Xactly Upside 2026 officially wrapped up in Anaheim, California, bringing together sales, revenue and finance leaders, system administrators, and compensation analysts under the theme “Agents of Change.” Over three days, Xactly leadership and industry trailblazers delivered strategies, insights, and technology that help revenue teams drive innovation and measurable growth across their go-to-market organizations.
Through keynote speaker insights, expert training, learning, and community building, Xactly Upside attendees left equipped for the future. They gained the knowledge and vision to implement the strategies needed to challenge outdated practices and unlock measurable growth.
Some of the key areas of learning included:
- Challenging the Status Quo: Breaking free from outdated revenue practices.
- Empowering Teams: Leading the adoption of intelligent revenue processes.
- Driving Breakthrough Results: Turning data into decisive action and fueling your company's success.
- Connected with the Community: Built valuable professional relationships with industry peers and thought leaders who are also driving change.
- Harnessing the Power of AI: Exploring the future of revenue performance management and how AI is creating new opportunities for optimization and efficiency.
This year’s “Agents of Change” theme focused on how revenue professionals can lead meaningful change across sales performance, compensation strategy, and financial planning, centered around the next evolution of Sales Performance Management (SPM) to Sales Performance Orchestration (SPO).
Xactly Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arnab Mishra kicked off the conference by introducing this latest evolutionary step in the sales performance space in his keynote speech.
Evolution From SPM to SPO
Xactly CEO Arnab Mishra’s opening keynote explained the latest shift in SPM. He outlined how this evolution creates a new opportunity for Agents of Change to gain a competitive edge by embracing the shift rather than fighting it or waiting to see where the dust settles.
To win in a market defined by complexity, revenue leaders must transition from the era of reactive SPM to proactive SPO. This shift represents a fundamental evolution from a system of record to a system of action. Mishra noted that management implies control of things that have already happened. Orchestration, however, is about driving what happens next. Today, sales performance means acting as a conductor for a "revenue symphony" composed of human reps and AI agents working in synchronization.
He highlighted that while enterprise AI adoption has hit a vertical line, climbing from 50% to 88% in just three years, technology only accounts for 10 percent of the actual impact. The real driver of success is the "Agent of Change." This is the human expert who directs AI to amplify, not replace, indispensable expertise.
The keynote concluded with a call to become an “Agent of Change” in your organization. You’re no longer an administrator of plans or a manager of data. You’re an Orchestrator of Revenue. When boardroom strategy is finally synced with frontline execution in real time, the compensation plan ceases to be a form and becomes the definitive engine of business growth.
Powering Agents of Change with the First SPO Platform
In the product keynote, Xactly Chief Product Officer (CPO) Christopher Li discussed how managing sales performance doesn’t move the needle. It looks at the past, but a complex and ever-changing market makes being reactive a structural liability. Li revealed how Xactly is helping you move away from manual administration to a synchronized system of action by creating the first SPO platform.
The centerpiece of the keynote was the introduction of Xactly’s Fleet of Agents, a three-layer architecture designed to act as the engine of the revenue lifecycle:
- Xactly Agents: Pre-built agents that handle the heavy lifting of territory optimization and incentive simulation in seconds.
- Custom Agents: Powered by the new Intelligence Studio, these allow leaders to architect their own AI agents tailored to their specific business logic and needs.
- External Agents: Intelligence Connect ensures the fleet orchestrates across the entire tech stack, from Salesforce to Workday and beyond, to create a connected ecosystem where workflows are executed across multiple platforms.
These agents are not generic AI copilots or assistants that offer point solutions at the expense of more data silos. The Fleet is fueled by 21+ years of proprietary pay and performance data, so you can benchmark your plans against unmatched sales data and outcomes. While the agents are autonomous, you orchestrate them. Every agent action is governed, transparent, and explainable. They don’t act without your approval.
The product vision culminates in an identity shift for the user: you. You’re no longer an administrator of plans. You’re an Orchestrator of Growth. By bridging the gap between executive strategy and frontline execution, the Xactly platform allows you to stop guessing and start directing your revenue outcomes in real time.
Learn more about our new fleet of agents
Human Potential in the Age of Agentic AI
Xactly Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Megan Barbier explored a critical variable in the growth equation: people. While technology is evolving rapidly, she emphasized that human potential remains the ultimate catalyst for "Upside".
Barbier challenged business leaders to view the rise of AI not through the lens of resistance, but through curiosity. She noted that the most powerful role for an AI agent isn’t to replace human thinking, but to clear enough space for a human’s best thinking to finally occur.
Key themes from the presentation included:
- Puzzles vs. Problems: Barbier argued that while problems demand solutions, puzzles invite questions. By treating the AI transition as a puzzle, organizations remain open to uncharted opportunities.
