Diana Cappello, Director of Solutions Consulting, US & Demo Engineering at Eightfold reveals how AI is transforming hiring from entry-level to executive roles while sharing practical strategies for building high-performing teams. With experience cutting onboarding time from 12 months to 4 months and creating managed demo sessions that consistently beat competitors, Diana explores why the solutions engineers role is evolving. 

The conversation covers her "Demo Dojo" training methodology, the power of using real customer data in demos, and Eightfold's AI interviewer that screens thousands of candidates daily. Diana argues that while technical skills can be taught, interpersonal abilities cannot; making performers from non-technical backgrounds often the best hires. She also discusses how AI will augment rather than replace human roles, freeing up professionals to focus on high-value strategic work.

We dig into:

• The decision to empower AEs with “movie trailer” demos and how it changes the buyer experience

• How Demo Dojo, scripts, and creative onboarding reshape the way new hires ramp

• The role of managed sessions in turning skeptical buyers into believers

• What it’s like to demo and sell AI interviewers in today’s hiring landscape

• How Diana sees Solutions Consulting evolving over the next five years

• Why perspective, resilience, and turning obstacles into opportunities define successful leaders

If you’re ready to rethink enablement, embrace AI without the hype, and empower your teams to stand out in the market, this episode is your blueprint.

Key Takeaways:

• Hire performers over techie as you can teach technology, but interpersonal skills are innate

• Structured onboarding with clear success criteria can cut ramp time by 67%

• Demo real customer data in managed sessions to consistently beat competitors

• AI interviewing is expanding to executive roles and every professional needs to prepare for bot interviews

• Solutions engineers must choose their evolution: deeper into customer success or broader into sales roles