Across hundreds of conversations with B2B sales teams, Alex keeps seeing the same pattern: an AE running a clever ChatGPT workflow here, a sales manager with a cool Claude automation there, impressive in isolation, invisible in aggregate. No compounding, no consistency, no real ROI anyone can point to. He calls it isolated experimentation, and he thinks it's where 99% of sales organizations are still stuck.

In this episode, Alex joins Paul Perrett to unpack what it actually looks like to move from scattered AI experiments to a real system, one where a "digital teammate" builds, runs, and self-improves your sales operations every day. Alex has lived the sales talent problem from every angle: intern turned VP of Sales at 20, founder of Sales Leaders (advising 140+ tech companies across Australia and New Zealand), co-founder of Apprento, and now co-founder of Grow AI, the company behind Taylor, an AI teammate built to run the operational backbone of a sales org.

Together, they get into why span of control is quietly expanding from 6 reps to 15 to 20 per manager, why the profile of a great sales hire has shifted from "organized and disciplined" to "builder DNA," why hierarchy is flattening as agents absorb the admin layer, and why "we built it ourselves" is a much harder sell now that tokens aren't free and the ROI math actually has to work.

Why you should listen:

If you're a founder, CRO, or sales leader wondering whether your team's AI usage is actually moving the needle, or just making everyone feel clever, this episode is a reality check with a roadmap attached. Alex doesn't deal in hype; he deals in what's actually reliably running inside real sales orgs today, what's still human by design, and what separates teams compounding real advantage from teams collecting cool demos.

This is a conversation about hiring in an AI native world, why confidence (not information) is the real unlock for new reps, why in office culture still matters even when remote works fine, and why the gap between "AI did something cool" and "AI is a system we can trust" is bigger, and more important, than most sales leaders realize.

In this episode, Rakesh joins Paul Perrett in Singapore to unpack how AI is changing the mechanics of B2B sales. From his early years building a trading business, to founding companies, advising global technology leaders, and leading AI and automation research at IDC across Asia-Pacific and Japan, Rakesh brings a rare mix of operator experience and enterprise AI perspective.

Together, they explore why data quality is still the foundation of any GTM engine, how buying signals are changing outbound prioritisation, why the role of the SDR and AE is evolving, and what it means for CROs to manage not just people, but eventually a hybrid human and AI workforce.

Why you should listen:

If you’re a founder, CRO, sales leader, RevOps operator, or anyone trying to understand how AI will actually change go-to-market, this episode goes beyond the hype. Rakesh breaks down where AI creates real leverage, why most organisations fail to turn pilots into ROI, and why the best sales teams will stop thinking in terms of isolated tools and start thinking in systems.

This is a conversation about the future of sales, but it is also practical. How do you use signals to prioritise outreach? What should an AI agent actually do? What does a great sales hire look like in an AI-native world? And why might the next competitive advantage in B2B sales come from how fast your GTM system can learn, decide, and act?

Timestamps

- 00:00 Intro and who is Scotty Freeman

- 01:48 How Scotty fell into sales (and the stat that'll surprise you)

- 04:18 Co-founding a business with 13 people

- 05:43 What Apprento actually is and how the model works

- 09:16 The SDR hiring boom and why the unit economics never made sense

- 10:02 How to hire your first salesperson: advice for founders

- 11:03 What to look for in an SDR when experience is off the table

- 14:09 Raw aptitude testing and the Five Eyes framework

- 19:46 Reference checks: why happy ears kill good hires

- 21:34 Onboarding: why most companies fail their new hires in month one

- 24:19 The origin story of Grow (AI sales coaching)

- 28:15 How AI is widening the gap between great and average sales leaders

- 32:50 How AI is changing who you hire

- 34:51 Will AI kill SDRs?

- 37:26 Quickfire round

In this episode, Ricky breaks down the unit economics of outbound, why the phone still converts at 17.5% on average (and up to 40% with the right data), and what it actually takes to build an SDR function that makes commercial sense – before you hire a single rep.

Why you should listen: If you're a founder, head of sales, or revenue leader thinking about outbound, this episode will save you from the most expensive mistakes in the playbook. Ricky doesn't trade in theory – he trades in numbers, frameworks, and hard-won lessons from the coalface of Australian B2B sales. Whether you're questioning if outbound is right for your ACV, trying to work out when to hire your first SDR, or just wondering why your sequencing stopped working – this one's for you.

And never harder to make it work.

Most sales teams aren’t struggling with effort.

They’re struggling with focus.

Outbound is noisier than ever.

Response rates are collapsing.

And buyers are making decisions earlier, with or without you.

In this episode of B2B Sales Blueprint, Tara Salmon steps in as guest host to interview Paul Perrett on what’s actually changed in modern go-to-market.

Drawing on experience scaling Aconex and MessageMedia, Paul shares how different sales motions require different systems, why most teams misunderstand attribution, and how data changes how you prioritise and win.

This is a practical look at what actually works in B2B sales today — and where most teams are going wrong.

They’re never even in them.

Buyers now ask, get answers, and decide before your sales team even knows they exist.

In this episode of The B2B Sales Blueprint, Paul Perrett sits down with Chris Perrine, who built G2’s APAC business from a home office into a regional revenue engine.

This is a real look at what it takes to scale B2B sales in APAC, and why most global playbooks break when you try to apply them locally.

What you’ll learn

• Why most pipeline problems start with visibility, not effort

• How buyer behaviour is changing in an AI and LLM-driven world

• What actually works when scaling B2B sales in APAC

• Why US GTM strategies fail in regional markets

• The biggest mistakes teams make as they scale outbound

If you’re building, scaling, or leading a GTM function, this will reshape how you think about pipeline.

In this episode of B2B Sales Blueprint, Paul Perrett sits down with Luke Williams, Vice President, Americas & APAC at Evotix, for a practical conversation on modern B2B sales leadership.

Drawing on experience across APAC and the US, Luke shares lessons on scaling sales teams, evolving sales methodologies, coaching reps more effectively, and adapting to a world where AI is changing how top performers work.

Key themes explored in this episode:

From SMB to enterprise

Why the real shift is not just deal size, but sales motion, buying complexity, and how leaders manage deals.

How sales methodologies evolve

Where frameworks like Challenger, SPICED, and MEDDICC fit as teams move from high-velocity sales to more structured enterprise motions.

Coaching and deal inspection

How strong sales leaders create more rigour through qualification, coaching, peer review, and better deal visibility.

Expanding into the US

Practical lessons on narrowing your ICP, focusing on the right verticals, and avoiding the mistake of trying to tackle the whole market at once.

AI and rep performance

Why AI is not replacing great salespeople, but helping the best reps improve faster and raise the bar for the whole team.

Hiring for curiosity

Why adaptability, learning mindset, and what Luke calls “XQ” are becoming more important in modern sales teams.

Key themes explored in this episode:

The Reality of Early-Stage Sales

Leigh reflects on the “toughest six months” of his professional career, learning to sell out of necessity, cold calling, and building a sales organisation from the ground up.

The Foundation of Sales Intelligence

Why high-quality external data is the essential first step in any sales process, and why “if you get that wrong, pretty much the whole rest of your process is wrong.”

The Role of AI in Sales

A discussion on how AI and LLMs aren’t replacements for salespeople, but rather “co-pilots” or “sidekicks” that handle the grunt work and research, allowing humans to focus on connection, strategy, and closing.

The Power of Signals

How identifying meaningful events such as job changes or social activity creates “smarter data” that helps sales teams engage the right person at exactly the right time.

Sales as a Profession

Why the best sales leaders approach the craft with discipline, cadence, and continuous learning, just like any other established profession.