I think the whole (non)deterministic thing is off.

Engineers could also execute a perfect development strategy to deliver a product and it could fail through for circumstances beyond engineering team (budget is yanked, project is delayed, etc.)

But I do agree sales is more risky as it is the "last-mile" of the business and they have a target to make, so it's their neck on the line and we live in a system where we reward how much neck someone is sticking out and yet survives, rather than work performed on the backstage. Same thing applies for C-level compensation.