Building a Revenue Operating System that Leadership Trusts

Building a Revenue Operating System Leadership Actually Trusts

A conversation with Aidan Nevin.

Executive Summary

Most revenue teams don’t fail because of missing tools. They fail because leadership doesn’t trust the system.

At Fidelity Labs, Aidan Nevin built a revenue operating system from scratch that leadership relies on daily. Not by adding more dashboards, but by designing the system around data integrity, centralized ownership, and repeatability at scale.

Instead of cleaning data downstream, his team controls it at ingestion. Instead of fragmented ownership, they operate with a unified tech stack. Instead of reactive reporting, they built a structured system where every metric is defined, documented, and trusted.

Readers will learn:

  • Start with structure, not tools: CRM is treated as both interface and warehouse, with strict validation at entry
  • Centralize the core, flex the surface: Data models stay consistent while reporting adapts to each business
  • Control data at ingestion: An “air traffic controller” system ensures clean data before it enters CRM
  • Documentation builds trust: Data dictionaries, definitions, and workflows eliminate ambiguity
  • Avoid one-off solutions: Optimize for repeatability across the portfolio, not individual team requests
  • AI as a deflection layer: Enable self-serve insights to reduce RevOps support load
  • RevOps as a strategic partner: Prioritization and discipline elevate the function beyond execution

From Sales to System Builder

Aidan’s path into RevOps didn’t start in operations. It started in sales.

He began in high-pressure sales environments, consistently ranking among top performers before moving into early-stage companies where roles were fluid and systems were non-existent.

That environment forced a shift. From Closing deals to understanding how systems enable deals.

At Fidelity Labs, he was given something most operators never get.
A blank slate! That constraint became the advantage.

“I joined and there was nothing here. No infrastructure, no systems. We were building from zero.” — Aidan Nevin

Designing RevOps Inside an Incubator

Fidelity Labs operates differently from the broader enterprise.

Each venture inside the incubator:

  • Has its own sales, marketing, and product teams
  • Functions like an independent startup
  • Shares a centralized RevOps backbone

At the center of it all sits Aidan’s RevOps team.

They are not tied to one business.
They support all of them.

This creates a unique operating model:

  • Multiple business units
  • One shared RevOps system
  • Constant context switching

The challenge is not just scale. It’s designing a system that works across fundamentally different go-to-market motions.

Traditional vs Incubator RevOps

Traditional Enterprise

Fidelity Labs Model

Siloed ownership

Single ownership of tech stack

Reactive processes

Designed systems

Tool-first

Architecture-first

Data cleanup later

Data integrity at ingestion

Reporting conflicts

Unified definitions

The Core Principle: Centralize What Matters, Flex What Doesn’t

What Gets Centralized

  1. Core revenue architecture
  • Lead to revenue flow
  • Opportunity structures
  • Field-level definitions
  1. Data schema
  • Same field names across all businesses
  • Same definitions and logic
  • No room for interpretation
  1. Enrichment systems
  • Data enriched once and reused
  • Eliminates duplication and cost inefficiency

What Stays Flexible

  1. Business dashboards
  • Tailored to how each team operates
  • Reflects their KPIs and language
  1. Reporting views
  • Custom at the surface
  • Standardized underneath

“Underneath it all has to be the same, but the way it’s presented should reflect the business.”” — Aidan Nevin

CRM as the System’s Backbone

Most teams treat CRM as a system of record.

Aidan treats it as both:

  • A system of interaction
  • A structured data warehouse

The Shift

Typical CRM UsageAidan’s Model
Input layerStructured data system
Flexible entryRestrictive by design
Clean laterClean at entry
Reporting strugglesReporting ready

The Design Principle

Start as restrictive as you possibly think we should get, and then open it up from there.” — Aidan Nevin

Why This Matters

If data is clean at the CRM level:

  • Warehousing becomes simpler
  • Reporting becomes reliable
  • BI becomes trustworthy

If it’s not:

  • Every downstream system compensates
  • Complexity multiplies

The Air Traffic Controller for Data

One of the most practical aspects of Aidan’s system is how it handles incoming data.

Instead of allowing raw data into CRM and fixing it later, they built a system that controls and processes it before it lands.

What Happens Before Data Enters CRM

Every record goes through:

  • Attribution logic
  • Metadata enrichment
  • Scoring models
  • Validation checks

Only after passing these steps does it become part of the system.

Data Trust Is Built Through Documentation, Not Dashboards

Clean data is necessary. It’s not sufficient.
Trust comes from clarity.

