How OTE and Sales Pay Plans Work
ZarifA sales job's pay is two numbers pretending to be one. On-target earnings, or OTE, is base salary plus the variable pay you earn if you hit exactly 100% of quota. Most people do not land exactly on 100%, so the number that matters is what you expect to earn at the attainment you will realistically reach.
This guide defines each part of a plan, then works through ranges from AI companies' postings. Every posting quoted here was opened live on September 26, 2026. Ranges change and roles close, so reread the posting before you negotiate from it. To run your own numbers, use the AI Sales Pay Calculator.
The parts of a pay plan
| Term | What it means | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Fixed pay, earned whether or not you hit quota | Is the printed range base or OTE? |
| Variable pay | Commission or bonus earned against a target | How is it calculated, and how often is it paid? |
| OTE | Base plus variable at 100% of quota | What share of the team hit 100% last year? |
| Split or pay mix | The base-to-variable ratio, such as 50/50 or 70/30 | Does the split change with level or segment? |
| Quota | The target, usually in bookings or revenue, that defines 100% | Is it annual or quarterly, and is it new business only? |
| Accelerator | A higher commission rate on sales above quota | At what point does it start, and is there a cap? |
| Floor | Attainment below which no commission is paid | Is there one? |
| Clawback | Commission you pay back if a customer cancels or does not pay | Over what period, and on what events? |
| Ramp | Reduced quota, or guaranteed pay, while you get up to speed | How many months, and what is guaranteed? |
| Equity | Stock options or units, separate from OTE | What type, vesting schedule and latest valuation? |
The split tells you how much risk you carry. A 50/50 plan puts half your target pay on attainment. A 70/30 plan is steadier. The Bridge Group's 2025 SDR report, a survey of 351 B2B companies, lists a median SDR OTE of $80K with a 68:32 base-to-variable split. That is a cross-industry median, not an AI-company figure, but it is a useful anchor when an SDR offer looks unusual.
What AI postings actually print
Postings do not agree on what their range means. Here is how nine AI companies labeled pay on September 26, 2026.
| Posting | Range text, verbatim | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Rogo, SDR | "$70K – $75K • Offers Equity • $30K Commission" | Base range. The body gives $100,000-$105,000 as "on-target total cash compensation (base salary plus commission)." |
| Rogo, Mid-Market Account Executive | "$100K – $125K • Offers Equity • $200,000-$250,000 OTE; uncapped commission" | Base and OTE both printed |
| Harvey, Account Executive, Mid-Market | "$240K • OTE with a 50/50 split" | OTE, split stated, equity plan mentioned separately |
| Clay, Account Executive (GTME - New Business) | "OTE (50/50) $170K – $280K • Offers Equity • Offers Commission" | OTE with split |
| Clay, ClayDR (Sales Development Representative) | "$90K – $110K • Offers Equity • Fully Guaranteed Base" | Guaranteed base, no commission stated |
| Anthropic, Business Development Representative | "Annual Salary: $116,480 - $131,040 USD" | OTE. The posting says that for sales roles the range "includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary." |
| OpenAI, Customer Success Manager, Ads Solutions | "Estimated Base Salary $176K – $234K • Offers Equity • Offers Commission" | Base only, commission on top |
| Writer, Sales development representative | "OTE $90K – $110K • Offers Equity • Offers Commission" | OTE, no split stated |
| Baseten, Account Executive - AI Native | "$180K – $230K • Offers Equity • 50/50 split between base salary and variable compensation" | Split stated, but the range is not labeled base or OTE |
Two lessons come out of that table. First, "Annual Salary" on Anthropic's board and "Estimated Base Salary" on OpenAI's mean different things, so never compare headline numbers across companies without reading the label. Second, some postings contradict themselves. Runway's Mid-Market Account Executive header reads "OTE $270K – $325K," while its compensation section says "OTE $270K - $300K (50/50 base to variable)." Cohere's Account Executive, SLED (West) calls its $230K to $430K range On-Target Earnings in one place and "expected base compensation" in another. When that happens, ask the recruiter in writing which number is right.
