AI can pull the datasheet, cross-reference the part, and draft the follow-up in minutes. What it cannot do is understand where a customer's roadmap is heading two years out, or know which application risk will surface before it shows up in testing. The rep who sees around corners is still the one who wins the business. The question is how you build that edge when the tools keep changing.

In this bonus episode of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast, host Sannah Vinding continues her conversation with Hunter Starr, CPMR, President at Performance Technical Sales, to explore what separates the reps who stay relevant from the ones who won't as AI reshapes the technical sales workflow.

This five-minute follow-up to episode 138 captures one focused exchange. Hunter shares how his team at Performance Technical Sales is actually using AI today: identifying cross-reference parts, building quick email templates, and gathering customer intelligence. Then he pivots to a framework he shared at a recent sales conference, drawn from Jensen Huang's take on who will be the smartest professionals in the next decade. The answer is not the coders.

Hunter and Sannah land in the same place. AI handles the front end. Judgment still closes the deal. The rep who combines two or three strong skills with AI fluency builds an edge that compounds over time. Hunter makes the case that the rep's role as a guide, seeing around corners for customers and anticipating pitfalls AI cannot see, is more important now than ever.

This bonus episode is for manufacturers reps, rep firm owners, field salespeople, FAEs, product marketers, and sales leaders in electronics and component distribution who want to understand where to invest their time as AI compresses the workflow.

In this episode, you will learn:

How Hunter's team is using AI for cross-referencing, email templates, and customer intelligence
What Jensen Huang said about who will be the smartest professionals in the next decade
Why combining two or three strong skills with AI fluency creates a compounding advantage
What AI cannot replace in technical sales: roadmap foresight, application risk, and human judgment
Why the definition of "smart" in technical sales is being redefined in real time
Where to shift your practice time now that research and first-draft work are no longer the bottleneck

About the guest: Hunter Starr, CPMR, is President of Performance Technical Sales, a manufacturers rep firm serving OEM engineers across the Carolinas. He supports customers across industrial, defense, medical, and agricultural markets, and was recognized as a Rising Star by the Electronic Representatives Association.

Hosted by: Sannah Vinding is an engineer, B2B marketing strategist, leadership educator, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast. She helps leaders across electronics, manufacturing, and supply chain lead technical teams with clarity, trust, and confidence as complexity and AI reshape how work gets done.

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