From DeepMind to 200 Customers in 20 Countries: Building the Execution Layer for Sales | Adam Liska, CEO of Airspeed

The single most expensive sentence in sales is "I'll follow up on that." Adam Liska joins Sophie Buonassisi on GTMnow to break down the "execution gap," the space between knowing what to do in a deal and actually doing it, and why that gap is where most pipeline quietly dies.Adam left DeepMind's Gemini team in 2022, pre-ChatGPT, to build a native revenue execution platform now serving 200 customers across 20 countries (recently rebranded and fresh off a $20M Series A). In this conversation, he gets specific on what is actually changing in the sales role, what should be automated, and why he thinks this is about to be the golden age for sales reps.What you'll learn:- Why "I'll follow up on that" is the most expensive promise in revenue, and how the execution gap compounds from rep to manager to CRO- What parts of the rep workflow to automate now (research, CRM updates, business cases, follow-ups) and what stays human- Why AI is squeezing middle management, not reps, and flattening GTM orgs- How per-rep coaching changes when every call is recorded, shared, and analyzed for patterns- The "corrective action" approach to coaching deals on the job, in real time- How to sell globally when borders disappear but local-language talent still matters- Why in-person events drove 70% of early pipeline, and how that compounds with cold calling- How to keep your team at the AI frontier by never locking into a single model- Adam's #1 piece of advice for first-time founders (hint: it starts with your co-founder)Chapters:00:00 Why AI won't replace sales reps00:22 Leaving DeepMind's Gemini team pre-ChatGPT01:18 What airspeed does and the "execution gap"02:07 "I'll follow up on that": the most expensive promise in sales03:28 The $20M Series A and the rebrand from Glyphic05:30 Why walk away from frontier AI research at DeepMind07:17 Leading when the frontier models keep changing08:39 Buy vs. build, and keeping customers at the AI frontier11:03 Landing the first 200 customers across 20 countries12:41 Advice for first-time founders14:04 Selling globally and what AI changes about language17:07 What the sales rep role looks like in an AI-first world19:24 How reps and leaders should start automating today20:51 The channels driving results right now22:41 How AI makes per-rep coaching actually work25:14 Building an execution-first culture27:10 The DeepMind departure story28:51 Building in London vs. selling in the US30:43 Adam's favorite AI use case as a busy CEO31:26 The biggest misconception about AI in salesHost: Sophie Buonassisi, SVP at GTMnowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/X: https://x.com/sophiebuonaGuest: Adam Liska, Co-founder and CEO at AirspeedX: https://x.com/adliskaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adliska/About the guest: Adam is the co-founder and CEO of Airspeed (formerly glyph), a native revenue execution platform that closes the gap between knowing what to do in a deal and executing on it. Before founding the company, he worked at DeepMind on the team that became Gemini. About GTMnow: GTMnow is the media arm of GTMfund, sharing the strategies, tactics, and stories from the operators and investors building the next generation of go-to-market.Visit us on: https://gtmnow.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnowFollow us on X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_nowFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/The GTMnow Podcast The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.