
4. High performers are 1.4x more likely than underperformers to use agents for coaching.
5. 84% of teams without an all-in-one platform plan to consolidate tech.
6. 74% of sales teams with AI prioritize data hygiene to support it.
7. 76% of sales leaders say usage-based pricing is more important to customers now than it was last year.
8. 91% of sales pros say AI benefits sales planning.
9. 89% of sales professionals say partner selling is increasingly important to hit revenue targets.
10. 32% of sales leaders say their tech stacks lack compensation management capabilities.

To learn more about the 2026 State of Sales Report, you can visit here.