How to sell to Heads of Sales at AI & machine learning companies
The Head of Sales in AI & machine learning is primarily measured on achieving quarterly revenue targets. They respond to outreach that demonstrates an understanding of how AI adoption can streamline their sales processes, reduce lead conversion times, and increase overall sales efficiency. Highlighting specific success stories of AI-driven sales transformations can capture their attention and prompt a response.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 561 ai & machine learning company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- lead conversion bottlenecks
- inadequate sales forecasting
- team alignment on AI tools
- high churn rates
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent funding rounds
Search for AI & machine learning companies that have recently secured funding. Use platforms like Crunchbase or PitchBook to filter for companies that raised over $5 million in the last 3 months. These companies are likely to be expanding their sales teams and may be open to new solutions.
- 02
Pinpoint AI-driven sales challenges
Look for companies that mention struggles with lead qualification or sales forecasting in their press releases or blogs. Use this information to tailor your outreach, addressing how your solution can specifically alleviate these challenges and improve their sales outcomes.
- 03
Craft a message focused on AI integration
When reaching out, emphasize how your solution integrates with existing AI systems to enhance sales performance. Reference specific AI technologies they might be using, such as LLMs or AI agents, and explain how your offering can complement these tools to drive results.
- 04
Follow up on recent product launches
If a company has recently launched a new AI product, follow up with a message that connects your solution to their new offering. Highlight how your solution can enhance their product's market reach or improve sales efficiency, making it relevant to their current strategic goals.
- 05
Engage with industry events and webinars
Identify upcoming AI & machine learning conferences or webinars where these heads of sales will be speaking. Use this as a reason to reach out, mentioning their participation and expressing interest in discussing how your solution aligns with the topics they are addressing.
Can ai & machine learning companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 561 ai & machine learning companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 26.3% of 1–10-person companies against 86.2% of the largest — 60 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Boost sales efficiency with AI
- Transforming sales with machine learning
- Overcoming AI adoption challenges
Questions
- Why do heads of sales in AI companies ignore outreach about generic sales solutions?
- Heads of Sales in AI companies often receive numerous outreach messages. They tend to ignore generic solutions that do not address their specific challenges related to AI integration or sales automation. Tailoring your message to reflect an understanding of their unique sales environment is crucial for capturing their attention.
- What types of solutions are heads of sales in AI companies most interested in?
- They are particularly interested in solutions that enhance lead qualification, streamline sales processes, and leverage AI for predictive analytics. Solutions that can demonstrate a clear ROI and improve sales team productivity are more likely to resonate with them.
- How can I effectively engage heads of sales in AI & machine learning?
- Effective engagement requires a deep understanding of their industry and the specific challenges they face. Utilize insights from industry trends, recent funding news, and product launches to craft personalized messages that speak directly to their needs and goals.
- What common objections do heads of sales have regarding new sales technologies?
- Common objections include concerns about integration with existing systems, the learning curve for their sales teams, and the potential disruption to their current processes. Addressing these concerns proactively in your outreach can help alleviate their hesitation.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
Try it on your site