Gabe Larsen

CRO & Co-Founder at Atonom. Built Kustomer to a $1B exit → Meta. Now torching the old GTM playbook with AI Cloud Employees. Not tools. AI Teammates

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

All comments are AI-written now. Okay, maybe not all. But enough that I've stopped assuming there's a human on the other side.

Comments used to mean something. A thoughtful comment meant somebody read your post.

Now I find myself reading comments wondering, did this person actually think this? Or did they just hit a button?

The whole thing is starting to feel a little ridiculous.

Maybe the next feature should be a badge that says: "I actually typed this myself."

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Everyone told me AI would save me time. I've never been busier.

The problem is every time AI removes a bottleneck, I discover three more things I could be doing.

I didn't get my time back. I just increased the number of ways I can be overwhelmed.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

You think AI is changing business? You should see youth sports. I know parents using AI to design practices, scout opponents, analyze film, and build player development plans for 12-year-olds.

We're turning 12-year-old basketball into a Series B startup.

I still can't decide if this is awesome or deeply concerning.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Funny talking to different leaders about AI.

Talk to a COO, they want to replace people.

Talk to a director, they want to enhance people.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

It’s Monday again here in a few hours and somehow it feels like I never stopped working.

No off switch an no clean break. Just roll straight back into it.

This is what nobody tells you, when you actually care, it never really turns off.

Most people want balance.
I’ll take momentum.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

AI tools vs AI teammates. I don’t get why more people aren’t seeing this. The future isn’t more software.

It’s digital workers. Cloud employees. AI teammates that work side by side with you and actually do the job.

That’s how you build an autonomous organization.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

AI tells you what you want to hear 1 out of 4 times.

You think you’re getting advice but you’re getting a yes-man. The funny thing is if you push back? It agrees even more.

Feels smart. Makes you worse.

Nothing is more dangerous than being wrong and feeling right.

https://t.co/MPapn4mLFQ

[1800DTC @1800DTC]

AI agents aren't just a marketing team thing anymore.

Sales. CX. Marketing. All running on agents using the same platform.

We chatted with @GabeLarsen from @atonom_ai about how brands are scaling output without scaling headcount.

The shift from tools → teammates is already here.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Remember when everyone suddenly started writing with em dashes because ChatGPT did it first?

Good times.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Everyone said Shoptalk was great. It wasn’t.

It was speed dating for vendors… and nobody told the brands.

5 dudes in quarter-zips circling one poor operator like sharks. “Quick question…” x 47.

By day two, brands weren’t networking.
They were playing defense.

Smiling, nodding, slowly backing into fake meetings to escape.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

GTM agencies are about to feel this…

Used to be your edge was knowing 10+ tools and how to duct tape them together.

Now agents replace half that stack and actually do the work.

Which means your value isn’t the stack anymore… it’s whether you can drive revenue.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Sometimes I scroll social and see people posting about productivity hacks, leadership quotes, and their morning routine…

While the biggest shift in how work gets done in 30 years is happening.

At some point you just realize…
Yeah I don’t need this person’s takes anymore.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

A PE operator told me yesterday:

“AI should come out of the HR budget, not IT. It’s a headcount replacement strategy, not a software project.”

If it sits in IT, it becomes a science project. If it hits payroll, it becomes a strategy.

Pick one repetitive job.
Run a 90-day pilot.
Measure hours removed.

If it doesn’t pay for itself, kill it.
Too harsh. Or exactly right?

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

80 million people don’t read the same AI article by accident. This is one of those articles you forward to everyone you know… especially the friend who still thinks ChatGPT is just a better version of Siri :)

@mattshumer_

https://t.co/fsTYL7z2UR

[Matt Shumer @mattshumer_]

https://t.co/ivXRKXJvQg

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

No takes today. Just cookies and good people.
This is our team… AI turned us into gingerbread.

Feels accurate.

Merry Christmas.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Building companies is fun. Building a life is the point. Log off. Be present. The work will be there tomorrow.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Your product demo sucks. I’m sorry. It just does.

Let me summarize the modern B2B demo:
- 40 features
- 0 narrative
- No tension
- No payoff

Just click… click… click…“Hope that lands.” It never does.

It's like we're optimizing for coverage not impact. Terrified of leaving something out, so we cram everything in:

- Every edge case
- Every tab
- Every “we also do this”

That's not confidence. That's insecurity.

The job of a demo is not to explain the product. I know shocker...
The job of a demo is to create one irreversible “aha.”

One.

- Not a tour
- Not a walkthrough
- Not an SE performance review

The best teams know this. They stopped treating demos like presentations. They treat them like performances.

- Pacing
- Friction
- Control
- Reveal

They decide exactly what the buyer should see, when they should see it, and why it matters right now. When it’s done right, you feel it. Goosebumps. No joke.

Everyone else just drives the UI and prays.

[David Elkington @DaveElkington]

AI isn’t “buy vs build.”

It’s: do you even know what job you’re hiring it for? Because thats what it is, you use AI to do jobs, like humans.

Most companies don’t really know what they are "hiring" AI for.

They say, “We want AI for sales” or “AI for support” but what they really mean is, “We’re frustrated and hoping this fixes it.”

It usually doesn’t.

AI doesn’t fix broken processes. It takes whatever you already have and turns the volume all the way up.

If your system is clear, it scales clarity. If it’s messy, it scales the mess. That’s why so many AI pilots look impressive and quietly fail. No one owns the work. No one defines success.

Everyone treats it like software when it’s really closer to hiring a person. And hiring a person without a job description is how you waste a lot of money.

The teams I’m seeing win with AI aren’t chasing tools. They’re slowing down, redesigning the work, and then deciding who or what should do it.

That order matters.

[Gabe Larsen @GabeLarsen]

Serious question for sales reps. Have you been asleep for the last five years?

I’m interviewing AEs right now and I’m genuinely shocked how many think the world DIDN'T change.

You still expect:
- $300k OTE
- Full WFH
- No travel
- Customer Success to clean up the customer
- 100% inbound (No prospecting)
- Side hustles on the side
- Marketing to spoon-feed the narrative
- An SE to do the thinking
- “Some AI familiarity”
- RevOps to fix the mess

That job died with ZIRP.

And don’t get me wrong, I liked that era too. But it’s over.

The job evolved. The bar moved. If you want to win now, you have to evolve with it.