The modern sales engineer's calendar looks nothing like what most expect when entering the profession. Between back-to-back demos, urgent Slack questions, and last-minute RFP requests, where does the time actually go? Matthew James Young, Enterprise PreSales at Wise, sat down with three veteran SEs to break down the reality of today's workload and share tactical strategies for reclaiming focus.

Watch the full discussion here

Forget the idea of "typical" weeks; they don't exist. As Jonathan Paredes, Solutions Consultant at Dropbox, puts it: "I wish I could say I have typical weeks, but I don't. Every week is different, and it really depends on the deals coming in." Here's where SE time really goes:

1. Monday Morning Sync Sessions Most successful SEs start each week with strategic alignment meetings. "I usually have a sync with my AMs at the beginning of the week, and that helps me roadmap how the week's gonna look," says Paredes. "How much demo prep time, strategy, and all the invisible time syncs we're all used to."
2. The 50% Reality Shanyn doCarmo, Senior Sales Engineer at Versapay, reveals a sobering truth: "Only 50% of our time is actually used for what we would truly consider true solutions or sales engineer work. There's all the admin, RFPs, SOWs, and answering questions that people could go find answers for themselves."
3. Increasing Time with Post-Sales The traditional pre-sales/post-sales boundary is dissolving. Michael Ammaturo, VP of Solutions at Experience, notes: "The success team leans on the presales team more than in previous iterations. I actually think that's a good thing, it's about being strategic in the post-sales motion."

According to the State of Demo Automation report, “SEs most often support 3 AEs and spend most of their time on custom demos, followed closely by standard demos.” Because of this, relationship management is crucial, but prioritization isn't always logical. "It's gonna be the one that the AE can sell to you, why their deal should be more important," admits doCarmo. "It may not be the biggest deal, but that salesperson who's gonna sell you on why they need you now."

The Breakthrough Approach:

• Weekly strategy syncs beyond individual deals
• Proactive CRM reviews to spot opportunities before they become urgent
• Cross-departmental relationship building to reduce last-minute fire drills

The most dramatic time savings are coming from AI adoption. doCarmo shares her transformation: "I can take a discovery call transcript and turn it into a complete demo script. It knows my style, knows the areas I need to focus on. I've gone from two hours of prep to, don't tell my team this, but I could turn something around in fifteen minutes if I had to."

Where AI Delivers the Biggest Wins:

• Call transcript analysis that identifies pain points and builds custom demo scripts
• Universal search tools that surface scattered notes and assets instantly
• Demo data generation that creates realistic, tailored environments

Despite more SEs using AI in their day-to-day,, our panelists were unanimous: the human connection remains irreplaceable. "People still want that personal connection," emphasizes doCarmo. "When you have that understanding, that empathy, that goes a long way." Paredes adds, "You don't want to automate the relationship or building trust with a customer."

As AI reshapes the sales landscape, SEs are feeling pressure on two fronts: how buyers engage and how SEs manage their own time.

On the buyer side, Ammaturo predicts we'll soon be "selling to agents", AI avatars representing buyers before a human ever gets involved. "You'd better be able to convince my AI that you're worth my time," he says. It's a shift that makes storytelling and trust-building more critical, not less.

On the SE side, that same pressure makes time awareness essential. Most SE teams struggle to track where their hours actually go, despite the value of knowing. "I hate task tracking," admits Ammaturo. "But I do time auditing once a quarter, we track our time in a spreadsheet just to see what we're actually spending our days on." Rather than micromanaging hours, the most effective SE leaders focus on outcomes and use periodic audits to surface workflow improvements.

For SEs navigating this rapidly evolving landscape:

Master the Fundamentals First "Get the basics solid," advises Ammaturo. "Talk to experienced people, read the books, understand the fundamentals that don't change, trust, discovery, objection handling."

Stay Curious and Connected "Always stay curious about new technologies," says Paredes. "And work on developing relationships internally, not just with your AMs but across different departments."

Embrace Honest Ignorance "Don't be afraid to say you don't know," doCarmo emphasizes. "If somebody asks a question and you don't know the answer, I actually laugh and make them feel better. That's how I learn, those are the questions I'm really gonna remember."

Build AI Collaboration Culture For teams looking to accelerate AI adoption, Ammaturo recommends regular "lunch and learns" where team members share AI wins and failures. "Swarm intelligence around AI enables us to find value much faster."

Sales engineering in 2026 sits at the intersection of human expertise and AI-driven efficiency. SEs who can build authentic relationships while leveraging technology to go deeper into customer needs will help build a competitive edge as an SE.

Check out Navattic's State of Demo Automation report for more on demo management, best practices when using demo automation, and its impact on the sales cycle.