Oracle, the World's New Richest Company, Holds a Little-Known Principle in Its Sales Management

On September 10, 2025 (U.S. time), Oracle's stock surged over 30%, a stunning performance that propelled company founder Larry Ellison to become the world's new richest person. This also reignited social media buzz about his marriage to his new Chinese wife, who is 47 years his junior.

Back to business: Oracle is the evergreen giant of the global IT industry. It has long been the worldwide leader in databases, ERP, and other core domains, and its recent aggressive push into cloud services has been nothing short of remarkable. Oracle is renowned for its high-performance, aggressive sales culture, but what often gets overlooked amid these impressive results is its relentless commitment to building a world-class presales organization.

Gary Kennedy, former Executive Vice President of U.S. Sales at Oracle, once said it bluntly:

"In Sales, I can succeed with a mix of A and B players. But in my presales team, I cannot accept anything less than A players."

(Excerpted from the upcoming book Sales Engineer Manager Handbook by John Care et al., which the PresalesChina Community (售前青云荟) is preparing to publish in Chinese. Contact our customer service on WeChat for updates on the book's release. You can also search the English title on Amazon for more details.)

Why does this principle matter so much? And what can B2B companies learn from Oracle's success to drive their own business growth?

Oracle's Golden Standard for Presales Hiring: Why an "All-A" Team Is Critical

From 1986 to 1990, Kennedy, Oracle's EVP of U.S. Sales, personally interviewed approximately 90% of Oracle's newly hired presales engineers. This extraordinary level of involvement underscores how seriously Oracle's leadership takes presales team building. So why does the presales role demand such a high bar?

The presales team is the core engine of technology sales. These professionals must not only master product technology, but also possess exceptional client communication skills, business acumen, and rapid problem-solving abilities. The outcome of a single presales engagement can often make or break a major deal.

Unlike the sales team, presales engineers must simultaneously engage with both technical decision-makers (CTOs, IT directors) and business decision-makers (CEOs, business unit heads). This cross-disciplinary expertise demands a far higher caliber than typical sales roles.

Three Presales Team-Building Principles B2B Companies Should Learn from Oracle

1. Hold the Line on the Highest Hiring Standards

Oracle refuses to accept any B-level players on its presales team. What does this insistence really mean? For B2B companies, setting an exceptionally high bar for presales hiring is the foundation of competitive advantage. An A-level presales engineer can:

- Accurately identify customer pain points and deliver targeted solutions

- Effectively translate technical strengths into measurable business value for clients

- Build lasting technical trust relationships throughout complex sales cycles

2. Executive Involvement and Cultural Fit Matter

Kennedy's practice of personally interviewing the vast majority of presales candidates sent a clear message: presales team building is a strategic priority, not just an HR process. B2B companies should have senior executives deeply engaged in presales team building, ensuring every new hire is not only highly capable but also aligned with the company's aggressive, high-performance culture.

3. Presales-Sales Synergy Creates Unbeatable Competitiveness

Oracle accepts a mix of A and B players in sales, but demands all A's in presales. This differentiated management approach reveals the formula for success in technology sales: a powerful presales team provides absolutely reliable firepower for the sales force. While sales opens the door, presales must win over the customer's decision-makers through sheer technical excellence and professionalism.

Recommended reading: The B2B Deal-Winning Playbook That Even McKinsey Is Watching—Do You Know It?

A Practical Roadmap for Implementing an "Oracle-Style" Presales Hiring Strategy

For B2B companies looking to replicate Oracle's success, consider the following implementation steps:

1. Redefine the core competency model for presales roles: Go beyond technical knowledge to emphasize business insight, communication skills, and agility in problem-solving

2. Elevate the professionalism of your interview panel: Ensure evaluators can genuinely identify A-level talent, rather than relying solely on standard HR processes

3. Design a competitive compensation and incentive structure: A-level talent demands A-level pay—make sure you can attract and retain the best in the industry

4. Build a continuous professional development framework: Even A-level employees need ongoing growth—establish internal knowledge systems and training programs

Additionally, here's a book that Oracle (along with Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Cisco, and others) has used to train its presales professionals in recent years:

Check out the discount offer for this book: Special Discount on the Chinese Edition of Mastering Technical Sales

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Conclusion: Investing in a Top-Tier Presales Team Is Investing in Business Growth

Oracle's success is no accident—it's the result of extreme focus on a critical function. In today's technology-driven B2B market, the quality of your presales team directly determines your company's technical reputation and solution-selling capability.

B2B companies should take a hard look at their own presales team-building strategies and use Oracle's "All-A" principle as a benchmark to build a technology sales engine that can truly power business growth. After all, when your presales team consistently earns the trust and respect of technical decision-makers, business success will naturally follow.