AI-Curious with Jeff Wilser
Every week, Jeff Wilser sits down with the people building, breaking, and reckoning with AI — from the CEO of Upwork to the pioneer who coined "AGI" to an AI social network where bots wrote manifestos and had existential crises. Wilser is the author of eight books, AI keynote speaker, and the kind of interviewer who'd rather find the story no one's telling than rehash the headline everyone's read. Named by Inc. Magazine as one of the best ways to get AI-savvy. Included in UC Berkeley's data science curriculum.
AI-Curious with Jeff Wilser
Agentic AI Case Study: AI "Sales Agents" in Action, w/ Alta CEO Stav Levi-Neumark
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What exactly are AI agents doing out in the wild — and are they actually helping sales teams, or just adding noise?
We explore the fast-evolving world of AI sales agents with a real-world case study from Alta, a startup deploying purpose-built AI agents named Katie, Alex, and Luna. In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Stav Levi-Neumark, Alta’s CEO and co-founder, about how agentic AI is already transforming sales workflows—from prospecting to pipeline generation to inbound response.
We look under the hood to examine how these agents operate, what distinguishes them from chatbots, and how they interact with human reps. We also explore the ethics, limitations, and future of AI-human collaboration in business development—and what it means to build trust in AI systems.
Whether you work in sales, lead a startup, or are just curious about how AI tools are functioning in the real world, this conversation offers a sharp, concrete look at the tech reshaping how companies grow.
Topics and Timestamps:
00:00 — What are AI agents doing, really?
01:00 — Behind the scenes at HumanX and the rise of Alta
03:00 — Meet Katie, Alex, and Luna: AI sales agents with defined roles
08:00 — How AI agents qualify leads and determine buying intent
13:00 — The distinction between chatbots and agentic AI
18:30 — How AI agents can avoid becoming spammy LinkedIn bots
22:00 — Alex the calling agent: real-time inbound response and transparency
28:00 — What tools make an AI agent different from a workflow
31:00 — Autonomy, decision-making, and sales team augmentation
36:00 — The challenge of trust and how to begin using AI agents at low risk
39:00 — Stav’s journey as a founder and the four-generation Vegas trip
42:00 — How she uses AI personally: support agents, internal tools, and therapy
44:30 — Advice for sales professionals on embracing AI
46:30 — Predictions: what sales might look like in 5 to 10 years
Let us know what you think—and whether Luna is getting the respect she deserves.
About Alta:
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