Chapter 03 — Who
Experienced enough to know what works.
Old enough to know what doesn't.
For 25+ years, I’ve survived enterprise software, telecom, cloud transformations, alliances, channels, presales, consulting, and international sales chaos. Long enough to know most “AI strategy” problems are still just human problems with better PowerPoint slides.
Who
Olivier Miss.
Independent advisor on sales execution, operational discipline, and the uncomfortable gap between AI promises and operational reality. Helping companies identify where AI drives measurable impact, and where it simply creates more meetings, dashboards, and expensive confusion.
Background
Operational reality.
Not a case study.
Where
Real operational environments
Quotas, QBRs, deal reviews, escalations, partner negotiations, board updates. The work — not the slides about the work.
What
Enterprise software, telecom, and cloud.
25+ years navigating large accounts, indirect sales, channel ecosystems, cloud transitions, and the operational chaos hidden behind “strategic transformation” initiatives.
How
Technology and sales execution
Fluent in both the product conversation and the commercial one. Most failures live in the seam between them.
What I have learned
The uncomfortable
part.
- 01
Most organizations do not fail because of missing AI. They fail because their operational foundations are weak.
- 02
AI amplifies existing organizational maturity — including dysfunction. Most companies try to automate chaos instead of fixing the basics.
- 03
CRM dashboards are often disconnected from reality. Forecasts are optimistic fiction dressed up as data.
- 04
Partner ecosystems fail when partners cannot make money. AI SDRs generate noise when qualification is broken.
Practice
What I actually do.
No frameworks named after me. No twelve-week transformations. Just the work that moves the number.
01
Sales execution
Pipeline hygiene, deal qualification, forecast discipline, deal-desk mechanics. The unglamorous work that compounds.
02
Operational discipline
Cadences, reviews, definitions, accountability. Replace performative activity with measurable behavior.
03
Partner & channel effectiveness
Economics first. If partners cannot make money, the ecosystem is a logo wall, not a route to market.
04
AI adoption prioritization
Where AI actually moves the number — and where it just adds latency, cost, and a new dashboard.
05
Scalable GTM structures
Coverage models, segmentation, roles, comp. Built to survive a Tuesday, not just a planning offsite.
A short list
Things I do not believe in.
- ×
AI replacing all salespeople next quarter.
- ×
Digital transformation PowerPoint theater.
- ×
Forecast accuracy achieved through optimism.
- ×
42 KPIs nobody reads.
- ×
CRM dashboards mistaken for management.
- ×
AI agents fixing broken qualification processes.
- ×
Consultants who never carried a quota.
In one sentence
AI does not fix broken sales organizations.
It amplifies chaos at machine speed.