Welcome back to our Sales Kickoff Series, where we spotlight top-tier keynote speakers who help sales teams grow smarter, lead stronger, and close bigger. In previous installments, we’ve explored resilience with Chad Foster, fandom with Brittany Hodak, and decision-making with Brent Adamson. Now, in our final Part Four, we turn to a force shaping the future of work itself: Sol Rashidi.

With artificial intelligence rapidly moving from buzzword to boardroom, Sol delivers the clarity, realism, and inspiration your sales team needs to stay competitive. She’s here to tell you and your team that AI isn’t coming — it’s already here. And your salespeople don’t need to be technologists to use it effectively.

Meet Sol Rashidi: From AI Pioneer to Sales Enablement Powerhouse

Sol Rashidi doesn’t just talk about the future — she’s built it.

As one of the first Chief Data and AI Officers in the Fortune 100, Rashidi has led digital transformations at brands like Estée Lauder, Merck, Sony Music, and Royal Caribbean. She helped launch IBM Watson back in 2011 and has since scaled AI across more than 70 countries, generating over $1 billion in enterprise value. Today, she serves as CEO of Executive AI, CSO for Cybersecurity at Cyera, and author of the bestselling Your AI Survival Guide.

With 10 patents, eight C-suite roles, and dozens of global accolades — including Forbes’ AI Maverick of the 21st Century — Rashidi is the rare technologist who knows how to speak business. Her keynotes bridge strategy and execution, making complex topics like AI adoption, data transformation, and innovation both actionable and relatable — especially for non-technical teams.

AI for Sales Teams: Not Science Fiction — Just Smarter Selling

Rashidi’s keynote, “AI: Fact or Fiction,” is designed specifically for non-technical teams navigating the AI boom. In a sales context, she helps reps and leaders make sense of emerging tools — from CRMs powered by machine learning to co-pilot technologies that automate workflows, improve forecasting, and surface smarter insights.

She believes sales professionals don’t need to understand the backend; they need to understand the value. And that value is increasing rapidly. AI isn’t replacing the human element of sales — it’s enhancing it. Rashidil shows your team how to adopt AI with confidence, without feeling fearful or overwhelmed.

In today’s reality, some salespeople are embracing AI. Others are resisting it. But regardless of where your team falls, AI is becoming part of your company’s operating fabric through embedded systems like Salesforce, Snowflake, and Microsoft Copilot. Rashidi helps leaders prepare for this hybrid “human + AI” workforce and the new roles, expectations, and assumptions it brings with it.

From Tools to Transformation: Building a Scalable Sales Model

Rashidi believes AI isn’t just about buying software. It’s about restructuring your sales operating model so teams can do more with the same resources. Her session “Your New Organizational Operating Model After AI” explores how to prepare your teams and processes to turn tech investments into real ROI.

She tackles the tough questions:

• What will your sales organization look like in 1–3 years?
  
  
• How do you coach a team that’s skeptical of change?
  
  
• What pitfalls should you avoid if you want sustainable, compounding value, not one-time wins?
  
  

These aren’t theoretical ideas. They’re grounded in her hands-on experience helping global companies deploy AI at scale in ways that last.

Why Sol Rashidi Belongs on Your Sales Kickoff Stage

Whether she’s on a keynote stage or in the boardroom, Sol Rashidi is known for cutting through the noise. She doesn’t sell hype; she delivers playbooks. If your sales kickoff is meant to drive energy, alignment, and action in an age of disruption, Rashidi brings exactly the message your team needs: AI is not something to fear — it’s a tool to win more deals, faster.

Her sessions are energetic, insightful, and refreshingly honest, combining storytelling with practical takeaways that sales leaders and frontline reps alike can act on immediately.

If you’re ready to move your sales organization from experimentation to execution in the AI era, Sol Rashidi is the keynote speaker who can make it real. Contact Executive Speakers Bureau to bring her to your 2026 Sales Kickoff Conference.