At the 2026 Gartner CSO conference, nearly 8 in 10 sales leaders said their top concern was getting sellers to quantify value instead of pitching products, and the wider research explains why it has become existential: buyers now automate the logic with AI and reserve their scarce human attention for proof of value. The value gap and the growth gap have become the same gap, and closing it is no longer a training project but a structural mandate for every revenue leader.

Enterprise software is drifting into a dangerous cycle where buyers and vendors optimize for activity metrics like token consumption, utilization, and renewals, while the actual business outcomes behind the investment remain poorly measured and undervalued.

As AI accelerates the shift toward consumption-based pricing, companies are discovering that maximizing usage does not guarantee maximizing impact, fueling the need for a new model centered on realized business value: Outcome Maxxing.

Salesforce just introduced something called Agentic Work Units, or AWUs. On the surface, it looks like a new billing metric. But if you read it as a market signal, it’s much more significant than that.

We are officially entering the Outcome Economy for AI.

AI is forcing GTM leaders to rethink their Value Automation strategy, but the real question isn’t build vs. buy. It’s who owns the workflow that defines, proves, and delivers value.

For years, the role of the Value Engineer or Value Consultant has been a cornerstone of modern go-to-market teams. Helping quantify ROI, build business cases, and justify decisions has become essential in complex B2B sales.

But as the market shifts toward an Outcome Economy, it raises an important question: Is the role itself evolving beyond its name?

The software industry is entering another period of transformation. According to Deloitte’s 2026 Software Industry Outlook, financial pressure, AI-first products, and new competitors are reshaping how software companies operate and compete.

But beneath these technology trends is a deeper shift that every go-to-market leader should understand: The market is moving toward an Outcome Economy.

According to recent benchmarks, quota attainment has settled into a lower “new normal,” well below the highs of 2021. Across roles, fewer than half of sellers are consistently hitting their targets. This is not a temporary dip. It is a structural shift.

And it raises an important question: Why are so many go-to-market teams still missing quota, despite more tools, more data, and now, more AI than ever before?

Despite years of emphasis on value selling, fewer than one in five sellers consistently apply it in customer conversations. Closing this adoption gap through structured training and practice may be one of the most effective ways for B2B organizations to drive revenue growth.

CFOs are no longer passive approvers at the end of the sales cycle. They are active architects of enterprise strategy, capital allocation, and value realization.

The buying landscape has fundamentally changed. We are firmly in the Outcome Economy, where results are the currency of trust, renewal, and growth.

CFOs are no longer passive approvers at the end of the sales cycle. They are active architects of enterprise strategy, capital allocation, and value realization.

For years, the business case was the centerpiece of the value selling motion.

But with AI and the need for continuous realized value this leads to the question: Is the traditional pre-sales business case obsolete?