What They Built

  • Data dictionaries
  • Field definitions
  • Data maps
  • Validation logic documentation

When stakeholders question a metric, the response is not interpretive. It’s definitive.

“I can tell you how it’s defined, how it’s structured, and where it comes from.” — Aidan Nevin

The Hard Part: Internal Education

RevOps transformations are not just technical. They are organizational.

When Aidan joined, RevOps meant different things to different people across Fidelity.

The first step was alignment.

At Fidelity, that meant:

  • Explaining what RevOps actually does
  • Aligning with legacy enterprise teams
  • Running internal roadshows for months

“The first task I was given was to explain to people what I do.” — Aidan Nevin

AI’s Role: Reducing Dependency on RevOps

The biggest opportunity Aidan sees in AI is not automation for reps.

It’s reducing dependency on RevOps teams.

The Problem Today

  • Constant Slack and Teams messages
  • Reporting requests
  • Basic system questions

The Opportunity

Enable users to:

  • Ask questions directly to the system
  • Access insights without intermediaries

“How can we let users ask the system, not us?” — Aidan Nevin

Building for Repeatability at Scale

The ultimate goal of the system is not just efficiency.

It’s scalability.

Without Structure

Each new business:

  • Starts from scratch
  • Rebuilds systems
  • Repeats mistakes

With Structure

Each new business:

  • Inherits infrastructure
  • Uses proven workflows
  • Launches faster

“The next company doesn’t start at day zero. It starts at day 365.” — Aidan Nevin

The Takeaways

Aidan’s approach reframes what RevOps should be.

Not a support function.
Not a reporting layer.

But a system design discipline.

The Model

  • Clean data at the source
  • Structured systems underneath
  • Consistent definitions across teams
  • Flexible reporting on top

The Result

A system where:

  • Leadership trusts the data
  • Teams align on metrics
  • Decisions move faster

You don’t fix trust at the dashboard level.
You build it at the system level.

