<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jason Lemkin&lt;/strong&gt; is the founder of SaaStr, the world’s largest community for software founders, and a veteran SaaS investor who has deployed over $200 million into B2B startups. After his last salesperson quit, Jason made a radical decision: replace his entire go-to-market team with AI agents. What started as an experiment has transformed into a new operating model, where 20 AI agents managed by just 1.2 humans now do the work previously handled by a team of 10 SDRs and AEs. In this conversation, Jason shares his hands-on experience implementing AI to run his sales org, including what works, what doesn’t, and how the GTM landscape is quickly being transformed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We discuss:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1. How AI is fundamentally changing the sales function&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. Why most SDRs and BDRs will be “extinct” within a year&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3. What Jason is observing across his portfolio about AI adoption in GTM&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4. How to become “hyper-employable” in the age of AI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;5. The specific AI tools and tactics he’s using that have been working best&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;6. Practical frameworks for integrating AI into your sales motion without losing what works&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;7. Jason’s 2026 predictions on where SaaS and GTM are heading next&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brought to you by:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://getdx.com/lenny"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DX&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://vercel.com/lennyspodcast"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vercel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;—Your collaborative AI assistant to design, iterate, and scale full-stack applications for the web&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.datadoghq.com/lenny"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Datadog&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;—Now home to Eppo, the leading experimentation and feature flagging platform&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transcript:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/we-replaced-our-sales-team-with-20-ai-agents"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/we-replaced-our-sales-team-with-20-ai-agents&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182902716/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182902716/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where to find Jason Lemkin:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• X: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/jasonlk"&gt;https://x.com/jasonlk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Website: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastr.com"&gt;https://www.saastr.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Substack: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@cloud"&gt;https://substack.com/@cloud&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where to find Lenny:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Newsletter: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• X: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/lennysan"&gt;https://twitter.com/lennysan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In this episode, we cover:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(00:00) Introduction to Jason Lemkin&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(04:36) What SaaStr does&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(07:13) AI’s impact on sales teams&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(10:11) How SaaStr's AI agents work and their performance&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(14:18) How go-to-market is changing in the AI era&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(19:19) The future of SDRs, BDRs, and AEs in sales&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(22:03) Why leadership roles are safe&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(23:43) How to be in the 20% who thrive in the AI sales future&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(28:40) Why you shouldn't build your own AI tools&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(30:10) Specific AI agents and their applications&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(36:40) Challenges and learnings in AI deployment&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(42:11) Making AI-generated emails good (not just acceptable)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(47:31) When humans still beat AI in sales&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(52:39) An overview of SaaStr's org&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(53:50) The role of human oversight in AI operations&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(58:37) Advice for salespeople and founders in the AI era&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:05:40) Forward-deployed engineers&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:08:08) What's changing and what's staying the same in sales&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:16:21) Why AI is creating more work, not less&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:19:32) Why Jason says these are magical times&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:25:25) The "incognito mode test" for finding AI opportunities&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:27:19) The impact of AI on jobs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:30:18) Lightning round and final thoughts&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Referenced:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• SaaStr Annual: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastrannual.com"&gt;https://www.saastrannual.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Delphi: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.delphi.ai/saastr/talk"&gt;https://www.delphi.ai/saastr/talk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Amelia Lerutte on LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelialerutte/"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelialerutte/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Vercel: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://vercel.com"&gt;https://vercel.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• What world-class GTM looks like in 2026 | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (Vercel, Stripe, Google): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-the-best-gtm-teams-do-differently"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-the-best-gtm-teams-do-differently&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Everyone’s an engineer now: Inside v0’s mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder and CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Replit: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://replit.com"&gt;https://replit.