CCO of Azerion On How To Scale A Global GTM Motion While Maintaining Productivity

The SaaS Sales Performance Podcast recently hosted Bas Seelen, Chief Commercial Officer at Azerion, for a deep dive into the intricacies of leading global commercial teams and the transformative impact of artificial intelligence. Their conversation offered a wealth of actionable insights for revenue leaders navigating today's dynamic market.

Leading a commercial organisation spanning multiple continents and cultures presents unique challenges. For Azerion, a company with offices across Europe, the US, and Latam, this complexity is a daily reality. As Bas Seelen, Chief Commercial Officer at Azerion, explained, "We have all these offices in Europe and also in the US and in Latam, making it interesting and challenging to work with multiple teams. It's a big collection of cultures, if you want."

One of the core challenges lies in fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing across these diverse regions. While the potential for shared learning is immense – with a "massive database of experience" being built daily through interactions with advertisers and agencies – cultural and linguistic differences can create silos.

Seelen highlighted the difficulty in ensuring that "whatever my guys in Sweden are doing is used and understood by the guys in Italy." To bridge this gap, Azerion's HQ actively identifies opportunities for cross-team collaboration on specific projects. Furthermore, they recognise the limitations of purely virtual interactions, emphasising that "setting up the ability for countries to connect with each other and most of the times that works best in person is also key." By organising in-person gatherings with well-defined agendas focused on shared challenges and successes, Azerion facilitates meaningful information exchange.

However, simply bringing teams together isn't enough. Seelen stressed the importance of follow-up and accountability: "Key is once we do this and there's a good rhythm of exchanging this, you also, you look for the ROI. So there's nothing worse than getting together and being, you know, all enthusiastic and everybody goes back to their own country and they're like, yeah, this was fantastic. But if nobody follows up, then in the end that will fall flat."

When it comes to measuring performance and establishing baselines across regions, Seelen underscored the critical role of cultural understanding. Taking the contrasting examples of Norway and Italy, he pointed out that "the culture of lunches and dinner in Italy versus the amount of hours with daylight in Norway and then trying to connect with your app with your, your clients. Right. So it's, that's completely different." This necessitates a nuanced approach, recognising that "as a company, our culture is very entrepreneurial, we are very output driven, but we are also very local and therefore we will not try to do things that are impossible."

The Transformative Power (and Overwhelm) of AI

The conversation naturally shifted to the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence. Seelen admitted to a feeling of being "overexcited" about the current AI landscape, drawing parallels to the early days of the internet. "I have the same feeling now with everything that's going on on the AI side and I'm still… the only thing that I will talk to them [his family] about are their grades at school plus AI. Because I think it's amazing what's going on."

Despite this enthusiasm, Seelen acknowledged the potential for "AI fatigue," recognising the rapid pace of change and the overwhelming amount of information. For Azerion, the focus is on identifying practical use cases that augment their team's capabilities.

One key application involves leveraging AI for enhanced information gathering and dissemination. "Now I'm able to do research to get a proper summary of that research on a daily basis and I can also distribute that across the different regions where we are active," Seelen explained. This allows for a more efficient understanding of market trends and competitive landscapes, tailored to specific regional needs.

Another significant use case is in unlocking the wealth of internal knowledge. Seelen envisions a future where, "whoever is going to write a proposal for a big car brand, normally you would have your automotive vertical, have meetings and if people don't show up or if they not pay attention or don't read the email, information disappears. Now they just can query via chat, the big central database and get the latest and best information for this automotive client." This internal "central brain" powered by AI promises to democratise access to valuable experience and best practices across the organisation.

Augmenting Human Potential, Not Replacing It

The discussion touched upon the evolving role of the salesperson in the age of AI. While acknowledging the potential for increased efficiency, Seelen cautioned against the idea of complete automation. "For me it's also two pieces of the puzzle sticking together. So of course it's easy from our side to understand that our salespeople will become more efficient due to AI… but from every sales perspective, you always have to think about the other side of the table and what is going on on their side."

He emphasised the need for continuous dialogue with clients to understand how AI is impacting their processes and how sales strategies need to adapt accordingly. This includes considering the potential shift away from purely relationship-based selling. "If you are a seasoned sales guy in a country… and you have a network of people that has always been doing business with you, of course you could be better through AI, but it could also mean that those people on the other side are disappearing because… they're not needed anymore. Then how much is your network value towards the way that you can sell even if you're a high performer?" This thought-provoking question highlights the fundamental changes AI could bring to buyer-seller interactions.

Ultimately, Seelen believes the most valuable applications of AI in sales lie in augmentation, empowering salespeople to be more informed and efficient. He shared an anecdote of a high-performing salesperson who had independently built an AI-powered system to automate account research and planning, demonstrating the potential for proactive adoption and innovation within sales teams.

A Future of Constant Evolution

The conversation concluded with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the future. Seelen aptly summarised the current landscape: "It's wild. It's a crazy time. An exciting time to be building 100%."

The insights shared by Bas Seelen offer valuable lessons for any leader navigating the complexities of global sales and the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. The key takeaways emphasise the importance of understanding cultural nuances, fostering genuine collaboration, strategically leveraging AI to augment human capabilities, and remaining adaptable in a rapidly evolving business environment.

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