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More Resources

Nektar.ai vs People.ai: A Buyer's Guide

Nektar.ai vs People.ai: A Buyer’s Guide

2026 Guide for Enterprise GTM Teams Seeking People.ai Alternatives RevOps 10 min Introduction: Two Different Approaches to the Same Problem Both People.ai and Nektar.ai operate in the revenue data capture category, helping enterprises automatically capture GTM activity and enrich their CRM using AI. However, they solve fundamentally different problems for different buyers. People.ai is an established revenue intelligence platform with strong analytics capabilities, recent recognition as a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Revenue Action Orchestration, and a mature suite of tools including ClosePlan, account planning, and leadership dashboards. Nektar.ai is an advanced data-first GTM telemetry solution focused on delivering clean, accurate, AI-ready CRM data directly into standard Salesforce objects, designed specifically for enterprises that want to power their existing BI stacks rather than adopt another analytics platform. This guide is intended for GTM leaders, RevOps leaders, Sales Operations teams, and Data teams evaluating both solutions. It draws on direct enterprise evaluation feedback, product analysis, and independent research to help you determine which solution fits your specific needs. Who This Guide Is For This comparison is most relevant if your organization: Already operates a mature BI stack (Databricks, Snowflake, Looker, Tableau) Has dedicated RevOps or SalesOps teams building custom analytics Prioritizes CRM data accuracy over out-of-the-box dashboards Needs granular control over what data syncs to Salesforce Requires specific details around internal and external participation or meeting attendance intelligence (not just invitee data) If your priority is comprehensive analytics UI, pre-built dashboards, and account planning tools, People.ai may be the stronger fit for your organization. But if you are looking at solving the data problem at its core without putting the additional enablement effort on a new training, Nektar is a better bet. This guide focuses on scenarios where data infrastructure is the primary buying criterion. The Core Difference: Analytics-First vs Data-First The fundamental difference between these platforms comes down to philosophy: People.ai is built around the premise that revenue teams need better analytics and insights delivered through their platform. Data capture exists to power their dashboards, scorecards, and AI-driven recommendations. Nektar.ai is built around the premise that enterprises already have analytics tools they trust. What they lack is clean, accurate, complete, unified rep activity data in CRM to feed those tools. Nektar focuses on being the best possible data layer. Neither approach is inherently superior; they serve different organizational needs. The question is which approach matches your GTM infrastructure strategy. Why Enterprises Evaluate People.ai Alternatives Based on conversations with enterprise buyers evaluating both platforms, several consistent themes emerge: 1. Existing Analytics Investment Many large enterprises have already invested significantly in Databricks, Snowflake, Looker, or Tableau. Their internal ops teams build custom dashboards tailored to their specific sales motions. For these organizations, adopting another analytics platform creates redundancy rather than value. They want the underlying data, not another UI. 2. Salesforce Integration Model People.ai uses a managed package approach that creates custom objects in Salesforce. While this provides rich functionality within People.ai’s ecosystem, some enterprises report challenges including: Additional automation required to map data into standard Salesforce fields Complexity when using captured data in existing workflows or forecasting Duplicate participant records requiring cleanup Nektar writes directly to standard Salesforce objects (Events, Tasks, Contacts), which can simplify integration with existing processes but may offer less specialized functionality. 3. Meeting Attendance Requirements A significant differentiator for some buyers is meeting attendance intelligence. People.ai’s meeting data typically relies on calendar invites and recorded calls via CI platform integrations. Nektar captures both invitees and actual attendees, along with meeting status (completed, cancelled, no-show, under 10 minutes), without requiring recording. For organizations focused on coaching, churn analysis, or executive involvement tracking, this distinction can be decisive. 4. Data Volume Control Some enterprises express concern about data volume and Salesforce storage costs. Nektar offers granular sync controls that let administrators define which activities to capture, which contacts to create, and what thresholds to apply. People AI’s capture approach may generate higher data volumes, which can be beneficial for analytics but challenging for storage-conscious organizations. Feature Comparison The following table summarizes key capability differences between the platforms: Key Differentiators: A Deeper Look Opportunity Matching Accurately attributing activities to the correct opportunity is critical for pipeline analytics and forecasting. The two platforms take different approaches: People.ai uses configurable, rule-based matching logic that can be customized per deployment. This approach offers predictability but may require ongoing maintenance as your sales process evolves. Nektar employs graph-based machine learning that analyzes email content, domain patterns, calendar metadata, and historical matching to attribute activities. Nektar reports accuracy rates above 90% in multi-opportunity environments, with the model improving over time through self-learning. Meeting Intelligence This is one of the most significant differentiators between the platforms: People.ai captures meeting data primarily through calendar integration and conversation intelligence partners (Gong, Zoom IQ, Webex). Insights from recorded calls are available in their analytics but may not be written as structured fields in Salesforce. Nektar captures both invitees and actual attendees directly from Zoom and Teams (without requiring recording), writes meeting status to Salesforce, and distinguishes between internal and external participants. This enables use cases like: Tracking which executives actually joined renewal calls Identifying no-show patterns that predict churn Measuring SE and CSM involvement in deals Coaching based on actual participation, not calendar entries Engagement Scoring People.ai provides engagement scoring as part of its analytics suite, displayed through their dashboards and scorecards. The scoring methodology is largely pre-defined and optimized for their UI. Nektar offers customizable engagement scoring that writes directly to Salesforce fields. Organizations can define their own scoring formulas based on email, meetings, touches, attendance, roles, and recency, making it easier to integrate into existing workflows and BI tools. Multi-User Attribution Modern enterprise sales involve multiple internal stakeholders: AEs, SEs, CSMs, AMs, and leadership. Accurate attribution matters for: Understanding true time allocation Measuring team effectiveness Forecasting with complete engagement data Pod-based and team selling models People.ai primarily attributes activities to the organizer, which can underreport involvement from SEs, CSMs, and other team members.

