By: Jake Smiths

Revenue leaders seek velocity, but the reality often falls short. The quoting stage becomes a bottleneck, approvals stall, and contracting drags on. The issue isn’t a lack of effort, but rather a flawed architecture.

While GTM strategies have evolved, most systems haven’t. Sales, finance, and operations still rely on a technology stack of mismatched, incompatible, or overly complex components: quoting tools bolted onto CRMs; approval workflows duct-taped through email; and contract generation hidden in a legal portal. The frustration of these gaps takes over, and that’s where deals lose momentum.

Execution Breaks at the Seams, Not in Strategy

It’s not the sales playbook that’s broken. It’s the handoff between systems and teams that destroys momentum.

Most companies architect their go-to-market process around steps, rather than a flow. They define buyer stages and respective internal owners, but overlook how transitions and handoffs slow things down. A rep configures a quote but waits two days for manager approval. Legal edits a contract offline. Finance needs to review the terms before an invoice can be generated. These workflow inefficiencies cause friction that slows down the entire pipeline.

Manual handoffs and incomplete systems are an issue in the sales process. Sales reps spend only 32% of their time selling, with the rest consumed by administrative tasks caused by these inefficiencies. 45% of teams cite these excessive tasks as their primary productivity barrier. As a result, 28% of sales professionals report lengthy sales cycles as the premier reason prospects disengage and deals fall through the cracks.

One Logic Layer, Not Five Workarounds

To solve a choppy GTM workflow, teams must eliminate the gap between decision and execution.

An AI-powered CPQ acts as the single control layer that turns deal intent into closed revenue. It removes the patchwork of quoting tools, approval chains, and contract generators by embedding everything into a single governed flow. It adds real-time intelligence to decisions at all buyer stages, like flagging risky deals and recommending pricing based on deal history. With one logic layer driving the flow end-to-end, deal data accelerates.

Platforms like DealHub demonstrate this execution-focused architecture, providing a comprehensive quote-to-cash workflow that brings together CPQ, CLM, approvals, and billing logic with minimal handoffs.“DealHub creates one fluid sales motion, eliminating multiple tools and steps while increasing efficiency and productivity,” says Michael Nguyen, Sales Ops Manager at SourceScrub.

When every deal step runs inside one governed CPQ flow, deals aren’t just faster; they’re smarter.  Instead of spending time fixing errors or chasing approvals, reps can focus on high-impact work like prospecting, negotiating, and closing. Flow, not effort, fixes velocity.

Governance Is the Speed Multiplier

AI-powered CPQ also brings intelligent governance to the process, acting as a control layer that preserves speed without sacrificing oversight.

With pricing logic owned by RevOps, AI-powered CPQ becomes the control tower and governance isn’t limited by manual reviews. Routine quotes clear instantly, and edge cases surface with full context. The result is more time selling, fewer errors, and a pricing model that scales without compromising margins.

In DealHub, a logic layer guides the seller through a playbook while enforcing pricing guardrails, product compatibility, contract clauses, tax calculations, and compliance rules, so every quote, approval, and invoice ships correct the first time. “DealHub bridges the gap between teams by providing transparency and alignment across the revenue lifecycle,” says Justin Fogel-Conception, Global Director of Revenue Operations & Programs at Contentsquare.

Closing in Hours: The Structural Advantage

Fast-moving teams work differently. When CPQ acts as the central execution layer, teams can run same-day EBRs, quote and approve within minutes, and close mid-funnel opportunities that used to stall and lose momentum over time. Embedded intelligence amplifies execution, helping teams move faster, protect margins, and operate with precision. It’s not about hustle, but rather having the infrastructure that turns intent into action in one continuous motion.

Increasingly, that infrastructure is powered by AI, and sales teams are racing to harness it. Gartner reports that 87% of CSOs face board pressure to deploy Gen AI, but only 14% actually own the roadmap, creating a conflict between risk and reward. 99% of data leaders say AI needs guardrails, yet two-thirds admit they haven’t built them.

AI-powered CPQ supplies those guardrails out of the box, enforcing pricing, product, and approval logic in real time, so leaders can trust the speed they’re getting as they optimize their GTM strategies.

Revenue Autonomy as the Endgame

The ultimate goal is faster deals that don’t require micromanagement, or what sellers call revenue autonomy: creating deals that move from intent to cash without breaking stride.

RevOps plus AI make that possible. RevOps owns the rules and sets the guardrails; AI executes them in real time. In this model, AI is the decision accelerator inside CPQ’s governed flow, turning static rules into real-time actions your team can trust. AI-powered CPQ flags margin-risk discounts, auto-approves compliant deals, and learns which bundles close fastest. Sellers can trust that they’re configuring and pricing deals all within set guardrails and at their desired speed.

DealHub’s AI-powered CPQ  integrates quoting, CLM, approvals, and billing into a streamlined process, with AI helping to maintain consistency and compliance throughout.

Throughput Is the New Strategy

The old GTM playbook was built around stages. The new one is built around the concept of flow.

Velocity at scale isn’t about adding more tools, approvals, or salespeople. It’s about designing logic that moves as fast as your buyer does. AI-powered CPQ provides that logic: one governed layer that quotes, approves, and closes without pause or permission slips. According to Sirocco Group, CPQ tools that leverage AI cut sales cycle times by 10-15% and increase deal size by 20%.

CROs and RevOps leaders have the opportunity to gain a tangible competitive advantage by replacing legacy stitched-together systems and shifting to a unified, flow-first GTM model that governs at speed. DealHub leads this shift and helps teams embed execution logic directly into the revenue process so that every deal moves with precision and speed, not ambiguity and delays.

Disclaimer: Results and performance may vary based on specific company needs and contexts. The product’s effectiveness is based on the current product offering and user context. Testimonials provided reflect individual experiences and are not a guarantee of results. All claims regarding time saved and revenue improvements are based on specific use cases and data provided by users and do not imply universal outcomes.