AI Hires or Human Hustle? Startup Ops at Disrupt 2025
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a panel discussion on the Builders Stage sparked debate about the future of startup operations. The topic: replacing or augmenting early employees with AI agents. Caleb Peffer, founder and CEO of Firecrawl, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, founder and CEO of Artisan, and Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice and former Salesforce president and CMO, shared their experiences on using AI to automate tasks such as outbound sales, billing, and customer support.
The panelists emphasized the potential benefits of integrating AI into startup operations. "We're not just talking about replacing humans with machines," said Peffer. "We're creating a new class of employees that can scale with clean data and interact with the live web in ways that were previously impossible." Carmichael-Jack added, "Our goal is to make AI employees indistinguishable from human ones."
The discussion centered around the use of AI agents in go-to-market teams. Artisan's Stop Hiring Humans campaign has gained attention for its bold approach to replacing sales and marketing teams with code. Franklin noted that scaling companies requires a combination of human intuition and data-driven decision-making, but acknowledged the potential benefits of AI augmentation.
Background context is essential to understanding this trend. The rise of low-code development platforms and advancements in natural language processing have made it possible for startups to integrate AI into their operations from day one. This shift has significant implications for the future of work, as companies begin to question the role of human employees in tasks that can be automated.
Additional perspectives on the panel included insights from seasoned operators who are exploring the boundaries between human and machine. "We're not just talking about replacing humans with machines," said Peffer. "We're creating a new class of employees that can scale with clean data and interact with the live web in ways that were previously impossible."
The current status of AI adoption in startups is rapidly evolving. According to Peffer, Firecrawl has already helped over 350,000 developers plug AI directly into the live web. Artisan's $35 million raise will further accelerate its efforts to build AI employees starting with sales.
As the tech industry continues to grapple with the implications of AI on work and society, Disrupt 2025 provided a platform for startups and established companies to share their experiences and insights. The discussion highlighted the need for a nuanced understanding of the role of AI in startup operations and its potential to augment human capabilities rather than replace them.
When: October 27-29
Where: San Francisco's Moscone West
Who: Caleb Peffer, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Sarah Franklin
What: Panel discussion on using AI agents in startup operations
*Reporting by Techcrunch.*