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• ElevenLabs: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://elevenlabs.io"&gt;https://elevenlabs.io&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• The exact AI playbook (using MCPs, custom GPTs, Granola) that saved ElevenLabs $100k+ and helps them ship daily | Luke Harries (Head of Growth): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Bolt: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://bolt.new"&gt;https://bolt.new&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Lovable: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://lovable.dev"&gt;https://lovable.dev&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Harvey: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.harvey.ai"&gt;https://www.harvey.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Samsara: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.samsara.com/products/platform/ai-samsara-intelligence"&gt;https://www.samsara.com/products/platform/ai-samsara-intelligence&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• UiPath: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.uipath.com"&gt;https://www.uipath.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Denise Dresser on LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisedresser"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisedresser&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Agentforce: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesforce.com/form/agentforce"&gt;https://www.salesforce.com/form/agentforce&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• SaaStr’s AI Agent Playbook: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://saastr.ai/agents"&gt;https://saastr.ai/agents&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Brian Halligan on LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Brian Halligan’s AI: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.delphi.ai/minds/bhalligan"&gt;https://www.delphi.ai/minds/bhalligan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Sierra: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://sierra.ai"&gt;https://sierra.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Fin: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://fin.ai"&gt;https://fin.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Deccan: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.deccan.ai"&gt;https://www.deccan.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Artisan: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.artisan.co"&gt;https://www.artisan.co&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Qualified: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.qualified.com"&gt;https://www.qualified.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Claude: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://claude.ai"&gt;https://claude.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• HubSpot: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.hubspot.com"&gt;https://www.hubspot.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Gamma: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://gamma.app"&gt;https://gamma.app&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Sam Blond on LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Brex: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.brex.com"&gt;https://www.brex.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Outreach: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.outreach.io"&gt;https://www.outreach.io&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Gong: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.gong.io"&gt;https://www.gong.io&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Salesloft: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesloft.com"&gt;https://www.salesloft.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Mixmax: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.mixmax.com"&gt;https://www.mixmax.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• “Sell the alpha, not the feature”: The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Clay: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.clay.com"&gt;https://www.clay.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Owner: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.owner.com"&gt;https://www.owner.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Momentum: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.momentum.io"&gt;https://www.momentum.io&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Attention: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.attention.com"&gt;https://www.attention.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Granola: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.granola.ai"&gt;https://www.granola.ai&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Palantir: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.palantir.com"&gt;https://www.palantir.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Databricks: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.databricks.com"&gt;https://www.databricks.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Garry Tan on LinkedIn: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Rippling: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.rippling.com"&gt;https://www.rippling.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Cursor: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://cursor.com"&gt;https://cursor.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• &lt;em&gt;Pluribus &lt;/em&gt;on AppleTV+: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza"&gt;https://tv.apple.com/us/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Sora: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/sora"&gt;https://openai.com/sora&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Reve: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://app.reve.com"&gt;https://app.reve.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• Everything That Breaks on the Way to $1B ARR, with Mailchimp Co-Founder Ben Chestnut: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastr.com/everything-that-breaks-on-the-way-to-1b-arr-with-mailchimp-co-founder-ben-chestnut/"&gt;https://www.saastr.com/everything-that-breaks-on-the-way-to-1b-arr-with-mailchimp-co-founder-ben-chestnut/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• The Revenue Playbook: Rippling’s Top 3 Growth Tactics at Scale, with Rippling CRO Matt Plank: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eYtzBpjRw"&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eYtzBpjRw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths"&gt;https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production and marketing by &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://penname.co/"&gt;https://penname.co/&lt;/a&gt;. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email &lt;a target="_blank" href="mailto:podcast@lennyrachitsky.com"&gt;podcast@lennyrachitsky.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;—&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;To hear more, visit &lt;a href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&amp;#38;utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language"&gt;www.lennysnewsletter.com&lt;/a&gt;</description>

