AI company's new office in the Crossroads gives it room to grow
Momentum in the AI sales space has allowed Sailes Inc. to move from a co-founder's bedroom, where it started in 2019 with a $100 deposit, into its first dedicated office space in the Crossroads Arts District.
“We're very much at a critical juncture where there’s a ton of interest in our space,” co-founder and CEO Nick Smith said. “We were very much a first-mover in what we call autonomous sales prospecting. With all the collaboration needed and all the innovation we're embarking on, it was important to have our own private space for our core team."
The AI company, which two weeks ago moved into a 3,528-square-foot office at 331 Southwest Blvd., previously shared a coworking space at Industrious on the Plaza. The new two-story office gives Sailes enough room to expand its 15-person local team to as many as 50, Smith said.
Revenue has grown 150% year-over-year, and it has tripled the active number of AI-programmed sales robots — called Sailesbots — it has deployed for customers just in the past 12 weeks, Smith said. Sailesbots are tailored to each individual employee and automate much of the sales prospecting process, from sending emails to identifying company contacts.
Sailes has added more than a dozen employees in the past year, bringing its total headcount to 31 employees, which includes a team that operates out of a coworking space in New York City. Those additions were partly fueled by a $5.1 million Series A round the company closed in September.
Smith attributed the company’s growth in part to being ahead of the AI adoption curve. Although the AI boom the past couple of years has created many competitors, Smith thinks Sailes has continued to stand out in the automated sales market because his team has had time to learn, adjust its offerings and roll out new products, such as its newer AI model, Sailesbot 2. But the company’s growth ultimately comes down to leveraging its product.
“Our product drives our growth,” Smith said. “Our salespeople use the product as well. They're paired with their own Sailesbot, and those Sailesbots do prospecting for them.”
Fueled by a surge in interest from clients, Sailes aims for a “bullish” 185% year-over-year revenue goal to end this year, Smith said. Customers include mostly enterprise companies with 500-plus employees, from Fortune 50 to Fortune 1000 companies in manufacturing, tech, banking and financial services.
Although Smith has relocated to New York to oversee Sailes’ footprint, he said the company remains dedicated to maintaining its headquarters in Kansas City. The company is inextricably tied to the metro, which is where some investors and Smith’s family are based.
Design elements in the Kansas City office pay homage to the metro and to the company’s five-year history. The conference rooms are named after key company milestones and places in the metro. The largest conference room is named Gladstone, the suburb where Smith grew up. Bright red doors fill the entryway, a reflection of Sailes red-and-black branding. But the color also connects back to KC.
“The color red is pretty special in Kansas City, for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Heart (Campaign), also Taylor Swift,” Smith said. “I like to say the heart of our team is in Kansas City.”
From the Kansas City Business Journal
