[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":63},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-account-executive":3},{"slug":4,"path":5,"title":6,"description":7,"term":8,"wordCount":9,"hasExample":10,"inboundLinks":11,"isPublished":10,"html":12,"data":13,"related":33,"lessons":46},"account-executive","/glossary/account-executive","What Is an Account Executive (AE)? Sales Role, Explained","An account executive (AE) is the B2B sales role that owns the deal — running discovery through proposal and closing the contract — and carries a revenue quota. They take over from SDRs and BDRs once a qualified meeting is booked.","Account Executive (AE)",338,true,51,"\u003Cp>An account executive, or AE, is the B2B sales role that owns the deal from qualification to close. The \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sdr/\">SDR\u003C/a> or \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/bdr/\">BDR\u003C/a> books a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/qualified-meeting/\">qualified meeting\u003C/a>; the AE takes it from there — running discovery, handling objections, building the proposal, negotiating, and getting the contract signed. The AE carries a revenue \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/quota/\">quota\u003C/a> and is paid a meaningful chunk of their \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/ote/\">OTE\u003C/a> on commission. It is the natural promotion from SDR and the gatekeeper of the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/closing/\">closing\u003C/a> side of the career.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"in-plain-english\">In plain English\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>If the SDR is the person who starts the deal, the AE is the person who finishes it. They turn a meeting into a signed customer. That is the biggest difference between the two: the SDR's number is meetings; the AE's number is revenue closed.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"how-it-s-actually-used\">How it's actually used\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>"Book the SDR meeting, close it on the AE call." When an \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sdr/\">SDR\u003C/a> hands over a qualified lead, the AE runs the discovery conversation, decides whether it is worth pursuing, and if so drives it to proposal and signature. Teams measure AEs on \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/quota/\">quota\u003C/a> attainment and win rate, and on how much of their \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/ote/\">OTE\u003C/a> they actually earn.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"why-it-matters-to-you\">Why it matters to you\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>AE is where the money and the ceiling are. \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/commission/\">Commission\u003C/a> on closed revenue is how a sales career compounds, and the AE role is the step that unlocks the close — the AE is the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/closer/\">closer\u003C/a>, the person who owns the deal to signature. Getting there from SDR usually takes a year of consistently booked meetings and a demonstrated ability to handle the full cycle. It is the second rung, and for most people the reason they took the first.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The full playbook for earning that second rung lives in the Account Executive track — start with \u003Ca href=\"/academy/account-executive/become-an-account-executive/\">how to become an account executive\u003C/a>, weigh \u003Ca href=\"/academy/account-executive/is-being-an-account-executive-a-good-job/\">whether the job is actually a good one\u003C/a>, and study \u003Ca href=\"/academy/account-executive/what-does-an-account-executive-do/\">what the job involves day to day\u003C/a> before you commit the year to the climb.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>For the AE application and hiring funnel, see \u003Ca href=\"/academy/account-executive/account-executive-resume/\">Account Executive Resume\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>\n",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":14,"term":8,"publishedAt":15,"author":16,"reviewedAt":17,"example":18,"relatedTerms":19,"lessons":24},"what is an account executive","2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24","\"I'm the AE — once the SDR books the meeting, I own discovery, the proposal, and the close.\"",[20,21,22,23],"sdr","qualified-meeting","quota","ote",[25,26,27,28,29,30,31,28,32],"/academy/sdr/what-does-an-sdr-do","/academy/sdr/sales-career-path","/academy/sdr/sdr-vs-ae","/academy/account-executive/become-an-account-executive","/academy/account-executive/is-being-an-account-executive-a-good-job","/academy/account-executive/what-does-an-account-executive-do","/academy/account-executive/account-executive-compensation","/academy/account-executive/first-90-days-as-an-account-executive",[34,37,40,43],{"slug":20,"path":35,"title":36},"/glossary/sdr","What Is an SDR? Sales Development Representative, Explained",{"slug":21,"path":38,"title":39},"/glossary/qualified-meeting","What Is a Qualified Meeting in Sales? Definition",{"slug":22,"path":41,"title":42},"/glossary/quota","What Is a Quota in Sales? Definition and How It Works",{"slug":23,"path":44,"title":45},"/glossary/ote","What Is OTE (On-Target Earnings) in Sales? Definition",[47,49,51,53,55,57,59,61],{"path":28,"title":48},"How to Become an Account Executive: Earn the Promotion from SDR",{"path":25,"title":50},"What Does an SDR Do? The Real Job, Without the Hype",{"path":29,"title":52},"Is Being an Account Executive a Good Job? The Honest Tradeoffs",{"path":30,"title":54},"What Does an Account Executive Do? The Job, Day to Day",{"path":26,"title":56},"The Sales Career Ladder: SDR → AE → AM → Leadership",{"path":31,"title":58},"Account Executive Compensation: How the Money Changes at Promotion",{"path":27,"title":60},"SDR vs AE: What Changes When You Get Promoted",{"path":32,"title":62},"First 90 Days as an Account Executive: Ramp to Quota",1792888520986]