Funky Flywheels Show – der Podcast für B2B SaaS- & AI-Founder zwischen 1–10 Mio. ARR. · Björn W. Schäfer | Entrepreneur, Business Angel & Book Author

AI Marketing & Sales Tools That Actually Worked in 2025 + 2026 Predictions - EP 132 🇬🇧 | Theresa Engl & Lars Thalmann (@Holycode)

·23 min·1 clip

Clay gets attention, but Lars says it is ongoing work and not plug-and-play.

1. Funky Flywheels Show EP 132 focuses on AI marketing and sales tools that worked in 2025 and the 2026 outlook for B2B SaaS and AI founders. 2. Theresa Engl and Lars Thalmann from Holycode join Bjorn Schaefer, and Holycode’s growth journey to more than 150 enterprise clients is part of the context. 3. The episode asks which AI tools actually helped sales, prospecting, and expansion, and which automation is worth keeping. 4. Theresa says the goal is “no hype, no noise” and a clearer understanding of what AI can do in sales. 5. Lars frames the shift from mass outreach to consultative, value-based selling rather than sending hundreds of generic messages. 6. Theresa describes Read AI as an automated co-pilot that records calls, summarizes them, and reduces manual effort after meetings. 7. She says Read AI is connected to their CRM so they can see which meetings belong to which contact person. 8. Theresa adds that Read AI is used as a coaching tool for new salespeople so call quality stays more consistent across the company. 9. Lars says the tool also reveals buying signals in implementation meetings that software developers might miss. 10. Lars argues that the biggest AI impact for go-to-market is outbound engine optimization and automation. 11. He says mass outreaches with only a changed name and company were still common in 2024. 12. He says tailored, individualized AI-written outreach became the better alternative toward the end of 2024 and into 2025. 13. Lars says the same tech stack can also follow up on SQLs, opportunities, and upsell moments that were previously disqualified. 14. He says timing matters because leads become clients only within a short window of opportunity. 15. Lars compares Clay with Amplemarket and says Clay needs a lot of ongoing work, while Amplemarket is cheaper and more out of the box. 16. He says job changes, LinkedIn keywords, post engagement, and even G2 reviews of competitors can be useful signals. 17. Theresa says existing customers get newsletter-based communication through Mailchimp, with new services and special discounts. 18. Lars says content upcycling matters because AI can move content from one format to another without creating everything from scratch. 19. The conversation stays practical and interview-driven, with short follow-up questions, tool comparisons, and examples from Holycode’s own stack. 20. Listeners working on B2B SaaS sales operations will get the most value, while people looking for abstract AI theory will probably skip it.

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