In the State of Sales 2026 landscape, a sobering reality has emerged. Specifically, 55% of buyers actively avoid engaging with sales reps. In a world flooded with generic, AI-generated spam, the challenge isn’t just scaling activity. In fact, it’s scaling credibility.
Clari + Salesloft and Vidyard have announced an expanded strategic partnership designed to solve this exact problem. By embedding AI-powered video and real-time buyer signals directly into revenue workflows, they are turning high-impact, human communication into a repeatable revenue motion.
The Death of the ‘Generic’ Message
The report accompanying the launch highlights that 76% of sellers are now focused on improving personalisation and relevance. The partnership addresses this by integrating Vidyard’s video capabilities directly into the Salesloft platform, allowing teams to act on real buyer engagement rather than “best guesses.”
The Workflow: When a buyer engages with a video. This could be whether it’s a view, a replay, or specific watch time. Those signals flow directly into Salesloft Rhythm.
The Action: Instead of a generic follow-up, the system prompts the “next best action” based on the intensity of the engagement. A deep dive into a technical video might trigger a call, while a quick glance prompts a personalized email.
AI Avatars: The Middle Ground of Scale
One of the most provocative features of the partnership is the use of AI Avatars. Reps can now generate personalised videos at scale using their own AI-powered likeness.
The Benefit: It preserves the “human touch” of seeing a face and hearing a voice, but removes the manual bottleneck of recording 100 individual videos.
The Result: Joint customers are already seeing up to 16% higher open rates and a staggering 5x improvement in prospecting response rates.
From ‘Tactic’ to ‘Infrastructure’
“Revenue teams can no longer rely on disconnected tools and manual follow-ups,” says Michael Litt, CEO of Vidyard. This partnership signals a shift where video isn’t just something you “add” to an email; it’s the data-rich infrastructure that informs the entire forecast.
Steve Cox, CEO of Clari + Salesloft, added: “This allows teams to prioritize the right opportunities and improve the quality of the signals informing forecast decisions.”
Personalisation: The New Automation
In short, the “Reality Gap” in 2026 is being bridged by tools that make AI feel more human, not less. By operationalising video, Clari + Salesloft and Vidyard are proving that the most predictable revenue comes from the most personal engagement.
Therefore, for professional services and sales leaders, the lesson is clear: if your AI doesn’t help you show up more “humanly” in the moments that matter, it’s just adding to the noise.
🚀 Revenue Metrics: The Impact
- 2x Faster Deal Cycles: Real-time engagement signals reduce “dead time” between follow-ups.
- 30% Reduction in No-Shows: Video reminders build a human connection before the meeting starts.
- 4x More Meetings Booked: Personalised video cuts through the inbox clutter of 2026.
