In this episode of the Intelligent Sales Podcast, Vijay Raja Gopalan, Partner & General Manager at Microsoft, joins Vishnu Shankar, VP of Data and Platforms at Draup, to unpack Microsoft’s multi-year transformation toward agentic sales workflows—and what it takes to move from CRM-first selling to AI-first selling experiences.

Vijay shares how Microsoft evolved from AI as a “companion” (recommendations and next-best actions) to agent-driven flows that can help acquire customers, nurture leads, and accelerate deal velocity, especially in complex enterprise licensing environments. He also breaks down the biggest adoption lesson: sellers don’t instantly build “prompting muscle memory,” so product teams must design for habit loops, great first-run experiences, and seamless transitions between sales chat and CRM when needed.

The discussion includes topics such as how the consistency of the customer data is non-negotiable in terms of the agentic strategies, how AI enables new opportunities in creating inclusive selling experiences in terms of voice and language, and how AI, as an enabler of new-age products, asks business leaders to embrace non-determinism, speed, and the concept of continuous improvement rather than perfection.

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Quotes:

“Don’t start with the technology. Start with what’s the business problem we’re trying to solve.” – Vijay Raja Gopalan

“[When] we shipped something… sellers would use it for a few days and then disengage and go back to CRM.” – Vijay Raja Gopalan

“Having a really strong data strategy is very important… a single source of truth is key to any agentic strategy.” – Vijay Raja Gopalan

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#agenticai #aisales #salesenablement #copilot #salesproductivity #crm #datastrategy #aigovernance #enterpriseSales #customersuccess #revenueintelligence #salestransformation #microsoft #draup #intelligentsales
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Moments You Can’t Miss:

02:10 – Fully agentic vs assisted agentic flows (and where each works)
03:30 – The early adoption surprise: prompts, habit loops, and seller behavior change
06:10 – Why “single source of truth” data is critical for trust in AI experiences
10:00 – Leadership lesson: shipping in a non-deterministic world
11:05 – The “Know Your Customer” starting point and account research agents
15:10 – Governance + evals + interoperability: scaling agentic transformation
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Key Takeaways:

- Adoption is a product + behavior problem: Sellers need guided prompts, great first-run experiences, and incentives to build new “habit loops” in sales chat.
- Agentic selling is a spectrum: Some segments can be fully autonomous, while others work best with assisted agent flows to accelerate core tasks like deal creation and quoting.
- Trust begins with data: If there is a disconnect between CRM and the agent experience, trust is not there for sellers.
- AI-first products require a new leadership mindset: Drop the need for perfection, determinism, and switch to speed, iteration, and fast-follow improvements.
- Governance and Interoperability are scaling levers: Well-functioning evals, deployment discipline, and agent-to-agent protocols are helping large enterprise adoption scale faster.
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More About Vijay Raja Gopalan & Microsoft Customer Zero:
Microsoft’s Customer Zero program makes Microsoft the first large-scale user of its own products. Microsoft Digital (internal IT) deploys new technology across the company, tests it in real-world conditions, and shares feedback with engineering teams to improve the product before and after it reaches customers.

More on Draup:
Draup is an AI-powered intelligence platform that supports over 200 global organizations in enhancing their talent and sales strategies. Draup enables enterprises to make informed decisions in workforce planning, talent acquisition, and account-based marketing

In this episode of Intelligent Sales, Kieran Thakky, Director of Marketing at HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions, joins Vamsee Tirukkala, CCO at Draup, for a candid conversation on how AI and data are transforming marketing today. Kieran tells us that differentiation is not in dashboards but in how fast marketers can act, contextualize, and build real conversations.

From intent signal layering to AI-led campaigns, he explores how speed, accuracy, and personalization are transforming ABM. Kieran also discusses the upgraded marketer's toolkit, where customer empathy and curiosity rule supreme, and why AI must be viewed as a facilitator rather than a replacement.

