The Enterprise GTM Podcast

In this must-listen episode of the Enterprise GTM Podcast, I dive deep with two powerhouse AI experts: 🎙 Manasi Vartak (Chief AI Architect at Cloudera) 🎙 Shreya Shankar (PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley) We discuss the current landscape of GenAI in enterprises. We explore the challenges of productionizing AI applications, the importance of data privacy, and the evolving use cases within large organizations. Manasi shares insights from her experience at Cloudera, highlighting the slow adoption of GenAI in production and the prevalent use of internal applications. Shreya elaborates on her research at UC Berkeley, including how her work could transform data engineering. The conversation emphasizes the need for new tools and strategies to navigate the complexities of AI deployment and the significance of benchmarking in this evolving field. This conversation explores the evolving landscape of data engineering and the role of Generative AI (Gen.AI) in automating processes, simplifying data management, and enhancing user experience. The speakers discuss the importance of coding assistants, the need for new benchmarks in AI tools, and the critical role of user experience in designing AI applications. They emphasize the necessity of education and training to help users effectively leverage AI technologies in their workflows. Takeaways * The excitement about GenAI remains strong in enterprises. * Adoption of GenAI in production is still under 10%. * Internal use cases dominate the current landscape of GenAI applications. * The RAG pattern is a leading use case for enterprises. * Data privacy and security are major concerns for enterprises. * AI is becoming more democratized, allowing non-experts to build applications. * Productionizing AI requires significant effort and infrastructure. * Shreya's research focuses on optimizing database interactions with GenAI. * Accuracy in prompting is a complex and fuzzy concept. * Benchmarking in GenAI is challenging due to the lack of ground truth. The future of data engineering will involve more automation and less manual toil. * Gen.AI can simplify data management tasks significantly. * Natural language processing will make data access easier for non-technical users. * User experience is crucial for the success of AI applications. * AI tools should be designed for seamless human-AI collaboration. * Benchmarks for AI tools need to be redefined beyond traditional accuracy measures. * Education is key to helping users effectively utilize AI technologies. * Domain experts will benefit from tailored coding assistants in their specific environments. * The transition from creation to review in AI applications is essential for user engagement. * Accessibility of Gen.AI presents new opportunities for education and innovation. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI Experts 02:05 Current State of GenAI in Enterprises 05:58 Use Cases and Adoption Challenges 11:59 Parallels in AI Evolution 16:02 Shreya's Research on GenAI and Databases 22:41 The Future of Data Engineering and Automation 24:11 Simplifying Data Management with Gen.AI 27:20 The Role of Coding Assistants in Data Tasks 30:47 Rethinking Benchmarks for AI Tools 35:33 User Experience in AI Applications 39:20 Designing for Human-AI Collaboration 44:18 Education and Training for Effective AI Use Links mentioned in today’s episode: Shreya Shankar [https://www.sh-reya.com/] Shreya’s work DocETL [https://www.docetl.org/] Manasi Vartak on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/manasi-vartak/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com [https://veenormous.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

In today's episode, we sit down with Jerry Ting to delve into his experience of founding and scaling a startup in the world of AI-powered contract management. Jerry is the Founder and CEO of Evisort, a cutting-edge AI-powered contract management platform transforming how organizations manage, analyze, and automate their legal documents. Jerry's vision has been instrumental in establishing Evisort as an innovator at the intersection of law and technology. In our conversation, we discuss Jerry’s transition from sales to law, the early days of Evisort, and how he overcame skepticism to secure the company’s first clients. We also unpack the steps to identifying the right time to build sales and marketing teams, determining pricing, and the importance of a customer-first approach. Explore Evisort’s mission-driven innovation approach, the strategy of “land and expand,” and the advantages startups have over larger competitors in delivering user-focused solutions. Join us for a detailed look at the challenges and successes of building a transformative legal tech company from the ground up with Jerry Ting. Key Points From This Episode:  * Introducing Jerry and his background in law and journey into entrepreneurship. * Jerry explains Evisort's product-led approach to its enterprise selling motion. * Why working with large enterprises is sometimes a curse for smaller companies. * Making the first Sales hire for Evisort and what he would do differently. * Discover how he determined Evisort's initial offerings and associated pricing. * How Evisort's mission to make peoples' lives easier catalyzed its growth.  * How do you go from departmental sales to enterprise sales. * Jerry shares advice for budding founders of AI-native companies. Quotes: “[Evisort] really early on took a product-led approach in our enterprise selling motion.” — Jerry Ting [0:06:45] “My advice to the founders listening out there is that sometimes it is a curse to actually get big enterprises [interested] in the beginning.” — Jerry Ting [0:07:55] “If you really focus around the customer from a 360 [degree] company perspective, how you sell, how you support, how do you build your product, over time they become a great sounding board for the company strategy.” — Jerry Ting [0:18:18] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Jerry Ting on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerryting/] Evisort [https://www.evisort.com/] Tim Zonca on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timzonca/] Tim Zonca on X [https://twitter.com/timzonca] Vidya Raman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidyaraman/] Vidya Raman on X [https://twitter.com/veenormous] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com [https://veenormous.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Welcome back to another episode of The Enterprise GTM Podcast. Today we are joined by the Vice President of Enterprise Data and Analytics at Swire Coca-Cola, Bharathi Rajan. In this episode, Bharathi delves into crucial aspects of GTM that founders should pay attention to: 🔹 Know Your Customers and Their KPIs: Understanding what drives your customers is key to offering solutions that truly meet their needs. 🔹 Transferable KPIs Across Industries: Bharathi shares how fundamental business problems remain consistent across sectors like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing. Founders should leverage this when pitching horizontal products to different industry verticals. We also dive deep into her recent product buying experience: 🔸 Continuous Engagement: Stay in your customers' inboxes and minds. Be present when you become highly relevant to them. 🔸 Power of Reference Selling: Never underestimate the influence of your current customers. Their endorsements can be game-changers. 🔸 Competitive Landscape: A good market always has competition. Learn how Bharathi's team evaluates competitors—not just on price. 🔸 Pricing, TCO, and ROI: Understand how enterprises weigh the decision between replacing existing products and adopting new ones. One standout takeaway: Bharathi refers to the vendor they chose as a "partner." This reinforces a recurring theme we've heard throughout our podcast series, especially in conversations with Leslie Venetz. Customers today are seeking partners, not just products or platforms. 👉 If you're keen to gain invaluable insights from the other side of the table, this episode is a must-listen! Quotes: “Data is so foundational for us to do anything in the AI – space.” — Bharathi Rajan [0:04:46] “For me, our customers are everyone across the organization.” — Bharathi Rajan [0:08:00] “Data is data at the end of the day.” — Bharathi Rajan [0:08:40] “Deeply understanding your customer’s business will make a big difference even in your first dialog with a prospect.”— Bharathi Rajan [0:14:00] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Bharathi Rajan on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bharathirajan/] Swire Coca-Cola [https://www.swirecocacola.com/en/]Tim Zonca on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timzonca/] Tim Zonca on X [https://twitter.com/timzonca] Vidya Raman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidyaraman/] Vidya Raman on X [https://twitter.com/veenormous] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com [https://veenormous.