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny Rachitsky

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

JAN 1, 2026102 MIN
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

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

JAN 1, 2026102 MIN

Description

<p><strong>Jason Lemkin</strong> is the founder of SaaStr, the world’s largest community for software founders, and a veteran SaaS investor who has deployed over $200 million into B2B startups. After his last salesperson quit, Jason made a radical decision: replace his entire go-to-market team with AI agents. What started as an experiment has transformed into a new operating model, where 20 AI agents managed by just 1.2 humans now do the work previously handled by a team of 10 SDRs and AEs. In this conversation, Jason shares his hands-on experience implementing AI to run his sales org, including what works, what doesn’t, and how the GTM landscape is quickly being transformed.</p><p></p><p><strong>We discuss:</strong></p><p>1. How AI is fundamentally changing the sales function</p><p>2. Why most SDRs and BDRs will be “extinct” within a year</p><p>3. What Jason is observing across his portfolio about AI adoption in GTM</p><p>4. How to become “hyper-employable” in the age of AI</p><p>5. The specific AI tools and tactics he’s using that have been working best</p><p>6. Practical frameworks for integrating AI into your sales motion without losing what works</p><p>7. Jason’s 2026 predictions on where SaaS and GTM are heading next</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Brought to you by:</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://getdx.com/lenny"><strong>DX</strong></a>—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://vercel.com/lennyspodcast"><strong>Vercel</strong></a>—Your collaborative AI assistant to design, iterate, and scale full-stack applications for the web</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.datadoghq.com/lenny"><strong>Datadog</strong></a>—Now home to Eppo, the leading experimentation and feature flagging platform</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Transcript:</strong> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/we-replaced-our-sales-team-with-20-ai-agents">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/we-replaced-our-sales-team-with-20-ai-agents</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182902716/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182902716/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Jason Lemkin:</strong></p><p>• X: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/jasonlk">https://x.com/jasonlk</a></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin</a></p><p>• Website: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastr.com">https://www.saastr.com</a></p><p>• Substack: <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@cloud">https://substack.com/@cloud</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Lenny:</strong></p><p>• Newsletter: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com</a></p><p>• X: <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/lennysan">https://twitter.com/lennysan</a></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>In this episode, we cover:</strong></p><p>(00:00) Introduction to Jason Lemkin</p><p>(04:36) What SaaStr does</p><p>(07:13) AI’s impact on sales teams</p><p>(10:11) How SaaStr's AI agents work and their performance</p><p>(14:18) How go-to-market is changing in the AI era</p><p>(19:19) The future of SDRs, BDRs, and AEs in sales</p><p>(22:03) Why leadership roles are safe</p><p>(23:43) How to be in the 20% who thrive in the AI sales future</p><p>(28:40) Why you shouldn't build your own AI tools</p><p>(30:10) Specific AI agents and their applications</p><p>(36:40) Challenges and learnings in AI deployment</p><p>(42:11) Making AI-generated emails good (not just acceptable)</p><p>(47:31) When humans still beat AI in sales</p><p>(52:39) An overview of SaaStr's org</p><p>(53:50) The role of human oversight in AI operations</p><p>(58:37) Advice for salespeople and founders in the AI era</p><p>(01:05:40) Forward-deployed engineers</p><p>(01:08:08) What's changing and what's staying the same in sales</p><p>(01:16:21) Why AI is creating more work, not less</p><p>(01:19:32) Why Jason says these are magical times</p><p>(01:25:25) The "incognito mode test" for finding AI opportunities</p><p>(01:27:19) The impact of AI on jobs</p><p>(01:30:18) Lightning round and final thoughts</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Referenced:</strong></p><p>• Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org</a></p><p>• SaaStr Annual: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastrannual.com">https://www.saastrannual.com</a></p><p>• Delphi: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.delphi.ai/saastr/talk">https://www.delphi.ai/saastr/talk</a></p><p>• Amelia Lerutte on LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelialerutte/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelialerutte/</a></p><p>• Vercel: <a target="_blank" href="https://vercel.com">https://vercel.com</a></p><p>• What world-class GTM looks like in 2026 | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (Vercel, Stripe, Google): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-the-best-gtm-teams-do-differently">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-the-best-gtm-teams-do-differently</a></p><p>• Everyone’s an engineer now: Inside v0’s mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder and CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch</a></p><p>• Replit: <a target="_blank" href="https://replit.com">https://replit.com</a></p><p>• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad</a></p><p>• ElevenLabs: <a target="_blank" href="https://elevenlabs.io">https://elevenlabs.io</a></p><p>• The