From Data to Deals: How AI Helps Interior Product Brands Identify and Win New Accounts

Thrive In Design Podcast Season 9, Episode 9 with Kate Rancourt

There is a lot of noise around AI right now.

In the architecture and design industry, some of that noise sounds like hype. Some of it sounds like fear. Some of it sounds like pressure to “figure it out” before the rest of the market does. And for many interior product brands, dealers, and sales leaders, the result is the same: overwhelm.

But here is the real issue. Most companies are asking the wrong question.

They are asking whether AI will replace people. What they should be asking is whether they are using it to make their people more effective, more prepared, and more strategic in the moments that actually move revenue. That shift sat at the center of my conversation with Kate Rancourt, Director of Customer Insights and Growth at One Workplace, a West Coast interior solutions provider that brings together design, construction, furniture, technology, and services to create high-performing environments. Kate’s role is focused on studying market shifts, understanding customer pain points, and connecting insight to revenue. (One Workplace)

And that is exactly why this conversation matters for interior product manufacturers.

Because the brands that will win in this next chapter are not the ones using AI to generate more content for content’s sake. They will be the ones using it to sharpen sales strategy, prepare for better conversations, understand stakeholders faster, and support more confident specification growth. As Kate put it, her work sits at the intersection of strategy, design, and facilitation, with the goal of turning real customer needs into meaningful business action.

AI is not the strategy. It is the accelerator.

One of the most important points in this episode is that AI does not replace strategic thinking. It exposes whether you have any.

That distinction matters in an industry where too many teams are still treating marketing and sales as separate functions, relying on outdated relationship models, or assuming product quality alone will carry the brand. Thrive In Design’s market message has been clear on this: interior product brands do not need more noise, more disconnected tactics, or bigger budgets. They need a roadmap that turns insight into action and aligns marketing, storytelling, and sales around specification growth.

That is why this episode lands so well for our audience. It is not about AI as a novelty. It is about AI as sales enablement.

For Kate, the opportunity is not to hand over judgment to a machine. It is to use AI for the parts of work that are repetitive, preparatory, or pattern-based so people can spend more of their energy on the parts of the job that are relational, instinctive, and human. She said it well:

“I think a more interesting question or just a mindset shift that we can all make is asking, ‘what part of my job is uniquely human?’. AI can draft emails and summarize specs, but it can’t build trust, read tension in a room, or recover from a slip-up on like a missed spec in a project. Use your instinct. Use your experience. Use your human critical thinking skills. The best use of AI still requires your judgment.”

That is the real leadership challenge.

Not whether AI exists. It does. Not whether it is already integrated into your workflow. It is. The question is whether your team knows how to use it without outsourcing the very thinking that makes your brand valuable in the first place. Kate noted that AI is increasingly embedded in the tools teams already use, including email and CRM workflows, which means the conversation is no longer about whether to “go find” AI. It is already here.

What this looks like in real life for interior product brands

For interior product manufacturers, dealers, and reps, AI becomes powerful when it is tied to real commercial outcomes.

That might mean using it to strengthen your LinkedIn strategy so your salespeople show up as trusted advisors instead of product pushers. In the episode, Kate shared a practical example of how a rep could prompt AI by defining the role, the audience, the target account type, and the objective. Her point was simple but important: specificity creates better output. If you want stronger AI responses, you need stronger strategic inputs.

This matters because social selling is no longer optional in a specification-driven industry. Designers, facility leaders, end users, and buying influencers are forming impressions long before a rep gets the meeting. If your brand voice is generic online, if your reps only post product features, or if your LinkedIn presence does not reinforce thought leadership, you are missing one of the lowest-friction ways to build familiarity and trust before the sales conversation even begins. Nicole underscored that point in the episode, framing LinkedIn and social selling as a people-first pathway to more authentic connections and stronger sales outcomes.

AI can also support leaders before difficult conversations. That may sound less glamorous than “innovation,” but it is one of the most practical takeaways in the episode. Kate described using AI as a kind of rehearsal partner: a tool to help anticipate defensiveness, refine language, and prepare for emotionally charged conversations without relying on a script in the room. In her example, AI becomes a strategic coach, not a substitute for leadership.

And then there is the account-growth application that matters most: using AI to prepare for new business conversations.

If you are a rep, dealer, or business development leader walking into a meeting with a healthcare principal, a facilities director, or a client stakeholder you have never worked with before, AI can help you get sharper, faster. Kate explained that she uses AI to better understand stakeholder priorities, likely objections, and relevant positioning angles before the engagement. That does not mean every principal wants the same thing. It means context matters, and AI can help you pressure-test your pitch before you walk into the room.

That is where “data to deals” becomes more than a clever episode title.

It becomes a way of working.

The brands that win will combine AI with judgment

This is where I think the industry needs more nuance.

There are two equally dangerous mistakes happening right now. Some teams are resisting AI altogether because they are afraid of getting it wrong. Others are leaning on it so heavily that they are weakening their own critical thinking.

Neither approach is strategic.

Kate was refreshingly clear about that. She acknowledged the real concerns around AI adoption, including internal friction, ethical questions, data concerns, and environmental impact. She also made the case that healthy skepticism should not keep leaders on the sidelines. Her perspective was not blind enthusiasm. It was thoughtful experimentation. Stay critical. Read the terms. Ask better questions. But do not confuse caution with avoidance.

That mindset matters for interior product companies because this industry already struggles with activation.

There is no shortage of information. There is no shortage of trend reports, trade shows, sales decks, CRM data, product knowledge, or market chatter. The problem is what we do with it. Thrive In Design’s positioning has long been rooted in this truth: the industry does not suffer from a lack of information; it struggles with implementation. The gap is not insight. The gap is action.

That is why I find this episode so relevant for manufacturers trying to modernize how they sell.

AI can help your team organize information, prep faster, clarify messaging, and generate better first drafts. But it still cannot replace discernment. It cannot read the energy in a client meeting. It cannot rebuild trust after a project miss. It cannot decide when to push, when to pause, or how to interpret what a stakeholder is not saying.

Your people still do that.

And the brands that understand that distinction will use AI as leverage, not as a crutch.

What interior product leaders should do next

If you are leading a brand in commercial interiors, contract furniture, textiles, flooring, architectural products, or another specification-driven category, this is the moment to step back and ask a few harder questions.

Are your salespeople using AI just to save time, or to improve strategic preparation?

Are your marketers creating more content, or creating content that supports sales conversations and account growth?

Are your reps still leading with specs and features, or are they being equipped to understand stakeholders, anticipate objections, and tell better stories?

And maybe most importantly: are you treating AI as a gimmick, or are you building the internal literacy required to use it responsibly and well?

Because the companies that pull ahead will not be the ones shouting the loudest about AI. They will be the ones using it quietly, intelligently, and consistently to help their teams show up better in the moments that matter most.

That is how you move from data to deals. That is how you identify and win new accounts with more clarity. And that is how strategy turns into momentum.

Start Your Journey

1. For deeper insight into how brands move from visibility to memorability, listen to the Thrive In Design Podcast — where we explore positioning, storytelling, and real-world specification strategy.
2. If your brand is navigating AI, sales alignment, and modern specification growth, the AI in Design Summit is a conversation worth joining. The summit brings together leaders across product development, creative strategy, storytelling, and design innovation to explore how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of the A&D industry. Register here: AI in Design Summit
3. Looking for clarity beyond visibility? Spec Ready™ helps brands identify gaps in positioning, sales alignment, and designer understanding so they can move forward with a clearer, more strategic plan. Explore Spec Ready™.