Worked example 1: a mid-market AE at a stated OTE
Harvey prints a single number: "$240K • OTE with a 50/50 split." That makes $120,000 base and $120,000 variable at 100% of quota.
The posting does not print a quota, so the math below assumes a linear plan with no floor and a 1.5 times accelerator above quota. Those terms are assumptions for illustration, not Harvey's plan.
| Attainment | Commission | Total cash |
|---|---|---|
| 70% | $84,000 | $204,000 |
| 100% | $120,000 | $240,000 |
| 120%, with a 1.5x accelerator | $156,000 | $276,000 |
The commission above 100% is $120,000 times the 20 points over quota, times 1.5, which adds $36,000. Now add a 50% floor, meaning nothing is paid below half of quota and the payout climbs linearly from there to 100%. At 70% attainment, commission falls to $48,000 and total cash to $168,000. A floor is a single line in a plan document, and it moved expected pay by $36,000 in this example. Ask whether one exists.
Worked example 2: an SDR with base and OTE printed
Rogo's SDR posting gives both numbers: a $70,000 to $75,000 base and $100,000 to $105,000 on-target cash. At the bottom of the range that is $30,000 of variable, a 70/30 split, close to the Bridge Group median mix.
SDR variable is usually paid on meetings held or pipeline created, not on closed revenue. At 80% of target, a linear plan pays $24,000 of the $30,000, for $94,000 total. Because 70% of the pay is fixed, a slow quarter hurts less than it would on an AE's 50/50 plan. Clay's ClayDR role takes that further with a "Fully Guaranteed Base" and no commission line at all, which is worth weighing if you are new to sales and want a predictable first year.
Worked example 3: compare two offers on expected pay
Suppose you hold two account executive offers. Offer A is Rogo's mid-market range at the bottom: $100,000 base and $200,000 OTE. Offer B is Clay's new-business range at its midpoint: $225,000 OTE split 50/50, so $112,500 base.
At 100% attainment, B pays $25,000 more. But if you believe the new territory will take a year to build and you will land at 70%, A pays $100,000 plus $70,000, or $170,000, and B pays $112,500 plus $78,750, or $191,250. B still wins here, because its base is higher too. The comparison changes if B's quota is much harder to hit, which is why the question that matters most is not in any posting: what share of reps on this team reached quota last year?
Put both offers into the AI Sales Pay Calculator with your own attainment guess. It shows total pay at several attainment levels side by side.
Clawbacks, ramp and equity
Three terms rarely appear in postings and show up in the plan document instead.
Clawbacks. If a customer cancels within a set window or never pays, the company may take back the commission. With usage-priced AI products, ask whether commission is paid on the signed commitment or on actual consumption, and what happens if consumption falls short. The guide to what is different about selling AI explains why usage pricing makes this question sharper.
Ramp. New account executives often get a reduced quota or a guaranteed draw for the first months. Ask how long the ramp is, whether the guarantee is recoverable (a draw you pay back from later commission) or non-recoverable, and what happens if you have not closed a deal when it ends.
Equity. Most postings in the table above mention equity or an equity plan, and none prints an amount. Equity is not part of OTE. Ask for the number of units or options, the vesting schedule, the strike price if they are options, and the most recent valuation. Then value it at zero in your cash comparison and treat anything it becomes as upside.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is the posted range base, OTE, or something else?
- What is the quota, and what is it measured in: bookings, annual recurring revenue, consumption or meetings?
- What share of the team hit quota in each of the last four quarters?
- Is there a floor, a cap or an accelerator, and where does each start?
- How are commissions paid, how often, and on what event?
- What is the clawback window?
- How long is ramp, and is any guarantee recoverable?
- How much equity, of what type, on what schedule?
For the role-specific side, the AI account executive career guide and the AI SDR and BDR career guide cover what each seat is judged on. The directory of companies hiring AI sales roles lists more live ranges, and breaking into AI sales covers how to get the offer in the first place.