Why Tiller Believes in the Human Element in the Age of AI

By Alastair Doig,
Founder of Tiller

I observe a lot of conversations happening around the future of B2B sales. The industry has the narrative that suggests human sellers are an increasingly expensive and unreliable variable that technology is destined to phase out. We have already seen this approach fail heavily in the AI SDR space who changed the narrative from “we will do it all for you” to “you only get out what you put in”, making skilled humans absolutely necessary for them to work.

We see massive investments pouring into the automation of the entire sales cycle, the dream of the robotic representative who can execute infinitely, never takes a holiday, and operates at minimal cost. There is a strong, rational logic to this. AI excels at qualities humans struggle with: scale, consistency, and relentless 24/7 execution.

But at Tiller, we believe this fundamentally misses the point of what a great B2B sale actually is.

The Value of the Irreplaceable

We have taken a significant philosophical and product development bet: we are not building a tool to replace the human seller. Instead, we are building technology that makes the human seller indispensable.

Our conviction is that the most valuable elements of a complex sale can only be delivered by a human being.

• Relationship and Trust: True B2B sales hinge on navigating complex, multi-stakeholder environments. This requires empathy, the ability to build genuine trust, and the intuitive understanding that underlies human connection. A machine can process data; a human builds a relationship.

• Creative Problem-Solving: The highest-value deals rarely follow a perfect, linear path. They require the ability to deviate from the playbook, address unforeseen objections with context, and propose creative solutions. This requires human judgment and strategic improvisation.

• Accountability: We all want to buy from a person who is accountable for the outcome, who owns the relationship beyond the signature. This sense of personal ownership is what drives deal velocity and long-term customer success.

From Observer to Partner

Many current tools focus on recording and reporting on sales activity. They provide visibility to leaders, which is valuable, but often leaves the individual seller isolated, still struggling to translate abstract insights into better execution in their next call.

This is where Tiller draws its line. We chose to move beyond simple visibility and into real-time partnership. We built Tiller to combine the analytical power of AI, the ability to process millions of data points and identify winning patterns, with the irreplaceable emotional intelligence of the seller.

Our AI is designed to deliver prescriptive guidance and live coaching directly to the seller, at the precise moment they need it most: in the middle of the pitch or during critical pipeline management.
This approach transforms the role of training and coaching. It moves it from a retrospective, often-ignored chore to an immediate, performance-driving asset. We are focused on giving the seller the tools that genuinely help them improve, close more, and reclaim their focus on what truly matters: building relationships.

The Way Forward

If the industry is set on a path where the easiest, most transactional parts of selling are automated, the only viable response for a professional seller is to elevate their game.The best defence against AI encroachment is becoming a superhuman seller, an elite performer who can command the complex, human aspects of a deal.

Our job at Tiller is to give you the operational intelligence and execution support to do exactly that. We believe in the power of the human connection, augmented by the relentless consistency and insight of AI. This partnership - Human connection with AI execution - is the future of sales.