We don’t solve a strategic gap by renaming the job title.

RevOps was supposed to be the brain of the revenue engine. But in most companies, it’s still stuck fixing CRM fields, pulling reports, and chasing down sales reps to update pipeline.

That’s the uncomfortable truth Toni Hohlbein (CEO of Attive and previously Growblocks) and Eddie Reynolds (our Founder and CEO) kept coming back to in our recent GTM Science podcast episode.

Toni’s been on all sides of this problem: starting in RevOps, then stepping into CRO and CEO roles, scaling and selling multiple SaaS companies, and founding Growblocks to help revenue teams operate more predictably. Few people understand the real-world gap between what RevOps promised and what it’s actually become better than he does.

Toni’s take: “What I’m really saying is that the push towards becoming strategic—I’m not sure it’s working out that well. I think it’s either stagnating or going in the other direction.” 

That gap is what’s fueling the rise of Go-to-Market Engineering. Not as a buzzword, but as a reaction to a deeper failure: we’re still not hiring people who truly understand go-to-market.

In this newsletter, we’re pulling out the key takeaways from the podcast episode; why most RevOps teams struggle to become strategic, what GTM Engineering actually is (and isn’t), and how we as CROs can rethink our partnership with operations to finally build the engine we need to scale.

The Pain CROs Know Too Well

We hire RevOps expecting strategic support. What we get instead is CRM clean-up, data validation rules, and pipeline reporting that no one trusts.

Toni’s seen this pattern over and over. “In reality, the purpose is never for someone to just support the CRM. That’s what it’s being boiled down to. But the purpose is actually to be a force multiplier.”

But when RevOps gets stuck in admin mode, that multiplier effect never happens. And we end up with another ops hire who’s deep in Salesforce—but nowhere near the strategic table.

Here’s the deeper problem: The talent pool for truly strategic RevOps leaders is razor-thin. Toni referenced LinkedIn data showing there are only a few hundred people globally with a VP of RevOps title. And even those who hold the title often fall short when it comes to actual GTM thinking.

“We’ve interviewed people who’ve been VPs of RevOps multiple times,” Eddie told Toni. “And even within that, our interview process has been as basic as: ‘Explain to me the go-to-market strategy in sales, marketing, and CS.’ The amount of people that can’t answer basic questions like that is shocking.”

That’s why so many companies feel stuck. The expectations of RevOps keep going up, but the execution is still stuck in the systems layer.

From Admin to Revenue Driver: What GTM Engineering Really Means

So what’s GTM Engineering, and how is it different from RevOps?

First, it’s not just a rebrand. It’s a repositioning of the role entirely—from supporting revenue to owning it.

Toni explains: “Suddenly the output of that person is meetings booked, or leads acquired… not just helping and supporting something, but actually owning part of the revenue generation piece.”

The technical skills may look the same—tools, automation, systems—but the expectations are entirely different.

He calls out Clay as a key player in driving this shift. “What Clay is doing is enabling all of those folks to do fairly technical stuff, but in a non-technical-required environment… That’s what they’re achieving.”

These tools let operators run highly-targeted outbound motions, segment micro-lists, enrich lead data, and build automations—all without writing code.

But it’s not just about the tools. It’s about outcomes. And the ability to say, “I helped our team generate X pipeline” rather than “I built X flow.”

From a CRO’s perspective, that shift is everything: “The skills are the same. It might be the same person. But with it also come different expectations… Suddenly, you’re not a cost center: you’re generating cash.”

The Moneyball Model for GTM Execution

Toni and Eddie kept circling back to an analogy that CROs can relate to: The movie Moneyball.

The GTM Engineer is Jonah Hill—the systems-minded optimizer. The CRO is Brad Pitt—the outcome-driven leader who knows how to coach and scale. (If you’re a CRO or CEO and haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend watching it with this lens!)

Together, they build the engine. But both need to understand each other’s world.

“If you don’t have control of your deal,” Toni said, “if you don’t understand the risk factors… then you’re going to close less business. That’s why the process is there.”

He also noted that too many operators work in isolation: “For some people, the CRM is the only way they think they can influence revenue. But there are so many other things—annual planning, insights, ICP design, lead qualification—all of which map back to revenue.”

That mindset shift—from systems manager to business partner—is what unlocks impact. And when it happens, Toni believes the role becomes something much bigger: “You can even grow up in the organization… and I believe you can become a CRO. You can own the whole thing.”

The CRO’s Expanded Mandate

Of course, that only works if we’re ready to lead beyond sales.

Many aren’t.

Toni shared a jaw-dropping moment from his time selling Growblocks: “I was talking to the CRO of a $120M company. And I said, ‘We help with everything from traffic to churn.’ And he said, ‘What do you mean after the deal is closed?’ I was like… your customers. And he said, ‘Oh, got it.’”

That level of functional tunnel vision is still common. Especially in companies between $10M and $40M ARR, where hustle still gets mistaken for scale.

As Toni put it: “There’s a threshold where the hustling and the magic work. But then there’s the year where it breaks. The same tactics no longer get you to your number. You need a system.”

That’s when we as CROs have to step up—not just to lead sales, but to lead the whole GTM engine.

The Path Forward

If we’re facing inconsistent pipeline and unclear forecasts, the next move isn’t a title change. It’s a mandate shift.

We can start by auditing our RevOps function:

• Are they owning outcomes or just managing tools?
• Are they still operating like Sales Ops with a new title?
• Do they know how pipeline is generated and how to improve it?

We should also consider where GTM Engineering fits into our org—not just as a trend, but as a function with revenue responsibility.

Because as Toni said, “The person doing admin stuff? That’s a cost of doing business. But the person generating cash through tools and automation? That’s someone who deserves a seat at the table.”

This is the evolution many of us have been waiting for. But we can’t wait until the system breaks to get started. Let’s build it before we hit the wall.

Because when we do, we won’t just have a cleaner Salesforce instance. We’ll have a machine that scales.

Need help putting this into motion? Is your company $50M+ ARR? Let’s start the conversation!

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