The advent of AI has a profound effect on the roles and responsibilities of sales and customer service professionals. While it automates certain tasks, it also creates opportunities for new ways of working and contributes to the evolution of roles. Here's how:

1. Automation of Routine Tasks: AI can automate routine tasks such as data entry, scheduling meetings, responding to frequently asked questions, and qualifying leads. This allows sales and customer service professionals to focus more on strategic and high-value tasks.
2. Enhanced Customer Interaction: AI-powered tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can handle simple customer queries, but complex and sensitive issues still require human intervention. This means that customer service professionals are more likely to handle high-stakes interactions that require empathy, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving skills.
3. Data-Driven Decision Making: AI generates valuable insights from sales and customer data, enabling sales and customer service professionals to make more informed decisions. They can leverage these insights to personalize their sales approach, improve customer relationships, and enhance service delivery.
4. Learning and Adaptation: As AI technologies continue to evolve, sales and customer service professionals need to stay updated with the latest tools and strategies. This could involve learning how to use new AI-powered software or understanding how to interpret insights from AI-driven analytics.
5. Strategic Roles: With AI handling many operational and routine tasks, sales and customer service professionals can move into more strategic roles. For instance, sales professionals can focus more on building relationships with key clients, while customer service professionals can work on improving overall customer experience strategies.
6. Ethical and Regulatory Compliance: As AI gets more integrated into sales and customer service, professionals in these fields will need to understand the ethical implications of using AI, such as privacy issues, and ensure that they are using these tools in compliance with regulations.

It's important to note that the successful implementation of AI doesn't eliminate the need for human skills but rather changes the nature of the roles and skills required. Professionals in these fields are expected to work alongside AI, leveraging its capabilities to enhance their productivity and effectiveness.