Director, AI Sales

Job Description

We are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to join our team as Director, 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 bonus

The US annualized OTE (On Target Earnings) range for this position is $304,000.00-$456,000.00 with a pay mix of 60/40 (base/commission). This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your specific accommodation request.