Artisan AI
| Artisan | |
Company type | Private |
| Industry | Artificial intelligence SaaS |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Jaspar Carmichael-Jack Rupert Dodkins Sam Stallings |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jaspar Carmichael-Jack (CEO) |
Number of employees | 35 (2025)[1] |
| Website | artisan |
Artisan AI, Inc., doing business as Artisan, is an American software company headquartered in San Francisco.[2][3] It builds specialized AI agents known as "Artisans" for business automation.[4]
History
[edit]Founding and early development
[edit]Artisan was founded in 2023 by Jaspar Carmichael-Jack and Sam Stallings.[5][6] The company participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2024[7] cohort and raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding shortly after its founding.[8][1]
In April 2024, Artisan launched the second version of its platform, introducing autonomous functionality that allowed its AI agents to send communications without human approval.[6] This release shifted the product from a workflow assistant into a system that could execute sales tasks end to end, including prospecting, email sequencing, and meeting scheduling.
Funding history
[edit]In September 2024, Artisan received $11.5 million in a seed funding round led by angel investor Oliver Jung, bringing total funding to about $21 million by the end of 2024.[9][10]
In April 2025, Artisan announced a $25 million Series A funding round from multiple investors including Y Combinator and HubSpot Ventures.[8][1] By early 2025, Artisan reported Annual recurring revenue of approximately $5 million.[1] Ming Li, formerly with Deel, Rippling, and TikTok, was appointed as chief technology officer in 2025[1] but left Artisan after a 7 month long tenure.
Marketing campaigns
[edit]Artisan received media attention in December 2024 for an advertising campaign in San Francisco featuring the slogan "Stop Hiring Humans".[11][12][13] The campaign generated both criticism and support, with some advertisements reportedly vandalized.[14][15] Carmichael-Jack stated that the campaign was intended to provoke conversation about the role of AI in the workforce.[16][17]
In April 2025, Artisan ran an April Fools' campaign claiming an AI had replaced its CEO, presented as a satirical response to concerns about AI-driven job displacement.[18][1]
AI agents
[edit]Artisan develops AI-based digital workers, known as Artisans, designed to support human teams and automate routine business functions such as lead generation.[10] The agents are positioned as digital colleagues that can perform tasks such as B2B sales outreach, lead qualification, and follow-up communication.
Its first AI worker, Ava, acts as an AI business development representative (BDR), automating the business development workflow.[9] Users can manage and interact with Ava through the Artisan platform, which integrates with third-party platforms such as Slack, HubSpot, and Salesforce.[9] As of 2025, Artisan reports that customers use Ava for prospect research, personalized cold email generation, and meeting scheduling.
As of 2025, Artisan is developing additional AI agents for other business departments, including recruiting, customer support, and operations.[19][1]
AI solutions
[edit]Artisan’s platform includes several AI agents designed to automate common business workflows. Its primary product, Ava, functions as an AI business development representative and automates tasks such as lead sourcing, personalized email drafting, follow-up sequencing, and meeting scheduling.[9]
In addition to Ava, Artisan has announced that it is developing agents for customer support, recruiting, and operations. These planned tools are intended to handle tasks such as ticket triage, candidate outreach, resume screening, internal reporting, and other repetitive workflows across business teams.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Bort, Julie (April 9, 2025). "Artisan, the 'stop hiring humans' AI agent startup, raises $25M -- and is still hiring humans". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Meet the humans behind the 'stop hiring humans' ad campaign". San Francisco Standard. April 7, 2025.
- ^ Belpiede, Vincenzo (October 21, 2024). "L'imprenditore di 23 anni che sta eliminando i lavori noiosi (e chi li svolge) con l'AI". Millionaire.
- ^ "AI-powered digital colleagues are here. Some 'safe' jobs could be vulnerable". BBC. November 30, 2023.
- ^ Blum, Sam (October 10, 2024). "This 23-Year-Old AI Entrepreneur Has a Brazen Plan to Eliminate Boring Jobs. Why It Might Work". Inc.
- ^ a b "Artisan AI raises $7.3M to develop autonomous AI employees". Tech.eu. May 16, 2024.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYe-he1knQ
- ^ a b Stokes, Samantha. "Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck startup Artisan used to raise $25 million to replace some human employees with AI agents". Business Insider.
- ^ a b c d Shunina, Dasha. "Artisan Raises $11.5 Million Seed Round To Launch AI Employee For Sales Teams". Forbes.
- ^ a b Nuñez, Michael (September 30, 2024). "Artisan raises $11.5M to deploy AI 'employees' for sales teams". VentureBeat.
- ^ Ropek, Lucas (December 10, 2024). "AI Firm's 'Stop Hiring Humans' Billboard Campaign Sparks Outrage". Gizmodo.
- ^ Edwards, Benj (December 10, 2024). "AI company trolls San Francisco with billboards saying "stop hiring humans"". Ars Technica.
- ^ Paul, James (April 7, 2025). "'Stop Hiring Humans' Billboard By Company Selling AI Digital Workers Triggers The Internet: 'Dystopian AF'". Mashable.
- ^ Council, Stephen. "'They hate people': Bleak tech billboards spark angst in San Francisco". SFGate.
- ^ Fear, Natalie (November 3, 2024). "These bizarre AI billboards are a dystopian nightmare". Creative Bloq.
- ^ Vaziri, Aidin. "San Francisco AI company CEO says 'Stop Hiring Humans' ads are a marketing success". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ ""Deja de contratar humanos": la polémica campaña que une inteligencia artificial y trabajo". El Economista. December 12, 2024.
- ^ Buntz, Brian (April 1, 2025). "Artisan's controversial AI CEO: Inside the April Fools' stunt". Research & Development World.
- ^ "San Francisco tech startup advertises replacing people with 'AI employees'". December 3, 2024.