How to Position Yourself as a Candidate in the World of AI

Michelle Han-Taylor 3 min read 09 Jun 2025

What Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success Talent Should Know

With AI, a tough job market is about to get that much tougher.

Right now, AI is starting to reshape how GTM teams (sales, marketing, customer success) operate and it’s changing what they’re looking for in talent. From AI-driven prospecting to content generation, employers are rightfully looking at how talent will work with AI to maximize impact. That expectation is now informing how GTM orgs are designed.

What this means for candidates:

The bar for talent is higher. Companies want impact-ready operators who are AI-aware at the very least.
Skill sets are evolving. Competencies like data literacy and tool fluency are becoming baseline.
Strategic thinking is climbing the ranks. The focus is not just on execution, but insight and approach.
Adaptability is a must. Teams want candidates who can learn fast, evolve faster, and be down for the ride.

TLDR: In a competitive job market that’s not always designed to find you, how you position yourself matters more than ever. To help, we’ve compiled a few strategies to sharpen your edge in today’s hiring game.

1. Be Honest About Your Own AI Adoption

Positioning yourself starts with knowing yourself. Start by identifying your place on the product adoption curve. It’ll help you understand your own AI readiness and craft a story that aligns with what companies are looking for.

the product adoption curve

Questions to help you assess where you land on the curve:

Am I the one showing others how to use AI? Or waiting to be shown?
Do I experiment with new tools before they’re popular or after they’re proven?
Am I curious about what’s next? Or just trying to keep up?
How does AI show up in my current role and my ability to drive results?

HUNT CLUB INSIGHT:
While ultimately dependent on the role, company stage and maturity, we’re seeing many organizations increasingly look for talent who fall in the innovator to early adopter brackets.

2. Know the Scorecard, Recalibrate Where Needed

The below scorecard outlines some of the early adopter traits companies value when assessing leadership talent. Review each trait carefully and provide a self-assessment. This exercise can help you better understand and identify areas where you may want to adapt or strengthen your positioning.

Scorecard with early adopter traits on the left, description of the traits in middle, and grades ranging from minimal, average, strong on the right for candidates to use

3. Articulate the Outcomes You Want AI To Produce

One of the most powerful ways to position yourself is by clearly articulating what outcomes you want AI to produce, and then working backward to define the necessary workflows, tools, and data.

This approach shows employers that you think like a strategist, not just a user of technology.

Use this framework to guide your thinking:

Desired outcome with AI -> Workflows & teams required -> AI tools required -> Data inputs required

Why This Matters:
Hiring managers want to see how you tie AI initiatives to business value. Outcome-first thinking demonstrates clarity and vision, especially in GTM roles related to innovation, operations, and product development.

Keep In Mind

You may be working in an environment where resources, budget, stakeholder buy-in, or organizational support are limited or inconsistent. It's important to anticipate potential barriers early. Consider:

Will leadership support your initiative(s) with AI?
Are there budget constraints that could delay or limit implementation?
Do the teams involved have the bandwidth or skills needed?
Proactively identifying these risks will help you design more realistic solutions and present thoughtful approaches to driving outcomes with AI.

4. Focus on Business Impact & How You’d Create Efficiency With AI

If asked how you plan to create efficiencies with AI, the most compelling answers are rooted in business impact. Focus on how you would use AI to move the needle on outcomes that matter (costs, customer experience, speed to market, etc.).

1. Spot the Friction

Show that you can identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies that slow things down or waste time (e.g., manual data entry, slow content cycles, repetitive outreach).

2. Propose a Smarter Way

Propose the AI-powered solution you would design or implement to solve the problem (e.g., using Apollo.io to auto-prioritize high-intent leads, or ChatGPT to draft campaign copy faster).

3. Quantify the Business Impact

Tie your solution to outcomes hiring managers care about:

X% reduction in time, cost, or effort
X% increase in speed, throughput, or quality
Freed up X hours/week for higher-value work

5. What To Do If You’re Not an Early Adopter of AI (Yet)

Here’s how you can start gaining traction with AI and strengthen your positioning, even if you’re not an early adopter yet.

SCENARIO 1:
You don’t know where to start and haven’t used AI tools hands-on in your role yet.

What to focus on:
It starts with experimentation. If you don’t know where to start, consider asking an AI tool like ChatGPT how it would help you your current day-to-day. Provide details of your role, and have a dialogue with AI on how it could help streamline workflows or where it could best be utilized.

SCENARIO 2:
Your company hasn’t adopted AI yet... or is moving slowly.

What to focus on:
Some of our clients have shared they’re seeing AI being leveraged in siloes at this time. Review your team or org chart and look to see if there’s another similar role to yours. Ask this person if/how they’re leveraging AI, if you can build automated workflows together, or where they’re seeing efficiencies with AI.

SCENARIO 3:
You’re skeptical or overwhelmed by the AI hype.

What to focus on:
Emphasize your interest in practical AI applications with clear business impact, and your thoughtful approach to evaluating which tools are worth adopting versus blindly following the hype.

More Ways To Position Yourself as a Candidate

One powerful way to position yourself is by staying connected. Join Hunt Club’s Expert Network to access our exclusive job board and refer top talent to exciting opportunities.