Yuxiang Zhou, founder of Shanghai-based Black Lake Technologies, set up a head-to-head test between an AI-driven sales coach and his company's most experienced sales leader. The result was striking: seven out of ten senior salespeople voted for the advice given by the AI.
AI coach outperforms senior sales leader
The trial began after Zhou complained that his customer-relationship-management system reduced a full day of client conversations to a single, highly subjective paragraph for senior review. To address this, Black Lake equipped its sales force with pins that recorded both conversation content and location. The data fed directly into an AI agent trained to act as a personal coach.
"A lot of people use AI as a way to co-pilot the leadership, but I'm trying to explore the way of me co-piloting the AI," Zhou told the EuroHerald Leaders Forum in Macau on 8 September.
While the AI proved popular for its analytical guidance, Zhou stressed that human salespeople remain essential for motivation, noting that agents are "emotionless" and cannot inspire a team.
Why the result matters for European firms
Panelists at the forum, including Becca Carroll, chief strategy officer at design agency IDEO, argued that speed alone no longer secures a competitive edge. Carroll warned that being first to market may be insufficient, as rivals can replicate innovations within days.
Carroll also refreshed IDEO's "T-shaped" talent model with a "comb-shaped" archetype, a professional with deep expertise across several disciplines who can move fluidly between them. James Arnett, managing director for Southeast Asia, Greater China and South Korea at Wipro, echoed the sentiment, saying the shift is from directing to orchestrating.
All agreed that the real constraint is not technology but organisational readiness. Arnett asked whether companies, their employees and even executives are prepared for AI-driven change.
Next steps for Black Lake and the wider market
Zhou remains convinced that AI has not yet reached its "Google moment", the point at which it reshapes an industry rather than merely augmenting existing processes.
"I'm still looking for the Google moment for AI," he said. "I don't think it has happened yet."
To chase that breakthrough, Black Lake is piloting a platform that uses AI to turn a celebrity idea into manufactured merchandise, cutting the minimum order for custom collectibles from 10,000 units to 100. Zhou believes the true inflection point will arrive when AI restructures an industry rather than simply replacing human workers.
European companies watching the experiment may soon consider similar AI-coached sales models, especially as the continent pushes for digital transformation under the European Commission's AI strategy.