SalesTechStar Interview with Abhijit Mitra, CEO at Outreach

Abhijit Mitra, CEO at Outreach chats about AI agents and how they are empowering modern day sales teams in this catch-up with SalesTechStar:

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Hi Abhijit, tell us about yourself and your time at Outreach….

My time with Outreach has been focused on driving innovation in sales technology. I’ve been fortunate to lead a team dedicated to solving the challenges that modern revenue teams face.

I recently stepped into the role of CEO which is an incredible honor, especially at such a pivotal time for the company and the broader sales industry. With years of experience in AI and technology, I’m passionate about leveraging these tools to empower sellers to focus on what they do best – building authentic relationships and providing solutions.

I look forward to redefining what’s possible in sales execution through AI-powered workflows.

We’d love to hear more about Outreach’s newest sales features and salestech enhancements.

Outreach AI Prospecting Agents represent a major leap forward in sales technology. These agents are designed to operate autonomously, handling tasks like account research, personalized outreach, and executing sales plays.

These AI prospecting agents go beyond simple automation—they are designed to seamlessly integrate into any sales team’s unique workflows, so whether you’re a fast-scaling startup or an enterprise-level organization they are designed to meet you where you are. They also work with both first-party and third-party data, enabling teams to leverage CRM insights, external buying signals, and even industry-specific data sources. Ultimately, it’s not about just improving productivity; it’s about transforming how sales teams approach prospecting altogether.

By eliminating hours of manual work, Outreach AI Prospecting Agents empower sellers to focus on what truly matters—building relationships, solving customer challenges, and driving revenue.

How do you feel AI agents are set to further transform the salestech landscape?

The sales landscape is increasingly complex, with higher demands for simple and flexible ways to deliver personalization and faster responses. AI agents do this by automating repetitive, manual tasks and turning data into actionable insights. They also offer scalability to help sales teams to reach more prospects and engage in more meaningful ways without adding to their workload. In essence, they make sales efforts more efficient and effective.

While initial use cases, such as automating account research and personalized outreach, have shown promising results, the potential for future applications is even more compelling. For example, AI agents could be used to assist with deal management by analyzing pipeline health and providing real-time recommendations on which deals to prioritize. AI agents could also streamline forecasting by dynamically analyzing historical trends and market signals to improve accuracy. In customer retention, these agents could proactively identify at-risk accounts and suggest tailored engagement strategies to maintain strong relationships and drive renewals.

The beauty of this technology lies in its flexibility. Some businesses may hesitate to hand over key functions of their sales process to a fully autonomous agent. That’s why Outreach gives customers a choice: AI novices can get started with human-led workflows where the AI simply recommends accounts and contacts to a human seller that executes the prospecting motion, and Sales teams with a higher level of AI maturity can quickly build and deploy fully autonomous agents that handle all aspects of prospecting and outreach.  Every sales team has unique workflows, and AI agents can be customized to fit these processes, whether it’s automating follow-ups, suggesting upselling opportunities, or even executing cross-functional sales plays that involve marketing or customer success teams.

Read More: SalesTechStar Interview with Chris Kelly, President of Go-To-Market (GTM) at Delinea

Can you talk about how some of the world’s leading sales teams have deployed AI agents to drive improved success?

AI Sales Agents will help revenue organizations get the most out of their sales team by removing non-selling tasks and providing assistance during live selling. As a result, these organizations will improve revenue outcomes at every funnel stage, including the new logo, retention, and expansion.

For example, customers deploying our AI Prospecting agents can expect to see them perform deep account research, craft relevant messages that convert, and autonomously execute prospecting tasks so their sellers have more time and opportunities for live, revenue-generating interactions with buyers.

What should sellers keep in mind as they make use of more AI-powered salestech to enable better sales cycles and results?

AI should complement human effort, not replace it. Sellers should focus on activities that require emotional intelligence and creativity, while leveraging AI to handle data-driven tasks. It’s also important to ensure data quality and alignment with the team’s workflows to maximize the impact of AI tools. That’s what we’re doing, we’re giving teams quality tools and quality data so they can focus on finding new prospects and keeping them happy.

Five predictions on the salestech ecosystem that will define the landscape in 2025?

1. AI to Deliver Measurable ROI in Sales – 2025 will mark the year AI delivers true bottom-line value, with sales teams leading the charge. Agentic AI will free sellers from administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value activities like building relationships and closing deals, driving rep efficiency and real ROI.
2. RevOps Gains Greater Influence – With AI adoption reaching maturity, RevOps will play a pivotal role in go-to-market strategy, overseeing the implementation and success of sales tools. This team will become the cornerstone of efficiency, ensuring alignment between tools, strategy, and pipeline impact.
3. Retention Becomes a Top Priority – With new logo acquisition facing challenges, retention and expansion of the existing customer base will dominate. Companies will shift resources to improve customer satisfaction, renewals, and upselling, making customer success a vital part of the sales strategy.

Read More: Hyper-Personalization in Sales Operations: A New Era of Customer Engagement