Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Brian Mazzaferri connect on the topic "Depth to be Dangerous". Brian, a Senior Solutions Engineer at Slack, talks about his philosophy around Product Expertise and how deep a Sales Engineer really needs to go during a sales cycle.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Chris Browne connect on the topic "Maximizing Your Impact on Your Team". Chris, Director of Solutions Consulting at Lattice, talks about the role of a manager and how creating a coaching culture is a key ingredient to employee and team success.

In today's episode, Dean Shu (CEO & Co-founder, Arphie) joins Jack Cochran and Matthew James to discuss AI agents in PreSales and the evolution of the industry. They explore the changing landscape of PreSales leadership, practical applications of AI, and strategies for evaluating AI solutions.

Thank you to Arphie for sponsoring this episode. Arphie is the leading AI-powered platform for automating RFPs and security questionnaires. Arphie empowers teams — from the Fortune 500 to high-growth startups — to save time, improve accuracy, and deliver results faster than ever by combining your prior responses and company context with the latest AI agent capabilities.

To join the show live, follow the PreSales Collective's LinkedIn page. PreSales LIVE airs bi-weekly on Tuesdays, 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT.

• Join the Presales Collective Slack:https://presalescollective.com/slack
• Contact Dean Shu: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-shu/
• LE SSERAFIM, Crazy EP: https://open.spotify.com/album/538vEfAgLJ6g2I8ubuOlap?si=so9xz_qMQBatFqHMDTp5sw
• Hidden Brain podcast episode with Brian Klass - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5MowfIBQdmQEIMYdDL3MYK?si=fff1b1731daa48ff

00:00 - Introduction

03:13 - What are you listening to

06:30 - Dean's background

09:20 - What's top of mind for presales leaders?

11:57 - How to make a presales tech purchase

20:13 - What are AI agents?

26:40 - How do you properly explore AI?

32:25 - Is AI going to replace people?

35:41 - Outro

1. PreSales Leadership Evolution
   • Elevating the sales engineering role
   • Building stronger cross-functional partnerships
   • Gaining executive-level presence
2. Understanding AI in PreSales
   • Different types of AI models and their applications
   • AI agents vs. traditional AI tools
   • Real-world implementation strategies
3. Evaluating AI Solutions
   • Key criteria for vendor selection
   • Security considerations
   • Proof of concept best practices

Welcome to the PreSales Podcast by PreSales Collective! Listen to the stories and perspectives of over 100 Solutions professionals from all over the world.

On the PSC Podcast, you will hear from global PreSales Leaders, top individual contributors, industry experts, tra, and even companies who have developed products for our profession.

Click follow and subscribe to hear more about the incredible work happening in our Solutions Ecosystem.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis, Travis Strickland, and Danny Mason connect on the topic "How to become a Dynamic Duo”. Travis, Senior Solutions Consultant at Adobe, and Danny, Account Executive at Adobe, talk about how to their working relationship and how they’ve been able to be successful in partnering in their sales cycle. It is really interesting to hear Danny’s perspective on what makes Travis stand out and be his true deal co-pilot.