Smarweys, one of the fictional companies Advantexe uses in our simulation-based learning experiences, reported adjusted EBITDA of $28.8 million in Q4 2025 (12.9% margin) and full-year adjusted EBITDA of $145.7 million with a margin of 16.1%.

On the surface, that reads like a standard earnings update. But we use examples like this intentionally in our “walk a mile in your customer’s shoes” business acumen sales training for a reason.

Do your sales teams actually understand what that means?

Because if they don’t, they are missing how their customers really think about decisions.

What EBITDA Actually Tells You

EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) is a measure of operating performance. It reflects how efficiently a company converts revenue operations. What’s even better is that it is a controllable metric and one that leaders can be held accountable for.

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The New Best Practices of Sales Coaching in the Age of AI

As artificial intelligence transforms sales analytics, sales leaders must learn new coaching strategies to help their teams interpret AI insights, challenge assumptions, and turn data into action.

If you haven’t heard the news yet, AI has changed everything.

Historians may eventually look back on this moment as one of the great pivot points in human productivity.

From a business perspective, I see it as a major pivot point in business acumen.

For decades, leaders have been trying to get their sales teams to become more data-driven—using customer insights, prescription trends, territory analytics, and performance dashboards to make smarter decisions.

Now something new has entered the equation.

AI.

In a world driven by data, data analytics, and now artificial intelligence layered on top of it, entirely new challenges are emerging for sales leaders and the way they coach their teams.

Whether companies have formal policies about AI or not, their sales teams are already using it.

Last week, I was immersed in a fascinating project focused on building sales leaders' business acumen in the pharmaceutical industry.

A major part of the program focuses on how sales leaders coach their teams using sales data, helping them interpret prescribing patterns, identify opportunities, and take the best actions to grow new prescriptions and revenue.

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The first quarter of 2024 is now in the books. From a value creation perspective, the S&P index has grown by about 10% and the Dow Jones Index by about 6%. This strong and steady growth has occurred in the face of continued volatility coming from socio-economic issues, inflation, the unemployment rate, weather conditions, and world population health factors.

One of the most important pieces of research Advantexe continually seeks is information gathered from our Training and Development clients to understand what skills they are looking to develop for the rest of the year and beyond.

Based on our continued conversations and surveys in Q1, 2024, the top three skills large, global organizations are seeking to develop are:

• Collaboration
• Business Acumen
• Leading a Culture of Innovation

What has been interesting to discover is the consistency of both the definition and focus on these specific skills they are seeking to solve. That hasn’t always been the case. For example, a year ago the most important skill companies were looking to develop was providing feedback as a form of coaching. What many found out was there is no one definite and easy definition or methodology for teaching how to give effective feedback. Here at Advantexe, we implemented several major Coaching & Feedback simulations, and they are all growing into the 2^nd and 3^rd year of implementation which means immersive, practice-based learning is one of the only ways to teach those skills.

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