When Slides Stop Working
For one of the world’s largest technology enterprises, the sales process revealed a gap. Its AI platform was advanced, but the tools for demonstrating it leaned too heavily on static presentations and scripted talk tracks.
In boardrooms across industries—from healthcare to insurance—decision-makers wanted more than claims. They wanted to upload their own files, run scenarios and see whether the technology could handle their complexity. Competitors with interactive demos threatened to capture attention, even when their platforms were less capable.
Without a live environment, the risks were significant: slower deal cycles, trust deficits and lost differentiation. Clearly, moving from promises to performance was the only path forward.
Selling AI is no longer about telling stories—it’s about proving them on the spot.
Beyond Presetations: A Chat With Reality
The turning point came with the “Chat with Your Data” accelerator—a live, interactive environment designed to replace static collateral with real-time proof.
Built on the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pattern, it combined embedding databases with large language models to deliver contextual, high-quality responses. Instead of listening to a description, prospects could upload a claims document, query a compliance manual or analyze clinical notes—seeing their own complexity addressed on the spot.
This wasn’t just a demo tool. It became a trust-building engine. Persistent’s role was clear: stabilize the accelerator for reliability, ensure seamless orchestration across systems and embed compliance-ready practices so that enterprise buyers had confidence from the very first interaction.
Flexibility, Familiarity and Fit
The accelerator distinguished itself through adaptability. Prospects could bring their own data—contracts, reports or claims—and transform a generic demo into a tailored experience.
Persistent engineered a solution that balances both scale and practicality:
- Dual database options: high-performance pathways for demanding workloads and PostgreSQL for budget-sensitive buyers.
- One-click deployment: sales teams could set up demos in seconds, removing technical friction.
- Enterprise orchestration: secure repositories, automated ingest and transformation and integrated collaboration tools ensured outputs were instantly reviewable.
The user interface was conversational and intuitive, designed to echo familiar experiences while hardened for enterprise-grade requirements. By embedding affordability, reuse and security, Persistent anticipated not just technical needs but also sales realities—making the accelerator practical across a wide range of scenarios.
From Inbox to Instant Demo
Traditionally, prospects waited weeks for a custom proof of concept. That lag slowed sales cycles and weakened trust. With the accelerator, the wait collapsed to minutes.
Now, an RFP call in the morning could seamlessly transition into a live demo by afternoon, using the prospect’s own data. This closed the credibility gap that had long slowed enterprise deals.
According to McKinsey, 19% of B2B leaders are already implementing GenAI use cases for buying and selling and 23% are in the process. Persistent’s engineering-led deployment model ensured these quick wins weren’t one-offs but repeatable at scale—removing delays as a barrier to trust.
From weeks of waiting to minutes of proof—the speed of trust is now measurable.
The Proof is in the Performance
The accelerator’s impact unfolded across four dimensions that mattered most to the client:
- Sales Effectiveness: Live, customer-specific demos replaced generic pitches with persuasive, relevant proof. Prospects could test scenarios like medical notes or compliance data instead of hearing hypotheticals.
- Time-to-Market: What once took weeks now happened in minutes. Sales cycles shortened, and proof became part of the first conversation, not the last.
- Trust and Confidence: Watching their own data processed in real time transformed skepticism into belief. Prospects left with confidence that the platform could handle their needs.
- Cost Flexibility: The dual-path architecture allowed the solution to fit both cost-sensitive buyers and performance-driven enterprises.
From Showcase to Blueprint
What started as a sales enabler is now evolving into a framework for enterprise adoption. customers who first experienced the accelerator in a demo can extend it into production use cases:
- Compliance monitoring with live redlining.
- Vendor onboarding with automated responses.
- Internal knowledge search across large repositories.
Persistent had built transparent documentation, reusable architecture and close coordination with compliance and business teams into the foundation. This meant scaling wasn’t risky—it was designed to be repeatable. Future enhancements are already on the roadmap: multi-agent workflows for collaborative review, human-in-the-loop feedback for continuous improvement and dashboards to give leaders visibility into usage trends and win-loss ratios.
Every demo is no longer just a pitch—it is the foundation for production-grade deployment.
Closing the Trust Gap
The “Chat with Your Data” accelerator has redefined how enterprise AI is sold. By bridging the divide between slideware and live proof, it gave sales teams the credibility they needed and prospects the confidence they demanded.
From static decks to live data. From telling to showing. From doubt to trust. This is how Persistent transforms GenAI from pitch to proof—and builds a repeatable path for adoption across industries.
Turn demos into differentiators. Bridge promises with proof. From pilots to enterprise-wide adoption.