- Human on the Loop: The shift to Sales Performance Orchestration (SPO) requires humans to provide strategic oversight (being "on the loop") rather than just performing manual tasks. The AI is operating, and people are engaged at a higher altitude: setting the guardrails, watching for patterns, and stepping in when something requires a human’s full judgment. They’re not embedded in every step, but elevated above it.
- The Speed of Trust: While technology moves at the speed of engineering, culture moves at the speed of trust. Organizations that win the AI era will be those that protect the meaningful human elements of work while optimizing processes.
Barbier concluded with actionable steps for leaders to become true orchestrators of change: name the change explicitly, learn vulnerably and visibly, and commit to having the difficult conversations that are often avoided. By keeping people at the core, businesses can ensure that AI amplifies human intelligence rather than just automating it.
Customer Appreciation Night: Inaugural Customer Awards Ceremony
Xactly was proud to host a Customer Appreciation Night dinner themed “Orange You Glad… You’re an Xactly Customer?” It was a chance to dedicate the entire evening to our amazing customers. It was a fun occasion where everybody wore orange, connected to learn more about each other, and came together to celebrate the Agents of Change making a difference every day.
As part of the festivities, we hosted the inaugural Customer Awards Ceremony, which honored our visionary customers building the future of the sales performance industry and moving beyond the status quo to deliver real transformation.
The inaugural Customer Award category winners were:
- Creative Problem Solver: Trevor Radbill | Toast
- Integration Icon: Cindy McVey, Lindsey Dorband, Yoly Steller, and Pijus Nazarovas | Rocket Software
- Pivot Master: Dillon Anderson | Wolters Kluwer
- Transformation Trailblazer: Jennifer Moriarty | Republic Services
- Innovative Architect: Shiv Jayakumar | LinkedIn
Thank you to all of our customers who were able to attend, and congratulations to our award winners!
Featured Keynote Speaker and Customer Panel
Xactly Upside welcomed featured keynote speaker Zack Kass, an advisor, futurist, author, and the former Head of Go- To-Market at OpenAI. His mission is to ensure individuals, businesses, and governments are active participants in the AI-powered future by making the technology both understandable and actionable. He is recognized as one of the foremost thinkers in applied AI, with his insights featured in Fortune, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, AdAge, and Business Insider.
In his forthcoming book, The Next Renaissance, Zack presents an insightful and optimistic look at how artificial intelligence will shape and enhance every facet of our lives through the expansion of human potential. Leveraging his deep industry expertise, he offers practical strategies to integrate AI into daily life, guidance on future-proofing your career, and case studies of how AI is amplifying human potential.
At OpenAI, Zack led the teams responsible for sales, partnerships, and customer success, turning the company’s cutting-edge research into real-world business solutions. He has personally advised executives across dozens of industries on deploying AI at scale. As an executive business advisor, Zack now works with Fortune 1,000 boardrooms and leadership teams—including Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley, and Amgen—to help leaders navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Zack and his team also help organizations navigate the complexities of AI adoption, providing leadership with the strategies and frameworks needed to drive real business impact. As AI strategists and business transformation experts, they work closely with executive teams to identify challenges, assess opportunities, and implement AI solutions that prepare companies for the future of work.
At Upside, Kass sat down with Xactly Chief Marketing Officer Tiffany Sieve and shared his perspective on the future of AI in today’s business landscape, specifically about how revenue leaders can prepare their organizations for the next era of innovation.
We also appreciate our customers, Director of Market Intelligence Commissions at S&P Global, Elana Harper, and Director of Commissions at Redis, Tom Ryan, joined our customer panel to share real stories from the front lines of revenue orchestration with Xactly Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Sam Zayed.
These customer leaders shared a candid discussion on the radical shift in revenue orchestration, including:
- Real transformation stories
- Hard lessons (not just wins)
- How leaders are navigating AI, complexity, and change in revenue
Their insightful panel discussion helped set up attendees for success as they navigate becoming Agents of Change for their organizations.
See You Next Year!
We appreciate all our customers who made it to Xactly Upside this year. Your engagement, enthusiasm, and perspective made this year’s conference the best one yet. We’d also like to give a special thanks to our partners, sponsors, and keynote speakers.
At Upside 2026, we learned about the future of SPM from industry visionaries, celebrated each other’s amazing accomplishments, and inspired the next generation of business leaders in the field. We’re excited about the evolution of sales performance.
You return home as true Agents of Change, equipped to orchestrate change, growth, and revenue for your business.
We hope to see you all again next year!
Three layers of AI agents: ours, yours, and your partners’, working as one Fleet on one platform. Sales performance, orchestrated.
