The sales organization is changing faster than it has in years. New technologies, evolving buyer behavior, and rising performance expectations are putting pressure on every part of the commercial engine. For CROs, that pressure is not just about delivering results. It's about leading the structural changes needed to keep performance on track.
That shift was front and center at this year’s Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference in Las Vegas. The conversations weren’t about external challenges. They focused on internal readiness. Leaders talked candidly about planning, alignment, data quality, and the role of AI in shaping smarter, faster execution.
At Varicent, we joined those conversations to connect with commercial leaders facing similar challenges. Across dozens of sessions and side discussions, one pattern stood out: the path to scalable, sustainable growth requires new thinking in how we unify teams, apply AI, and drive productivity.
Here are the three imperatives every CRO needs to act on now.
1. Unify Commercial Functions for Predictable Revenue Growth
The traditional silos between sales, marketing, and customer success are disappearing. Today’s customers expect a seamless and unified experience from first touch to renewal. That means commercial teams need to operate as one, not as disconnected departments chasing different goals. This need for integration was a core theme at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference, where CROs were positioned as the leaders responsible for reshaping these functions into a single, integrated revenue organization.
Gartner research reinforced this shift:
- 73% of CSOs are prioritizing growth from existing customers
- 57% rank account retention and expansion in their top three strategic priorities
This marks a clear shift toward customer-led growth. It is no longer just about net new acquisition. Retaining and expanding existing accounts is becoming a primary driver of revenue. CROs play a key role in making that happen by bringing go-to-market teams together around shared customer goals and equipping sales leaders to grow both new and existing relationships.
What CROs should do next:
- Conduct a cross-functional revenue audit.
Evaluate how sales, marketing, and customer success interact today and identify areas where handoffs or accountability break down. - Set shared KPIs.
Establish performance indicators that span the full customer lifecycle and reinforce retention, expansion, and customer value. - Invest in integrated planning tools.
Use platforms that support holistic planning and create visibility across your entire revenue team.
How Varicent helps
Varicent helps CROs bring commercial functions together by giving them the tools to optimize sales resources like territories, quotas, and team capacity. By connecting revenue goals with real market data, Varicent turns complexity into clear, timely decisions. This allows sales leaders to allocate resources more effectively, focus on customer growth and retention, and ensure every part of the commercial engine is moving in sync.
2. Strategically Augment Your Team with AI
AI dominated the conversation at Gartner, but the message was clear: this is not about replacing people. It’s about augmenting performance.
CROs need to lead AI adoption with purpose, focusing on tangible use cases that improve performance without getting swept up in vendor hype. The goal is to build sales organizations that can move faster, make smarter decisions, and evolve roles in line with emerging technology.
AI will also reshape talent strategies. The conference revealed that a striking 74% of CSOs believe sellers will need significant skill changes to use AI effectively.
This means leaders must invest in developing AI-ready teams, equipping sellers with both the tools and the training to adopt new ways of working.
What CROs should do next:
- Define AI goals tied to clear outcomes.
Don't implement AI for AI's sake. Identify specific pain points or opportunities where AI can deliver tangible value, such as enhancing lead qualification, improving forecasting accuracy, or optimizing sales coaching. - Develop future-fit talent.
Focus on valuing potential over experience, updating job descriptions, and upskilling your team to ensure they possess the necessary skills to leverage AI technologies effectively. - Start small and measure impact.
Launch one to three pilot internal agentic AI use cases in individual processes to understand their impact before expanding broadly across the team.
How Varicent helps
Varicent enables CROs to bring AI into critical sales planning decisions. Our platform uses AI to sharpen forecasting, optimize territory design, and improve incentive compensation strategies. These insights help sales leaders respond faster, act with confidence, and keep execution aligned with strategy. By turning confusing information into clear, fast decisions, Varicent helps sales leaders make sure their sales efforts bring in consistent, reliable revenue, especially when leveraging AI insights.
3. Drive Productivity through Process and Technology Innovation
Improving productivity doesn’t mean pushing reps to work harder. It means creating systems and workflows that help them work smarter.
This was a key theme throughout the Gartner CSO conference. CROs must identify where sellers are losing time, streamline processes, and use technology to unlock higher output without adding complexity. That includes automating low-value tasks, improving data accuracy, and surfacing real-time insights that help sellers move deals forward.
The goal is to turn slowdowns into momentum by rethinking how sales teams operate.
What CROs should do next:
- Map and optimize seller workflows.
Analyze how sellers spend their time and identify which tasks can be automated or simplified through technology. - Leverage technology for data accuracy and insight.
Use tools that deliver clean, timely data and make it easier for sellers to act on deal signals. - Foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Establish a feedback loop to validate what’s working, identify friction points, and adapt quickly to changes in buyer behavior.
How Varicent Helps
Varicent improves sales productivity by making sure resources like territories, quotas, and team capacity are aligned to where the real opportunity exists. CROs get a live view into performance across teams, so they can adjust coverage, rebalance workloads, and target high-impact activities faster. And because those insights connect directly to incentive design, compensation stays aligned with the behaviors that actually move the needle, keeping the entire revenue engine focused and accountable.
The Path Forward: Embrace the Future of Revenue
The 2025 Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference was a powerful reminder that the role of the CRO is no longer just operational; it's strategically transformative. The "Great Sales Awakening" isn't just about your company. It's about you, the leaders steering it forward.
CROs who unify commercial teams, adopt AI with intention, and improve productivity through smarter systems will be best positioned to lead their organizations forward.
The opportunity is real for those ready to act with focus and urgency.
Ready to build a future-fit revenue organization?
Explore how Varicent helps CROs connect strategy to execution at every step.
