AI Is Changing the Rules of Sales and Marketing

WILMINGTON, DE, UNITED STATES, January 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- While marketing and sales operations differ across industries, how these functions can be transformed with AI support has become a shared topic across sectors. This shift is no longer limited to digital businesses, retail, or banking; industrial, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical companies are now re-evaluating their marketing and sales operations as well.

As traditional methods become increasingly inefficient, companies are first taking a closer look at their processes and then questioning how those processes should change. In a world reshaped daily by new AI developments, it was never realistic to expect marketing and sales operations to remain the same.
A similar uncertainty existed 20-30 years ago when digitalization first entered corporate life. At the time, it felt chaotic and unclear, much like the AI discussions of today. Yet now, no one asks why companies should go digital.

Imagine an airline still planning flights manually and handing pilots paper-based route information. That scenario feels unthinkable today. AI-driven transformation will feel just as obvious when we look back on this period.

A Major Shift Ahead

Pharmaceutical companies, long built on face-to-face sales models, are now questioning the foundations of their marketing and sales operations. Advances in technology, combined with changing behaviors among healthcare professionals, have steadily reduced the effectiveness of traditional approaches. Today, the challenge is no longer where to engage, but whether an interaction should happen at all and whether it delivers meaningful value.

Until recently, AI investment in pharma focused largely on drug discovery and streamlining clinical trials. Now, the industry is reaching a point where it must look beyond these domains and turn renewed attention to marketing and sales processes as well.

Will AI Replace Sales Teams?

The recent launch of the reREP product by reprai has raised a critical question for pharmaceutical companies: will AI-powered solutions replace traditional sales teams?

The answer is both yes and no.

Rather than replacing the pharmaceutical sales workforce, reprai points to a broader shift in the industry’s approach. AI agents are expected to work alongside existing teams, supporting their efforts rather than fully taking over. Sales representatives with deep expertise may evolve into roles such as supervisors, trainers, or specialists, overseeing and managing more complex interactions.

“This transformation is inevitable in the pharmaceutical industry, just as technology is reshaping other sectors,” said Didem Aral, CEO of reprai. “The most successful organizations will be those that effectively blend human expertise with AI capabilities.”

Meanwhile, reprai Inc.’s inclusion among the 100 companies on the Startups to Watch in 2026 list, along with its recently closed $1M funding round, reflects growing recognition that AI-driven operating models will define the next phase of pharma commercialization.

The transformation of pharma marketing and sales may be one of the clearest signals yet. As efficiency becomes a defining challenge across industries, even the most traditional sectors are no longer immune to structural change, and AI is fast becoming part of how organizations define a new way of working.

Damla Büyükbay
reprai Inc.
damla@reprai.com
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