www.gtmaipodcast www.aibusinessnetwork.ai www.gtmaiacademy.com
https://www.getpeel.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brannon-santos/
The Genesis Story
Brannon Santos brings a unique perspective as a founder - he's not a technologist who stumbled into sales problems, but a seasoned sales leader who deliberately chose entrepreneurship. His background includes choosing his college specifically for its entrepreneurship program and strategically entering sales to understand how businesses operate from the inside out. This sales-first DNA permeates Peel's entire approach.
The conversation reveals a painful truth about modern B2B sales: the process is riddled with friction. Santos shares a perfect example - a CMO who hasn't spoken to a salesperson in 15 years because her calendar is perpetually full, yet she researches solutions at 11 PM when sales teams are offline. This temporal mismatch between when buyers want to engage and when sellers are available represents billions in lost opportunity.
Peel positions itself as a "voice AI layer" that creates intelligent, conversational agents for brands. But this isn't your typical chatbot - these agents can:
Conduct full discovery calls in 5 minutes instead of 30-45 minutes
Generate detailed "tear sheets" formatted to match specific sales methodologies
Create automated "Peel Rooms" (similar to deal rooms) with all conversation insights
Enable stakeholders to have the same conversation asynchronously
One of the most compelling use cases Santos demonstrates is Peel's ability to conduct mass qualitative research. A marketing agency used Peel to interview 38 sales professionals about lead quality, creating a study called "Do My Leads Really Suck?" What traditionally costs thousands of dollars and takes months can now be done in a day, with results that update in real-time as more participants engage.
Santos reveals how Peel uses the Winning by Design bow tie framework, allowing companies to deploy conversational agents at every stage of the customer journey - from awareness through renewal. This strategic approach ensures conversations are contextually appropriate whether someone is just discovering the brand or negotiating renewal terms.
The discussion unveils key insights for training conversational AI:
Start with easy, closed-ended questions
Include personal questions early (people enjoy talking about themselves)
Focus on present challenges and near-term goals
Build dynamically based on responses
Santos predicts that within a year, the entire enterprise sales cycle could theoretically be handled by AI agents. He envisions a world of "agent-to-agent" commerce where your personal AI assistant negotiates with vendor AI assistants on your behalf. While acknowledging human relationship-building will remain important, he sees AI eliminating the mechanical, repetitive aspects of sales.