Pride in AI is a powerful force: It could result in doom without the oversight of collective wisdom

There is something remarkable about the best salespeople, something quiet. Not the loudest, not the most decorated, not the ones with the fanciest titles or biggest incentive payouts. The truly effective ones, if you spend enough time around them—in liquor distribution, IT services, pharmaceuticals, agricultural inputs, across every sector—you begin to notice a common thread that has nothing to do with technique or personality type.They have pride in their work.

This is not the pride that comes from a sales award at an annual jamboree or being featured in the company newsletter, a cash reward for nudging quarterly numbers up or other such motivators. But from something deeper. This pride emanates from a felt sense that they have made a real difference to someone or to someone’s business.

In the liquor business, this might look like a salesperson who has spent years helping a distributor grow, building his territory, thinking about his margins, relationships and capital cycles with as much care as if it were her own business. In IT services, it might be the account manager who feels genuine ownership over whether her client’s operations became more efficient. The sale is the outcome.

The pride is in the effect. This distinction matters.What is true of salespeople is equally or perhaps more true of those who work in professions whose very purpose is human well-being. The most effective teachers carry a particular light in their eyes when they speak of a student who struggled and then found her way.