What 32,000 AI prompts reveal about how MedTech sales teams are really using AI

Key findings at glance

After analyzing more than 32,000 AI prompts from MedTech commercial teams, we found five consistent patterns:

• Finding the next best sales opportunities
• Building account strategies
• Understanding referral networks
• Identifying competitive opportunities
• Preparing for customer conversations

Generative AI is expected to create billions of dollars in value for MedTech and pharmaceutical companies, with McKinsey estimating that commercial functions alone could account for $18 billion to $30 billion in annual impact. Yet more research focuses on AI’s potential as opposed to how commercial teams are actually using it today.

To answer that question we analyzed over 32,000 AcuityAI prompts over a 30-day period and discovered five of the most common ways MedTech teams are putting AI to work.

1.  Finding the next best opportunities (not just researching physicians) 

The single most common job reps ask AI to do is help them prioritize where to spend their time. Nearly 30% of prompts involved identifying and ranking the highest-value opportunities. 

Instead of asking: Tell me about Dr. Smith 

Reps are asking: 

• Who are the top 20 surgeons by procedure volume within 50 miles of my territory?
• Which physicians perform higher volumes of my procedure but have zero adoption of my product?
• Which accounts represent the biggest opportunity for my product line?

Why this matters: AI is evolving from an information retrieval tool to a prioritization engine that not only gives the who, but the why, tailored to a rep’s selling strategy.

2. Building smarter account strategies

The second major pattern we identified is that reps are using AI to analyze trends as opposed to just looking at isolated data points. Many prompts asked AI to compare procedure volumes over time or understand how opportunity is shifting across a territory. 

Reps are asking:

• Compare procedure volumes across competing therapies
• Identify surgeons whose procedure mix has shifted over the past year
• Rebuild volume reports across every facility where physician XYZ practices

Why this matters: Teams are trying to synthesize multiple datasets into insights that will guide decision making and where they spend their time selling.

3. Mapping the relationships that drive referrals

One of the more surprising findings was how frequently commercial teams looked beyond the physician performing the procedure.

Many prompts focused on referral patterns and professional relationships that influence where patients ultimately receive care. Referral workflows appeared across dozens of organizations, while peer and training network questions represented another significant usage category. 

Reps are asking:

• Who are this physician’s top referring providers?
• Who is competing for referrals around my customer, and how well are they capturing that share?
• Which physicians trained together?
• Which of our existing customers have relationships with this target account?

Why this matters: Reps are digging in to better understand the network of relationships surrounding high-volume physicians.

4. Identifying competitive opportunities

Another common pattern we identified was around competitive strategy.

While there were questions comparing competitors, reps were also looking for whitespace opportunities — high-value physicians or accounts where adoption hasn’t yet occurred. Competitive and industry payment analyses represented another frequently used workflow.

Reps are asking:

• Which high-volume physicians aren’t using our therapy?
• What devices is this physician currently using?
• Which physicians are growing procedure volume but haven’t adopted our technology?
• Why is this surgeon still performing the legacy procedure?

Why this matters: The prompts here aren’t traditional competitive intelligence questions but are focused on identifying where commercial teams have the greatest opportunity to change behavior.

5. Turning insights into quality customer conversations

Overall, AI is helping reps have better conversations and the prompts we looked at reflect that — since they’re focused on questions related to preparing for customer outreach or optimizing their territory planning.

Reps are asking:

• Build a pre-call plan for tomorrow’s meeting
• I have an hour between appointments, which nearby accounts should I visit?
• Create a routing plan across city A and city B
• Draft outreach to this physician using the insights we recently uncovered

Why this matters: AI isn’t going to replace the human relationship between reps and providers but it can help reps make these interactions more relevant and informed.

What the data tells us

Looking across 32,000+ prompts one overall theme stood out: MedTech sales teams are using AI as a commercial analyst and they’re figuring out where to focus and who to engage with. These daily questions are having an impact in helping these teams grow their businesses.

AcuityAI helps commercial teams focus on the right opportunities so they can hit quota and drive measurable revenue growth. See AcuityAI in action — grab a demo today!