Notion Put an Engineer in Sales to Build Better AI Tools

• Notion embedded AI engineer Theo Bleier in sales for a month.
  • Day one: 40 cold calls, zero sales, massive insight.
• Discovery: top reps’ edge was prioritization, not speed.
  • Extra research revealed when to contact, not just what to say.
• Real need: account prioritization, not faster email drafting.
  • Head of Sales Pravesh Mistry: “right time is step zero.”
• Built “Salestino bot” — surfaces product signals for timing.
  • Also generates tailored outreach templates per account.
• Framework: right message, right person, right company, right time.
• Principle: embed before you build; obvious solution ≠ real need.

First Round Review (Applied Intelligence series) · 2025-12-18 · Read on review.firstround.com