We replaced our sales team with 20 AI agents—here’s what happened | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)

Jan 1, 2026 1h 42m 17 insights Episode Page ↗
Jason Lemkin, founder & CEO of Sastr, reveals how AI transformed his sales team from 10 humans to 1.2 humans and 20 AI agents, maintaining performance. He details the future of GTM, AI's role in efficiency, and how professionals can adapt to thrive in this new landscape.
Actionable Insights

1. Master AI Agent Deployment

To become hyper-employable, pick an AI agentic tool, a leading vendor, and personally commit to deploying and training it. This involves ingesting data, iterating, and spending hours correcting mistakes daily for about 30 days to achieve production-ready results.

2. Prioritize Vendor Support

When selecting AI agent vendors, prioritize those that offer strong ‘forward deployed engineer’ (FDE) or solution architect support. The best software is useless without hands-on help to train and onboard it effectively, ensuring it works on day one.

3. Buy, Don’t Build GTM AI

For go-to-market AI tools, buy from specialized vendors rather than building solutions in-house, unless you are a company like Vercel with dedicated, expert engineers. The rapid pace of AI innovation means internally built tools can quickly become obsolete.

4. Embrace AI as a Junior Professional

As a junior sales or GTM professional, proactively embrace and master the AI tools your organization uses. Don’t fight the increased transparency or productivity demands; leaning into these changes will make you more valuable and help you leap ahead of peers.

5. Leaders: Personal AI Deployment

If you are a leader or VP concerned about obsolescence, personally engage in deploying and training an AI agent. This hands-on experience (from ingestion to orchestration) is crucial for understanding the process and leading your team effectively.

6. Allocate Oversight for AI Agents

Recognize that orchestrating AI agents requires significant human oversight, even after initial training. Expect to spend 10-15 hours per week reviewing outputs and making iterations, as agents work continuously and require constant management.

7. Segment Customer Base for Agents

When running multiple AI agents, segment your customer base carefully and assign specific agents to different segments (e.g., inbound, outbound, lapsed customers). This prevents conflicts and optimizes the effectiveness of each agent’s outreach.

8. Train AI with Best Human Content

Train your AI agents using the best email copy, scripts, or content from your top-performing sales or marketing professionals. This provides a high-quality template for the AI to iterate and A/B test from, leading to more effective communications.

9. Focus on Value in AI Communications

When using AI for customer communications, focus on delivering value and ensuring an instant response. People generally don’t care if an email is from an AI, as long as it’s helpful and timely.

10. Start AI Deployment in Support

A practical starting point for deploying AI agents is in customer support. Implementing AI for 24/7 support can significantly improve response times and handle a large volume of inquiries, which most apps struggle with manually.

11. Conduct Incognito Customer Journey Audit

Regularly (ideally quarterly, at least annually) conduct an incognito audit of your company’s customer journey. Use a fresh email to test support, sales contact, newsletter sign-ups, and product usage to identify pain points that AI agents could address.

12. Embrace Higher Productivity Expectations

Sales representatives must adapt to geometrically, if not exponentially, higher productivity expectations with AI assistance. Embrace these tools to become more efficient, as fighting them will expose inefficiencies and put your role at risk.

13. Develop Deep Product Knowledge

Beyond ‘people skills,’ sales professionals must develop deep product knowledge and technical understanding. Relying solely on being a ‘people person’ is insufficient in an AI-driven sales environment where agents can also effectively interact with customers.

14. Deliver ROI Before E-Signature

In the age of AI, customers expect to see tangible return on investment (ROI) from your product before they commit to a purchase. Focus on demonstrating this value upfront, even before the contract is e-signed.

15. Founders: Evolve Current Startup with AI

For founders with existing happy customers, the best startup is often the one you’re already working at. Instead of quitting to start a new AI venture, focus on integrating AI to transform and accelerate your current business, leveraging your existing customer base.

16. Be Transparent About AI’s Impact

Be honest and positive about AI’s impact on jobs within your organization. Explain that AI will make the best people more productive and that embracing this future is necessary, rather than hiding potential changes or job shifts.

17. AI Agents for Any Scale

Don’t assume AI agents are only for large enterprises. Even companies with a few hundred customers and some website traffic can benefit significantly from AI agents, as they can handle more interactions than humans are willing or able to.