Senior Manager, AI Sales

Job Description

Please note, you must be based in a US East Coast timezone to apply for this position. You must have the right to work in the US, as we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

AI Sales Leader, AMER

Zendesk we are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to join our team as Senior Manager, AI Sales to lead the success of our ambitious specialist AI sales team in North America. In this pivotal role, you will own the North America AI Sales team, driving the success of ambitious targets and harnessing groundbreaking technology to redefine engagement with our customers. This role requires expertise in AI solutions and demonstrated leadership in building high-performance, technical sales teams. Experience within overlay sales is a huge bonus.

This is an unique opportunity to lead our fastest growing product category, across our #1 market. You will lead our specialist AI sales team in honing their value-sales methodology and deepening alignment with their territories - accelerating AI penetration into our customer base and fundamentally transform CX delivery at the world's leading brands. With so much of the company’s bookings set to be delivered by AI in 2025, this is a rare opportunity to be at the forefront of the revenue and adoption strategy of the most disruptive technology of our decade.

Key responsibilities

• Reporting to the Global AI GTM leader, you'll form part of the GTM leadership of the AI Center of Excellence (COE) and collaborate closely with regional sales and success peers to deliver ambitious AI revenue targets.

• Take full ownership of North America AI sales target and proactively work towards meeting and exceeding it. Collaborate closely with the core sales team to develop and execute strategic plans to drive revenue growth from both existing Zendesk accounts and new business pursuits. 

• Hire, coach, lead, motivate and inspire a team of 8 AI Sales Specialists. Attract, mentor, and develop top talent while encouraging a culture of achievement and accountability.

• Partner with core sales and success teams in North America to identify target accounts for AI and drive a successful demand generation plays to exceed pipeline targets.

• Build and nurture strong relationships with customers, understanding their business challenges and leveraging a value-based selling methodology to align the Zendesk AI portfolio to their goals.

• Collaborate closely with the COE AI Success team to proactively identify expansion/cross-sell opportunities through the addition of volume, higher automation rates, and/or new products.

• Support the construction of commercial modelling, provide expert guidance on a customers AI usage requirements and forecasted automation rate to ensure AI potential is maximised, whilst remaining aligned to customers requirements.

• Report on key top-of-funnel metrics / KPIs, adding to the accuracy of overall business forecasting and planning. Implement standard processes for forecasting, deal progression, and pipeline management using Salesforce CRM.

• Establish meticulous operational cadence within your team driving forecast accuracy with a keen view on deal progression, sales stage verification, and pipeline coverage.

• Participate and lead in customer and prospect meetings, maintaining key relationships with clients as well as services and technology partners.

• Collaborate closely with the product development team to continually innovate and enhance Zendesk’s AI solutions to meet evolving customer requirements and expectations. Provide valuable feedback from customer interactions to inform continuous product enhancements.

What you'll bring to the role

• Consistent track record in leading and scaling high-performance sales teams in a fast-growth environment with a focus on hiring, retaining and developing talent.

• Demonstrated ability to exceed sales goals within the context of technical sales and SaaS.

• In-depth knowledge of AI technologies and their practical application to enhance both customer and agent experiences in CX

• Strong executive presence and experience in building long-term relationships with senior customers.

• Outstanding communication and negotiation skills honed through your experience.

• Experience as a quota carrying sales professional

• Experience in a similar specialist or overlay function is a bonu