In this episode, Matthew James and Timmy Hendrickson are joined by Nalin Senthamil, Founder and CEO of Storylane, to discuss the future of pre-sales and AI driving influence beyond pipeline. They explore how demo automation is transforming the self-serve buyer experience, the changing role of solutions engineers, and how AI can create 10X impact in pre-sales workflows. Nalin shares insights on leveraging AI for demo personalization, managing complex product integrations, and why the traditional discovery call may be dying.

To join the show live, follow the Presales Collective’s LinkedIn page or join the PSC Slack community for updates. The show is bi-weekly on Tuesdays, 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT.

Follow the Hosts

• Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/

• Connect with Timmy Hendrickson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmyhendrickson/

• Connect with Nalin Senthamil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalinpradeep/

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack

• Storylane: https://www.storylane.io/

Timestamps

00:04 Welcome

01:08 Nalin’s background and founding Storylane

03:08 What does a self-serve buyer experience look like?

08:18 How AI has changed presales

13:40 Training AI agents to answer technical questions

17:02 AI testing customer scenario

19:28 Overlooked use cases for demo automation

26:30 One workflow where AI can create 10X impact today

Key Topics Covered

1. The Death of Discovery Calls

   • Why buyers are coming to conversations already educated

   • How self-serve experiences span the entire buying journey

   • The role of AI sales agents in initial discovery

2. The Four Categories of SE Work

   • Relationship building and strategic solutioning

   • Demo delivery and POC management

   • Administrative tasks and CRM updates

   • Knowledge sharing and product insights

3. AI as an SE Sidekick

   • Demo preparation and tailoring automation

   • Administrative task reduction

   • Strategic thinking enhancement rather than replacement

4. Demo Automation Use Cases

   • Supporting different AE to SE ratios

   • Managing complex product integrations

   • Upsell and expansion opportunities

   • Micro-demos for specific features

5. Training AI for Technical Questions

   • Leveraging tribal knowledge from Slack, Google Drive, and call recordings

   • Importance of data quality and curation

   • Automatic ingestion of organizational knowledge

6. The Future of Pre-Sales

   • AI enabling faster iteration and personalization

   • Strategic partnership between CS and pre-sales for upsells

   • The evolution from technical support to strategic advisory roles

Jack and Jerome are back to dish on all things fast food in Las Vegas!

From guilty pleasure drive-thru favorites to childhood fast food

memories, the guys cover it all in this entertaining episode.

00:00 – Intro and catching up

01:23 – Favorite fast food picks

09:35 – Fast food nostalgia

14:00 – Airport food philosophy

21:38 – Starbucks food failures

25:05 – Fast food on the Las Vegas Strip

Jerome’s top picks: Wendy’s fries and Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, In-N-Out (but only when drinking)

Jack’s favorites: Jimmy John’s and Taco Bell’s Crunch Wrap Supreme

Next episode: Jack and Jerome will explore their favorite drinking spots in Las Vegas!

Jack Cochran is joined by Paul Krauss. We continue our conversation from the last episode. Today we explore how to better identify the things that lead to burnout and how to deal with it when you are experiencing high stress.

Book discussed during the interview: Panic Proof: The New Holistic Solution to End Your Anxiety Forever by Dr. Nicole Cain

Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, Counseling Supervisor, and Meditation Teacher. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today.

Lidia Vasileva joins us to talk about Stolen Focus and about getting into flow! Find Lidia on Linkedin or at https://www.packetmage.com/

This month’s book is Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. Pick up a copy (or don’t).

Be sure to check out https://demojockeys.com/ for our full list of past and upcoming books, previous episodes, and more.

Next month’s book is 4 Pillars of Critical Thinking by Patrik Ian Meyer.

Music: Iron Pan and The Wu Town Shuffle by Mr. Lincoln

00:00 Bump the Mic!

00:30 Middle seat

03:05 Welcome to DemoJockeys

03:52 The Interview

05:25 Did Lidia like the book?

08:21 It started good?

11:05 How lean is your phone?

15:11 Who is this book for?

18:35 Flowstate

26:40 Out o here