[Debatable] AI exposed GTM headcount as overhead
Heat trend
Collecting trend data
The percentage is based on available heat signal, not comment count or independent people.
AI has exposed Go-To-Market (GTM) headcount as overhead, particularly in B2B sales. Previously, solo operators needed content and data teams, making serious B2B sales inaccessible. Now, tools like Apollo or FullEnrich extract contact info rapidly, and outreach platforms like Lemlist or Instantly automate sequences cheaply. This technological shift means consultants are still pricing services as if large teams are necessary, even though the entire tech stack can cost only a few hundred dollars monthly, raising questions about the value of traditional team-based pricing.
If you were doing B2B sales seriously, you needed a content team and a data team just to get to the starting line, and for most solo operators that meant the whole thing was out of reach before you could even start.
For instance, tools like Argil or HeyGen let you record a couple of minutes of yourself once and train a clone that generates video from a script, so the production overhead that used to mean a full content hire is gone.
The data side went the same direction, with tools like Apollo or FullEnrich pulling contact info from a LinkedIn profile in seconds instead of needing a separate data subscription, and the outreach layer was already nearly free before any of this, with things like Lemlist or Instantly running full sequences for a fraction of what a sales hire costs.
The gap that used to exist between what a funded team could do and what a solo operator could run has basically closed, and most agencies are still quoting team-sized rates for work one person with the right stack can turn around, so the ones who built their margins around needing the team are going to feel it.
The consultants I know who've figured this out are all pricing like the old world still exists, because changing that would end with a client asking why they're paying for a team when the whole stack costs a few hundred a month.