Is Sales & Marketing Dead? With Michel van der Borgh & Selma Kadic-Maglajlic

Selma Kadic-Maglajlic and Michel van der Borgh from Copenhagen Business School ask a provocative question in this episode of Oplev Salg: Is sales & marketing dead? Together, they explore a recurring trend in marketing and sales: the tendency to declare established practices dead. Over the years we have heard about the death of marketing, the death of advertising and the end of solution selling. But what did these predictions get right, and what did they miss? And is AI now making salespeople obsolete, or making human judgment, trust and relationships more important than ever? Key topics: — Why people keep declaring marketing, advertising and sales "dead", and what those predictions got right and wrong — Why many customers are already well informed before they ever talk to a salesperson — How AI agents are starting to sit between buyers and sellers, and who owns that interface — Where human judgment, trust and relationships still add value beyond what technology can do — Which sales tasks are most exposed to automation: repetitive tasks vs. complex, high-stakes sales — Why AI mediating the buyer–seller interface calls for new thinking and new ways of governing it — Why experienced leaders may overestimate their own skills, while future sales leaders may rely too much on technology — Why cutting the sales force to save costs can hurt long-term performance — Practical advice for senior leaders: spend real time with the technology yourself This conversation is relevant for sales leaders, marketing leaders, educators, and anyone who wants to understand how AI is changing the role of the salesperson, and what stays the same. (00:00) Introduction: is sales really dying? (02:00) The funeral of Philip Kotler: why "dead" makes a good headline (04:14) The funerals of advertising and solution selling (08:15) Flip the question: where do customers face the most ambiguity? (10:28) Can AI replace human judgment, ethics and trust? (12:19) Which sales tasks will be replaced, and which won't (17:19) Overconfidence on both sides: experienced leaders vs. future sales leaders (22:22) Why cutting the sales force backfires (24:03) Spend ten hours with the technology before you decide (26:27) Takeaways from the funerals: master the basics, adapt to the change Connect with Selma Kadic-Maglajlic: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selmakadic/ Connect with Michel van der Borgh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelvanderborgh/ Subscribe to the Oplev Salg newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7421478328148070400 Follow Radiant on LinkedIn: https://dk.linkedin.com/company/radiantdk Oplev Salg is a podcast created in collaboration between Radiant and Copenhagen Business School (CBS), exploring modern B2B sales leadership.