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Quotes

“Now 2025 is shaping up to be a year of precision personalization and speed. And AI has a bigger part to play in all of this.” – Kieran Thakky

“It is not about running a campaign. It is about building conversations.” – Kieran Thakky

“I think AI is more of an enabler. And also for the existing talent, they need to spend some time in understanding the prompts. And when we talk about the future, I think this will be our second nature.” – Kieran Thakky

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Moments you can’t miss!
00:57 – How big data and AI are reshaping ABM
03:18 – The real difference maker: sense-making, speed, and context
06:22 – Why layering intent signals beats chasing one data point
08:09 – 2025: The year of marketing velocity and accuracy of personalization
14:52 – The #1 post-Gen AI skill: curiosity

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Key Takeaways

Data alone isn’t the differentiator – Everyone will have access to the same intent signals and dashboards. What differentiates you is the speed with which you analyze the data, bring context to it, and take action with velocity to create related conversations.

AI is driving accuracy and speed – From real-time understanding to campaign optimization, AI is revolutionizing marketing. It can deliver engagement at the right time, conduct A/B testing at scale, and dynamically optimize messages so teams have time to concentrate on strategy instead of manual operation.

Layering signals does matter – One intent signal is not sufficient. Add hiring behavior, executive changes, and content consumption to fully get to know an account's journey before prospecting.

Curiosity is the key skill – In an age where AI performs the work, it's not technical ability that is the key skill; it's curiosity. Marketers who are curious, question, dig deeper into culture and data, and connect dots in new ways will drive the way.

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More on HARMAN

Founded in 1980 and now owned by Samsung, HARMAN International is a global leader in connected solutions for the automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets. With 30,000+ employees worldwide and brands like JBL, Harman Kardon, and AKG, HARMAN supplies great sound and connected solutions to millions every day.

More on Draup
Draup is an AI-powered intelligence platform that supports over 200 global organizations in enhancing their talent and sales strategies. Draup enables enterprises to make informed decisions in workforce planning, talent acquisition, and account-based marketing by providing multi-dimensional global labor market data.

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Links
Vamsee Tirukkala: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vamseet/
Kieran Thakky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirantakkey/
Draup: https://draup.com/
HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions: https://services.harman.com/

In this episode of Draup Dialogues, Vamsee Tirukkala, CCO of Draup is joined by Asheesh Raina, Vice President of Growth Intelligence at Genpact. Together, they delve into the nuances of sales intelligence, revenue growth, and leveraging AI to unlock new growth opportunities.

Asheesh, who previously held leadership roles at Accenture and Gartner, leads Genpact’s Growth Intelligence Unit, strategically aligning intelligence with organizational revenue objectives. He emphasizes the necessity of embedding sales intelligence throughout the sales lifecycle, from initial customer discovery to closing deals.

He highlights the challenges of handling an overload of information and the critical importance of distilling it into credible, actionable insights for sales teams. Asheesh shares Genpact's approach of hyper-personalizing insights internally to support sales executives in achieving their short-term and strategic objectives.

Addressing the significance of trust and credibility, Asheesh explains how meticulously curated intelligence translates directly into tangible revenue opportunities. He also discusses navigating compliance, privacy concerns, and maintaining ethical intelligence practices.

AI has become central to Genpact’s sales intelligence strategy, drastically reducing turnaround times and enhancing the precision of insights. Asheesh describes how integrating AI-powered solutions like Draup empowers teams to prioritize high-value sales opportunities effectively.

Under his leadership, Genpact continues to evolve its tech stack significantly, becoming an early adopter and internal innovator before rolling out advanced AI solutions to customers. He emphasizes the importance of leveraging intelligent extrapolation to educate customers and enhance engagement.

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#salesintelligence #revenuegrowth #aiinsales #growthintelligence #accountbasedmarketing #aiinnovation #sales #salestech #gotomarket

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More on Draup:
Draup is an AI-powered intelligence platform that supports over 200 global organizations in enhancing their talent and sales strategies. Draup enables enterprises to make informed decisions in workforce planning, talent acquisition, and account-based marketing by providing multi-dimensional global labor market data.

More on Genpact:
Genpact is a global professional services firm delivering outcomes that transform businesses and shape the future. They guide enterprises through digital transformations using AI-driven solutions, analytics, and deep industry expertise.

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Social media:
Vamsee Tirukkala: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vamseet/
Asheesh Raina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asheesh-raina-51737a2/
Draup: https://draup.com/
Genpact: https://www.genpact.com/