Artisan Raises $11.5 Million to Deploy AI “Workers” on Sales Teams

Traditionala startup looking to replace traditional sales software with AI-powered virtual assistants announced Monday that it has raised $11.5 million in seed funding. The company’s first AI assistant, called Ava, automates many tasks typically performed by business development representatives, such as researching leads and crafting personalized outreach emails.

Artisan was founded last year and has already reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue, with more than 120 companies using the platform. The seed round was led by Oliver Jung, with participation from Y Combinator, HubSpot Ventures, Day One Ventures and others.

“We create AI workers called artisans, and then we consolidate software tools to create this unified software ecosystem where AI workers manage and do your work for you,” said Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, the 23-year-old CEO and co director of Artisan. founder, in an interview with VentureBeat.

How Artisan’s AI assistant streamlines sales processes

Artisan’s approach aims to streamline the fragmented sales software landscape. Instead of integrating multiple tools, the company offers one platform that handles tasks ranging from lead generation to email outreach. At its center is Ava, an AI assistant that can operate autonomously to find potential customers, research companies and write personalized messages.

“Ava finds leads for people who match their ICP [ideal customer profile]. We have access to more than 300 million different B2B lead profiles,” explains Carmichael-Jack. “Ava enriches leads using data sources such as CrunchBase, Apollo, Cognism… writes emails to the leads and LinkedIn messages, and automates the entire process.”

The impact of AI on sales jobs: a shift in roles

Carmichael-Jack acknowledged that AI will likely replace some roles, but argued that this shift is ultimately beneficial: “I think there will be a shift from the manual, repetitive, automatable roles to more human-centric roles,” he said. “People will be shifted to more human activities.”

Artisan plans to expand beyond sales, with AI assistants for marketing and customer success in development. HubSpot’s involvement as an investor indicates that even established software vendors see potential in AI-first approaches.

“HubSpot’s support has been very meaningful for us because it shows that even the legacy software vendors are ready for the next software paradigm,” Carmichael-Jack noted.

The future of AI in business operations

As Artisan makes progress with its AI sales assistants, the line between human and machine in the workplace continues to blur. The question now is not whether AI will transform sales, but how quickly.

For companies, the future of sales may be less about closing deals and more about choosing the right digital companion. In this new landscape, the best salesperson may be the one you never see.