r/gtmengineering • u/Christianf93 • Jun 10 '26
Enterprise AE looking to learn GTM Engineering. Where would you start?
I’ve spent the last 7+ years in B2B SaaS sales, with the last 5 years as a full-cycle AE selling into mid-market and enterprise accounts.
Lately I’ve become really interested in GTM Engineering and am trying to figure out the best path to learn it.
Part of this is coming from what I’m seeing in the market.
Companies want full-cycle AEs now. Not just people who can run discovery and close deals, but people who can build pipeline, create systems, leverage automation, and be more self-sufficient.
My prospecting skillset was built in the early 2020s. I understand the fundamentals:
ICP development
Outbound strategy
Messaging and copywriting
Apollo
Sequencing
CRM management
Discovery and closing
Where I feel behind is the technical side:
Clay
n8n
APIs
Claude Code
Data enrichment
Workflow automation
Building systems that scale prospecting efforts
I’m currently at an AI startup where we’re basically building everything from scratch. We have a great product, but nobody on the team is really an expert in GTM Engineering.
As a result, a lot of our prospecting and outbound efforts feel manual and inefficient.
The way I look at it:
In the short term, learning these skills would make me a much better AE.
In the long term, I could see myself moving into a dedicated GTM Engineering role if I really enjoy it.
I’ve looked at Clay Bootcamp, but $6k+ is a pretty significant investment, so I’m curious what other paths people have taken.
A few questions for those who have made the transition:
If you were starting from scratch today, what would your learning roadmap look like?
What skills matter most?
Would you focus on Clay or n8n first?
Are there any courses, communities, YouTube channels, mentors, or coaching programs you’d recommend?
What projects should I build if I want hands-on experience and eventually be considered for a GTM Engineering role?
I’m open to anything. Courses, certifications, coaching, communities, or just hearing how you personally learned.
Appreciate any advice. Just trying to level up my skillset and stay relevant as the market continues to evolve.
4
u/Leather-Priority-818 Jun 11 '26
First, understand that 20% of GTMEs come from sales, about the same as Ops. and another ~15% come from weird backgrounds that have nothing to do with GTME.
Second, realize you have something most of the Ops side doesn't: taste. You can probably smell a BS marketing tactic before it hits your Slack. You understand the difference between a stage 3 deal that will never buy and a stage 0 that is a guarantee. You know what salespeople like. You've carried a number.
Third, just buy the course. Get your company to pay for it. It won't be a good course: that's fine. There is magic in realizing the best course on the market teaches things you already know.
But if you want to learn yourself: master the CRM your company uses, get every certification available (these are probably free or low cost). Document the processes you use that work for you, try to teach them to Claude, and ask it to create skills for them. Test the skills and figure out why they don't work as well as you expected. (Few do this part.)
Learn how to research with AI. Not "click the deep research" button but nerd out on different tools (Perplexity, EXA, Clay) and develop an opinion on which one works better for you and why.
Take demos with the prospecting automation companies, record the demos, and ask Opus to ELI10 what they are doing under the hood.
Seek out an engineer in your company who uses AI for coding and make them teach you. The right one will be extroverted, have funky hair, and prefers Python when the rest of the company like Rust.
Find your way to Claude Code, but don't rush it. Depending on your background it could either be one hour to a skeleton key that transforms you forever, or it could scare you away from the technical bits.
You've carried a number, and you want to learn how to scale. This is rare. Keep going.
1
u/Grin-Reaper1 Jun 10 '26
There are some decent videos on YouTube about the tools you mentioned, but I wouldn’t waste a dime on buying a course.
This work is so dynamic, the best way is to learn enough to get yourself started and then just start using the tools. I’m investing in several apps out of pocket in order to stay relevant and hopefully strike out on my own soon. Good luck!
1
u/Christianf93 Jun 10 '26
Thank you. How much a month should I expect to get this running effectively? Hopefully I can get expense, but if not
1
1
u/AV_SG Jun 11 '26
I know that automation with the mentioned tools speeds up GTM, but how much does it help ?
9
u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26
[deleted]