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Will "AI" replace people prospecting

By  Mark Hood  ·  2 minute read

Successful outreach is all about being at the right place at the right time with a buyer that has a problem that you can solve.

So can AI make that task easier or even replace the need for human generated lead generation. I asked Chat GPT that exact question, here is their response.

ChatGPT

That’s a great question — and the short answer is AI will transform outreach, but it won’t fully replace it.

Here’s a breakdown:

What AI can replace

AI is already automating many repetitive or data-driven parts of outreach, such as:

  • Researching leads: Finding and qualifying prospects based on online data.
  • Personalisation at scale: Writing customised emails or messages using data about each contact.
  • Follow-ups: Scheduling and sending reminders automatically.
  • Analytics: Tracking engagement and optimising outreach timing or wording.

These are the mechanical parts of outreach that can be done faster and often better by AI.

What AI can’t replace

The human side of outreach — the ability to:

  • Build trust and genuine relationships
  • Read social cues, tone, and emotion
  • Navigate complex negotiations or sensitive topics
  • Represent authentic brand voice and empathy

Even if AI can mimic this, people still value authentic connection — especially in areas like business development, fundraising, partnerships, or community organising.

The likely future

Instead of replacing outreach professionals, AI will:

  • Act as a co-pilot, handling research, drafting, and follow-ups
  • Free up time for humans to focus on deeper conversations
  • Enhance personalisation through better data insights

So, in essence — AI won’t replace outreach, but people who use AI effectively will replace those who don’t.

The GrowSure response:

The first step to making a sale is engaging with a prospect with a story that will create a level of interest for them to take your call, or respond to an email or LinkedIn invitation. For this to happen it generally means you have talked to a problem you can solve for their business or you have talked to an opportunity you can create for their business.

This is reinforced if you can demonstrate you have done some research on their business and have individualised your engagement pitch.

There was an excellent book written on this by Samantha McKenna called “Show me that you know me”.

She said "A buyer-centric sales philosophy which emphasises showing the prospect that you understand them (their role, challenges, goals) rather than generic outreach. Buyers are overloaded with templated outreach and impersonal “spray-and-pray” pitches. When you genuinely demonstrate you know them, you stand out".

Buyer targeting is critical in the ability to individualise pitches, referring to their posts, or other available information can be a game changer and something that AI cannot duplicate.

The GrowSure philosophy is we never produce a pitch using AI, we used an input-based formulae, but it makes sense to use AI to improve your pitch once you the structure built.

Again, the GrowSure philosophy is we never use automated marketing tools such as Dripify and Apollo to engage with customers, but they are a valuable tool to keep in contact with nurturing content.

The question will be if "AI dependant companies" surge ahead by using automation or will they destroy their brand and their market, it could be the tortious and the hare.

 

Mark Hood

Co-founder

GrowSure