Agentic AI is the latest iteration of artificial intelligence entering the sales domain. Many of the world’s most influential tech platforms have adopted some type of AI-powered SDR to automate research and outreach tasks typically done by a human being. While this has, in some cases, uncovered millions in pipeline, experts say companies need to proceed with caution.

“The real story is not ‘human versus AI.’ It’s ‘human plus AI’ versus ‘human alone,’” said Er Jia Jiang, cofounder and VP of growth operations at agentic AI company Redcar. “AI skills the activity, but humans still bring that ultimate trust, creativity, and guidance. This combination is what wins for companies.”

The human touch: One of the most lively debates in the sales ecosystem is whether AI is snatching jobs from flesh-and-blood humans (meet Asymbl’s Theodore). For many companies AI is a cheap and relatively safe bet in automating some of an SDR’s tasks. However experts stress that a human element is crucial for personalization and nuance—still an important part of the seller’s toolkit.

“Founders and sales leaders are falling for the illusion that these AI companies are offering a silver bullet,” said Leslie Venetz, founder of the Sales-Led GTM Agency.

Keep reading here.—LI

A big partnership has emerged in the artificial intelligence space and for once it doesn’t involve OpenAI.

Software heavyweight IBM and up-and-coming AI research startup Anthropic have announced they’re teaming up.

The partnership will see Anthropic’s Claude AI large language model inserted into select IBM software products. First up will be IBM’s integrated development environment (IDE), a package of developer tools that can enhance productivity.

The deal is an opportunity to expand Anthropic’s push into enterprise, as it seeks to take advantage of IBM’s corporate infrastructure. Financial terms for the deal weren’t disclosed.

“This partnership enhances our software portfolio with advanced AI capabilities while maintaining the governance, security, and reliability that our clients have come to expect,” said Dinesh Nirmal, IBM’s SVP of software, in a press release.

Keep reading here.—BS

CreatorIQ is furthering its growth in the creator marketing landscape with the appointment of Brian Atwood as chief sales officer. The appointment comes at a time of great change for the CSO role, mainly in the areas of alignment and cross-functional collaboration.

Atwood comes to CreatorIQ with over 20 years of experience, including leadership roles at Adobe and Pixability, as well as operations roles at iHeartMedia and AOL.

“You take a little something away from everywhere you’ve been,” Atwood said. “Adobe is a marketing operating system. Anywhere from content to creativity to data, it runs the gamut. CreatorIQ has an opportunity to [be] and it is that for the creator economy.”

Keep reading here.—LI

Forget sifting through endless listings. Revenue Brew and CollabWORK highlight only a handful of roles each week, chosen for your interests and industry. Click here to view the full job board.

• Vice President of Sales (Occupational Health) at MBI Industrial Medicine (in person)
• Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Industrial Safety Products at Hill & Smith Inc. (hybrid)
• National Sales Director, Walmart at an undisclosed organization (in person)
• Vice President of Finance Strategy at Reed’s, Inc. (hybrid)
• Client Partner at a strategic management and IT company (in person)