sales pipeline visibility

5 Ways to Improve Your Sales Pipeline Visibility

5 Ways to Improve Your Sales Pipeline Visibility RevOps 10 min Driving the sales pipeline in an organization is like driving a vehicle. You have a goal, a rough map of how to reach your destination, and you want to avoid roadblocks and reach the end-point quickly. However, navigating a sales pipeline without proper visibility is like driving a car through the night without headlights. You might have a general idea of where you’re going, but you need help seeing the obstacles or opportunities ahead. Just as headlights illuminate the road and allow you to make informed decisions about your driving, sales pipeline visibility provides insight into the status of your sales opportunities. It enables you to make strategic decisions to move deals forward. 93% of sales organizations are unable to forecast revenue within 5% error, even in the two weeks prior to the end of the quarter. A lack of visibility can result in overestimating the company’s financial performance, leading to missed targets, misaligned resources, and poor decision-making.  Without clear visibility into the pipeline, sales teams may not be able to prioritize leads effectively, resulting in missed opportunities and lost revenue. Poor visibility can also make it difficult to identify and address inefficiencies in the sales process, leading to longer sales cycles and decreased customer satisfaction.  In this blog, we try to understand what sales pipeline visibility is, the ways to improve it, and the role of clean data in your sales pipeline visibility.    What is Sales Pipeline Visibility? Sales pipeline visibility refers to seeing and understanding the various stages of a company’s sales process, from lead generation to closing deals. Information in the form of data should be available to all revenue teams, including sales, marketing, finance, product management, and customer success.  The visibility in the sales pipeline allows sales managers and team members to track the progress of sales opportunities, identify potential bottlenecks or issues, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and sales strategy.  Typically, a sales pipeline comprises several stages: lead generation, qualification, needs analysis, proposal, negotiation, and closed-won. Stages of a Sales Pipeline: Lead Generation, Qualification, Needs Analysis, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed-Won. 1. Lead generation It’s the first stage of the sales pipeline, and it involves identifying potential customers. This can be done through various means, such as cold-calling, email campaigns, or social media outreach. 2. Qualification Once leads are generated, they need to be qualified to ensure that they are a good fit for the product or service being sold. This process involves gathering more information about the lead, such as their budget, timeline, and decision-making process, to determine whether they are likely to make a purchase. 3. Needs analysis In this stage, the sales team works with the potential customer to understand their specific needs and challenges, and how the product or service being sold can help address them. It helps tailor the sales pitch and personalize the proposal. 4. Proposal Once the customer’s needs have been analyzed, the sales team creates a proposal or quote that outlines the specific solution being offered, along with pricing and other details. 5. Negotiation After the proposal is presented, the sales team may need to negotiate with the customer to address any concerns or objections they may have. This may involve making adjustments to the proposal or offering incentives to help close the deal. 6. Closed-won The final stage of the sales pipeline is when the customer agrees to purchase the product or service, and the deal is closed. This represents the successful conversion of a potential customer into a paying client. Having good sales pipeline visibility means that you can track and analyze the progress of each sales opportunity at every stage of the sales process. It helps you forecast revenue accurately, plan accordingly, and identify areas where you can improve your sales process. Let’s see how organizations can improve their sales pipeline visibility: 5 Ways to Improve Sales Pipeline Visibility 1. Define clear sales stages Clearly defining each stage of the sales process is the first step in improving sales pipeline visibility. Each sales stage should have specific criteria determining when a deal moves to the next one. Sales teams can then accurately track where each value is in the pipeline and prioritize their efforts on deals most likely to close. Analyzing conversion rates between each stage helps generate more accurate sales forecasts. Additionally, clear sales stages promote accountability by identifying who is responsible for moving deals forward and preventing them from falling through the cracks. 2. Implement a CRM system A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is essential for improving sales pipeline visibility. By centralizing Dedicated CRM platforms like HubSpot centralize all customer and prospect data, so sales teams can easily track and manage their deals from a single platform. Sales reps can easily view the status of each deal, as well as any associated tasks, notes, and documents. Implementing a CRM system can increase sales productivity, improve customer relationships, and create a more efficient and effective sales pipeline. 3. Assign ownership and accountability By assigning ownership, sales teams can ensure that each deal has a designated owner responsible for moving it through the pipeline. This helps to prevent deals from falling through the cracks and ensures that there is someone accountable for each stage of the process. In addition to ownership, it’s also important to set accountability. This means that each team member should be responsible for specific tasks and activities within the sales process. For example, one team member may be responsible for scheduling meetings, while another may be responsible for preparing proposals. By assigning ownership and accountability, sales teams can streamline their sales process and improve visibility into the pipeline. This allows for better deal tracking, more accurate forecasting, and more effective decision making. 4. Use data analytics Data analytics can provide valuable insights into the performance of the sales pipeline. Analyzing data such as conversion rates, win/loss ratios, and sales cycle times can help identify areas for improvement

