By Gertude Van Horn, SVP & CIO, Cien.ai

“After thousands of AI proof-of-concept projects have died on the vine, many organizations are scaling back internal efforts in favor of adopting commercial, off-the-shelf AI tools”

– CIO Magazine, April, 2025

The Sales AI Trap: Why DIY Often Fails

Building your own AI may sound empowering. You get to tailor models exactly to your go-to-market motion. But for Sales and RevOps teams, the dream often turns into a costly detour. Why? CRM data.

Most CRMs weren’t built for AI. They’re messy, inconsistent, and missing key data. When AI models are trained on that shaky foundation, predictions are wrong, adoption stalls, and confidence erodes. No surprise then, that up to 80% of AI projects fail to deliver value.

The Other Extreme: Off-the-Shelf AI That Misses the Mark

There’s no shortage of sales AI tools offering dashboards, nudges, or call scoring. But many fall short. Why? They don’t improve data quality.   They solve narrow problems without addressing the underlying GTM challenges.  Or worse, they force you to conform to their view of the world rather than aligning with how your business actually operates.

Cien.ai: The Smart Middle Ground

Cien bridges this gap. Our GTM Suite gives you the power of enterprise-grade AI without the pain of building it yourself. Think of it as a smart blend:

1. Data-First Approach: Cien enhances your CRM data before modeling, fixing duplicates, filling gaps, and standardizing fields.
2. Flexible Deployment: Runs in your cloud, respects your custom fields, and aligns to your InfoSec policies. SOC certified. Nothing to install,. Nothing to maintain. 
3. Insights That Align: Surface real issues in rep behavior, pipeline health, and GTM friction with tools like Cien’s Heatmap.
4. Fast, Focused, Functional: Get value in days, not quarters.
   Trusted.  Transparent.  Drill into formulas, into granular data, into analytical code.

Start Smart. Scale from Strength

If your CRM is pristine and your AI team is waiting for their next challenge—build away. But most aren’t there yet. Start where you can win: with proven tools that deliver clarity and value quickly, while leaving you in control.

Cien helps companies move fast, avoid AI traps, and make every GTM decision more grounded and strategic.

What Does Success Look Like?

You deploy quickly. Teams adopt naturally. Insights are trusted because they’re clear, data-driven, contextual, and mapped to real-world processes. Your sales & GTM  AI project  provides actionable information in days and shows ROI in the first year —, not just hype and hope. From there, scaling becomes a matter of confidence, not complexity.

About the Cien.ai Data Exec Series

This article is part of our Data Exec Series, inspired by our work with B2B business leaders, growth consultants, and PE operating partners. These articles focus on becoming a data-driven executive, ready for the AI revolution. If you’re interested in RevOps and GTM performance, also explore our Growth Essentials and Practical RevOps Analysis Series.