exact AI playbook (using MCPs, custom GPTs, Granola) that saved ElevenLabs $100k+ and helps them ship daily | Luke Harries (Head of Growth): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack</a></p><p>• Bolt: <a target="_blank" href="https://bolt.new">https://bolt.new</a></p><p>• Lovable: <a target="_blank" href="https://lovable.dev">https://lovable.dev</a></p><p>• Harvey: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.harvey.ai">https://www.harvey.ai</a></p><p>• Samsara: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.samsara.com/products/platform/ai-samsara-intelligence">https://www.samsara.com/products/platform/ai-samsara-intelligence</a></p><p>• UiPath: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uipath.com">https://www.uipath.com</a></p><p>• Denise Dresser on LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisedresser">https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisedresser</a></p><p>• Agentforce: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesforce.com/form/agentforce">https://www.salesforce.com/form/agentforce</a></p><p>• SaaStr’s AI Agent Playbook: <a target="_blank" href="https://saastr.ai/agents">https://saastr.ai/agents</a></p><p>• Brian Halligan on LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan">https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan</a></p><p>• Brian Halligan’s AI: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.delphi.ai/minds/bhalligan">https://www.delphi.ai/minds/bhalligan</a></p><p>• Sierra: <a target="_blank" href="https://sierra.ai">https://sierra.ai</a></p><p>• Fin: <a target="_blank" href="https://fin.ai">https://fin.ai</a></p><p>• Deccan: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.deccan.ai">https://www.deccan.ai</a></p><p>• Artisan: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.artisan.co">https://www.artisan.co</a></p><p>• Qualified: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.qualified.com">https://www.qualified.com</a></p><p>• Claude: <a target="_blank" href="https://claude.ai">https://claude.ai</a></p><p>• HubSpot: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hubspot.com">https://www.hubspot.com</a></p><p>• Gamma: <a target="_blank" href="https://gamma.app">https://gamma.app</a></p><p>• Sam Blond on LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b">https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b</a></p><p>• Brex: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.brex.com">https://www.brex.com</a></p><p>• Outreach: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.outreach.io">https://www.outreach.io</a></p><p>• Gong: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gong.io">https://www.gong.io</a></p><p>• Salesloft: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesloft.com">https://www.salesloft.com</a></p><p>• Mixmax: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mixmax.com">https://www.mixmax.com</a></p><p>• “Sell the alpha, not the feature”: The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr</a></p><p>• Clay: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.clay.com">https://www.clay.com</a></p><p>• Owner: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.owner.com">https://www.owner.com</a></p><p>• Momentum: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.momentum.io">https://www.momentum.io</a></p><p>• Attention: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.attention.com">https://www.attention.com</a></p><p>• Granola: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.granola.ai">https://www.granola.ai</a></p><p>• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff</a></p><p>• Palantir: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.palantir.com">https://www.palantir.com</a></p><p>• Databricks: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.databricks.com">https://www.databricks.com</a></p><p>• Garry Tan on LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan">https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan</a></p><p>• Rippling: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rippling.com">https://www.rippling.com</a></p><p>• Cursor: <a target="_blank" href="https://cursor.com">https://cursor.com</a></p><p>• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell</a></p><p>• The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna</a></p><p>• <em>Pluribus </em>on AppleTV+: <a target="_blank" href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza">https://tv.apple.com/us/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza</a></p><p>• Sora: <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/sora">https://openai.com/sora</a></p><p>• Reve: <a target="_blank" href="https://app.reve.com">https://app.reve.com</a></p><p>• Everything That Breaks on the Way to $1B ARR, with Mailchimp Co-Founder Ben Chestnut: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.saastr.com/everything-that-breaks-on-the-way-to-1b-arr-with-mailchimp-co-founder-ben-chestnut/">https://www.saastr.com/everything-that-breaks-on-the-way-to-1b-arr-with-mailchimp-co-founder-ben-chestnut/</a></p><p>• The Revenue Playbook: Rippling’s Top 3 Growth Tactics at Scale, with Rippling CRO Matt Plank: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eYtzBpjRw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eYtzBpjRw</a></p><p>• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths</a></p><p>—</p><p>Production and marketing by <a target="_blank" href="https://penname.co/">https://penname.co/</a>. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email <a target="_blank" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</p><p>—</p><p><em>Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.</em></p> <br/><br/>To hear more, visit <a href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language">www.lennysnewsletter.com</a>