activity tracking

How Activity Tracking Can Help You Get Better Visibility Into Deals

How Activity Tracking Can Help You Get Better Visibility Into Deals RevOps 10 min There hasn’t been a time that demanded sustainable revenue growth more than now. Economic headwinds of the last few months have forced businesses to rethink their revenue growth strategies and focus on efficiency. This means getting away with anything that does not make a positive dent in revenue or causes revenue to leak across the sales funnel. But cutting deep costs is not the only way to increase profits. It’s about doubling down on what’s working. And investing time and resources in strategies that help the whole company march towards the same objective – increased revenue.  And there is one sure shot way of achieving this. By knowing exactly what’s happening with your deals. And how can you do that? Activity tracking. Let’s dive deep. What is Activity Tracking? Activity tracking in sales refers to monitoring and recording the various actions and behaviors undertaken by sales professionals as they engage in their sales activities. It involves tracking and measuring the specific activities performed during the sales process, such as the number of calls made, emails sent, meetings scheduled, demos conducted, and deals closed. The purpose of activity tracking in sales is to gain insights into the sales process, assess individual and team performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve sales effectiveness.  What is an Activity Tracking Software? An activity tracking software is designed to monitor and record the various activities performed by sales representatives or teams. These activities typically include interactions with leads and prospects, customer communication, follow-ups, and other sales-related tasks. The primary purpose of activity tracking software is to help sales managers and team leaders assess and improve the productivity and effectiveness of their sales teams. Why Do We Need Activity Tracking? Accurately and comprehensively capturing activity data poses a significant challenge. Despite 67% of businesses utilizing 4 to 10 digital tools, they need to track the activity data generated by these tools completely and precisely. Additionally, 79% of opportunity-related data sales representatives collect never enters the CRM. Moreover, the data recorded in systems like CRM could be more reliable, plagued by issues like outdated, missing, or incomplete entries. This lack of data accuracy is a concern for as many as 70% of revenue leaders, leading to substantial financial losses averaging around $15 million per year for organizations. The presence of accurate and complete activity data in systems like CRM creates misalignment among teams in terms of their technological tools and objectives. When sales teams grapple with questions about updated prospect contact information or the correctness of email IDs in the CRM, their efficiency could improve, positively impacting both businesses and customers. Due to lacking confidence in the data, sales, and marketing teams work in the dark, unable to leverage the full potential of significant investments like CRMs. This situation results in poor returns on investment for such resources. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO6zZpHUoIg&t=1s How Does Poor Activity Data Affect Revenue? Poor data and a lack of activity data in the CRM can harm gaining accurate insights and lead to revenue leakage throughout the customer journey. Here are some key points to consider: 1. Inaccurate or incomplete data When data quality is compromised, it becomes challenging to extract meaningful insights. Only complete or updated information can lead to correct assumptions and flawed decision-making. 2. Missed opportunities Important customer interactions and touchpoints may go undocumented without comprehensive activity data. This lack of visibility can result in missed opportunities to engage prospects, address their needs, and nurture relationships, leading to potential revenue leakage. 3. Ineffective sales strategies The absence of activity data hinders the ability to analyze and optimize sales strategies. Without a clear understanding of which activities drive results, aligning sales efforts with customer preferences and needs becomes difficult, resulting in suboptimal outcomes. 4. Inefficient resource allocation With activity data, it’s easier to assess the productivity and effectiveness of sales teams. This can lead to misallocation of resources, including time, effort, and budget, resulting in revenue leakage and diminished returns on investment. Clean data is essential for Activity Tracking Software as it ensures accurate and error-free information, leading to reliable insights into sales team activities and facilitating better decision-making and performance analysis. With clean data, the software can provide a comprehensive view of sales interactions, prospect engagement, and customer behavior, enabling businesses to identify opportunities, optimize processes, and enhance overall sales efficiency.  Moreover, clean data minimizes the risk of misinterpretation or skewed reporting, fostering greater trust in the software’s output and empowering sales managers and teams to take data-driven actions to achieve their goals. Benefits of Activity Tracking Software Here’s a look at the various advantages of an activity tracking software: 1. Clear visibility into deals Increased visibility into deals serves as a prerequisite for enhancing productivity. When you have comprehensive activity data, you better understand each deal’s status, identify areas that require improvement, and prioritize values that need immediate attention.  Consider the importance of deal reviews in a successful sales process. By utilizing insights derived from unified activity data, deal reviews can evolve from impromptu events to impactful sessions, where sales managers gain clear visibility into the intricacies of every deal.  As activities related to each deal are automatically captured and updated, managers no longer need to remind sales representatives to input data into the CRM constantly. Instead, both reps and managers can access a comprehensive view of contacts and deal specifics within the pipeline, allowing them to focus on urgent matters. 2. Identification of winning rep behaviours Activity data enables you to correlate the productivity of your sales representatives with their performance. For instance, you can obtain crucial insights to answer important questions such as:  Activity data helps map sales reps’ productivity to their performance It provides answers to critical questions such as time allocation, engagement with high-value customers, decision-maker involvement, adherence to best practices, sales target progress, account engagement, and lead follow-up Insights from activity data serve as leading indicators for real-time coaching and decision-making Managers gain visibility into sales reps’

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