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Founder-led sales are common in early-stage startups. But, they could be much more effective with a deeper understanding of sales fundamentals. Joining us today is Leslie Venetz, founder of The Sales-Led GTM Agency to discuss how founders can level up their skills and transform their sales. Drawing on her extensive history in B2B sales, which includes over 250,000 cold calls, Leslie covers everything founders need to know, from earning the right to your prospect’s attention to efficiently managing your time during the sales process. She shares her top tips on crafting concise, value-driven emails, how to use AI in sales without over-relying on it, and how to strategically time your demos. Leslie also shares her unique perspective on objections, including how to figure out which objections are worth addressing, and why you should always lead with curiosity. Key Points From This Episode:  * Some background on Leslie Venetz and her extensive background in sales. * Improving founder-led sales, especially in early-stage startups. * The key to developing active listening skills and why it is essential in sales. * Cold emails: best practices and common mistakes. * Key components of highly relevant messaging and how to audit your emails. * What your initial email outreach should look like. * Why you need to earn the right to write longer emails. * Leslie’s advice on how to use AI in sales – and how not to use it. * The importance of personalized outreach in the age of AI. * How to strategically time your product demos in a prospective customer call. * Recognizing different types of objections and how to address them. * Utilizing events as part of a multi-channel marketing approach. * Leslie answers our rapid-fire questions on AI, cold-calling, and more! Quotes: “Founder-led sales, which is usually the norm for early-stage startups, can be so much more effective if only founders could better understand some of the foundational aspects of sales.” — @veenormous [https://twitter.com/veenormous] [0:04:17] “It is your responsibility to earn the right to your prospect's time” — @LeslieVenetz [https://x.com/LeslieVenetz] [0:11:41] “We want to do everything that we can to reduce the cognitive load – and make it easy for them to scan and digest that email.” — @LeslieVenetz [https://x.com/LeslieVenetz] [0:15:16] “Especially for early-stage founders. You all are busy. – You do not have the time to spend an hour sending an email to a prospect that doesn't actually want you to email them.” — @LeslieVenetz [https://x.com/LeslieVenetz] [0:34:05] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Leslie Venetz [https://salesledgtm.com/] Leslie Venetz on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslievenetz/]Jill Konrath [https://www.jillkonrath.com/] Snap Selling [https://www.jillkonrath.com/snap-selling] Tim Zonca on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timzonca/] Tim Zonca on X [https://twitter.com/timzonca] Vidya Raman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidyaraman/] Vidya Raman on X [https://twitter.com/veenormous] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com [https://veenormous.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Barry Dauber is the VP of Sales and Business Development at MosaicML (recently acquired by Databricks) which is centered on making generative AI easy to use and widely accessible. Today, Barry joins us to discuss the role of sales, marketing, and business development in early-stage startups with a specific emphasis on MosaicML.  Key Points From This Episode:  * Barry Dauber walks us through the evolution of MosaicML's core offering.  * His thoughts on sales and in particular, how to know when it's time to scale.  * Barry's protocol for when the scaling plan includes bringing in new partners. * How to stay in your lane as a startup with great ambitions, and why this matters.  * Our guest unpacks the differences and similarities between market adoption of big data and generative AI.  * The major roadblocks that slow and prevent the evolution of ML and GenAI. Quotes: “As we learn in sales, especially in the startup world, 'no' is almost as exciting as ‘yes.’” — @barrydauber [https://x.com/barrydauber] [0:15:07] “The easiest way to drive a partnership, especially as the small company, is you need to bring a customer.” — @barrydauber [https://x.com/barrydauber] [0:19:27] “If an early-stage startup positions themselves as a platform, it would be disqualified by enterprises” — @barrydauber [https://x.com/barrydauber] [0:23:31] “Gen AI SaaS will win over DIY efforts in large enterprises.” — @barrydauber [https://x.com/barrydauber] [0:42:32] “Business users will be the primary users of ML/AI tools 5 years from now.” — @barrydauber [https://x.com/barrydauber] [0:48:38] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Barry Dauber on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdauber]  Barry Dauber on X [https://x.com/barrydauber] MosaicML [https://www.databricks.com/blog/databricks-mosaicml]  Databricks [https://www.databricks.com]  Tim Zonca on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timzonca/] Tim Zonca on X [https://twitter.com/timzonca] Vidya Raman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidyaraman/] Vidya Raman on X [https://twitter.com/veenormous] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com [https://veenormous.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]