Every two years, we ask a simple question: how is the AE role changing?
For 2026, the answer is: in many ways. The market hasn't snapped back to the 2021/early-2022 peak. AEs are carrying more responsibility, selling into harder-to-move buying committees, and increasingly relying on self-sourcing, role consolidation, and AI-assisted workflows to make the number.
Kyle Smith and I preview the key findings in the video below. The full report draws on responses from 158 B2B companies and marks the 10th biennial edition of our AE research.
Here are a few standouts.
Quota attainment is under significant pressure
48% of reps achieved annual quota in 2026, down from 51% in 2024 and well below the long-term trend. The distribution has also shifted with fewer companies sitting in the 50–90% range, while more are in the 0–30% danger zone. That combination points to something more than a mild productivity dip: a fundamental mismatch between market conditions and the operating model.
OTEs and quotas continue to rise
Median AE OTE reached $200K, up from $190K in 2024 and $167K in 2022. Median quota is now $960K, with a quota-to-OTE ratio of 4.6x (up from 4.2x in 2024). Quotas have increased ~2.4% CAGR, but "on-target" earnings have increased ~4.9%.
Selling conditions have tightened
Compared with Q1 2025, near-majorities of respondents reported increases in stakeholder count, sales cycle length, discounting pressure, deal slippage, and required pipeline coverage. The current environment isn't simply harder in one dimension.
Companies are hiring more experienced AEs
Average experience required at hire is now 3.7 years, up from 2.7 years in 2022. Yet ramp time reached 6.2 months. That's the highest in this research's history. At higher ASPs, the era of the junior AE appears largely over.
AI is everywhere, but not equally impactful
Most companies are using AI in at least some AE workflows (e.g., post-call summaries, account research, email personalization, etc.). But impact is uneven. When leaders rated specific workflows, 10 of 11 remained split between "game changer" and "hit or miss."
The strongest signal we found was in attainment. Organizations in the highest AI Engagement Score tercile reported 57% of reps at quota, compared to 39% in the lowest. This is observational data — we're not claiming bulletproof causation. But the relationship is meaningful, and the two groups showed no significant differences across several control variables.
The bottom line
The 2026 AE story isn't about a rebound to the post-COVID boom. It's about adaptation. AEs are operating in a harder market with higher expectations, longer ramps, and more responsibility. Companies are responding by hiring more experienced talent, consolidating roles, and experimenting aggressively with AI.
A massive thank you to the executives who participated and you can get a copy of the full 2026 Account Executive Report here.