Inside Clay: Yash Tekriwal on Using AI to Power Human-Centered Sales

In this episode, Stacey sits down with Yash Tekriwal, Head of Education at Clay, to dive deep into how AI is reshaping go-to-market teams, not by replacing people, but by empowering them. Yash shares Clay’s philosophy of “automating the inhumane” so sales and marketing teams can focus on what really matters: building relationships and driving impact. They talk data hygiene, AI adoption hurdles, and why clean, enriched data is the unsung hero behind every successful GTM strategy. Whether you're a CMO trying to modernize your stack or just wondering where to start with AI, Yash offers clarity, tactical advice, and a glimpse into Clay’s unique approach to AI-powered growth.

Transcript

Stacey Epstein (00:34):
Today on the podcast, we have a company that might just be my most requested guest. Yash Tekriwal, Head of Education at Clay — welcome to the show.

Yash Tekriwal (00:47):
Thanks for having me. I'm stoked to chat.

Stacey Epstein (00:49):
It’s awesome to have you. Let’s start with getting to know you. Tell us a bit about your background and how you ended up at Clay.

Yash Tekriwal (00:59):
Yeah, I haven’t thought about this in a while! I’d say I’m a pretty eclectic person — professionally and personally. People have looked at my LinkedIn and asked, “What do you actually do?” And honestly, some still don’t know.

I’ve done a lot over the years — I started as an edtech founder, then became a high school teacher, then a coach for entrepreneurs. I’ve worked in data science, product, venture capital… and I came back to startups, failed a bit, and learned a lot.

What’s been consistent is that I’ve always been in the startup ecosystem. I stumbled into it in college and just fell in love with creating, building, solving problems.

As for Clay — I heard about the company a few years before it really broke out. I was deep into the no-code and automation space, and a friend of mine who had been in one of my education programs mentioned he was consulting for them. That friend, Varun, eventually became one of Clay’s co-founders.

Stacey Epstein (02:06):
Wow.

Yash Tekriwal (02:14):
Varun would ping me for feedback on the product — what I liked, what I didn’t. This was back when Clay was still a horizontal automation tool — it could do everything, but nothing super well.

Over time, Varun helped steer the product toward solving real pain points — especially in go-to-market and sales. I became more and more impressed with the product. Eventually, when my last company wound down, I finally said yes to joining Clay. My only regret is not jumping in sooner.

Stacey Epstein (03:33):
That’s fascinating. It sounds like your journey and Clay’s journey kind of ran in parallel — lots of experimentation and learning until things started to click.

Yash Tekriwal (03:57):
I’ve never thought of it that way, but yeah, I think that’s spot on.

Stacey Epstein (04:02):
Well, congrats. I’ve done a lot of things in my career too — mostly in B2B SaaS — and my husband is actually a high school teacher. I often tell young people: it doesn’t really matter what you do long term, it just matters what you do next. You learn from every step.

Yash Tekriwal (04:38):
Totally. And I think the world is becoming more kind to “expert generalists.” For years, career advice focused on specialization. But having range and perspective is becoming more valuable.

Stacey Epstein (04:44):
Yes! OK, well maybe one day I’ll start a podcast about life journeys — but today, let’s talk about Clay. I love where you’re focusing — on the GTM lifecycle. It’s such a broad and interesting space. Start by telling us what problem Clay is solving.

Yash Tekriwal (05:17):
The answer to that has evolved over time. Clay solves a lot of problems, but it solves them in the order they matter most.

One of the most powerful — and intimidating — things about Clay is how flexible it is. You can do outbound, inbound, CRM enrichment, ABM, sourcing... but the key is: order matters. You can’t do everything at once. You have to crawl, walk, run — and most companies aren’t even crawling when it comes to data.

The foundation is clean, reliable, accurate data. That’s where Clay starts. We partner with 150+ data providers — and instead of you stitching them all together yourself, Clay integrates them for you.

Stacey Epstein (07:47):
As a CMO, I don’t walk around saying “data is my biggest problem” — but when I think hard about what’s holding us back, it always comes back to data. Clean data could unlock everything — for marketing, sales, CS, product — all of it.

Yash Tekriwal (08:21):
Exactly. Most GTM leaders say their biggest challenge is pipeline. But if you trace the symptoms back, they almost always stem from poor data.

And now, with AI everywhere, people are trying to layer fancy tools on top of messy, inaccurate data. It doesn’t work.

Stacey Epstein (08:44):
Yes! That’s a huge part of why I do this podcast — to help people see that you can’t just skip to the AI layer. You need to fix the foundation first.

Yash Tekriwal (09:23):
Totally. And honestly, people underestimate how good today’s AI can be — because their first experiences weren’t great. But often the issue isn’t the AI — it’s the inputs and the setup.

And the quality of these tools is improving every few weeks. You have to build a habit of curiosity, of re-trying things.

Stacey Epstein (11:37):
Absolutely. It's such a fast-moving space — and so many GTM leaders are asking: Where do I start?

They know they need to adopt AI. They use ChatGPT, but that only gets them so far. They don’t have time to test a dozen tools every week. So — what do you tell them?

Yash Tekriwal (13:11):
Great question. Here’s what I’d say — both the Clay answer and the non-Clay answer.

Start with data. Almost everyone I talk to knows their data is a mess. Fewer realize it’s why they’re struggling to implement AI effectively. So: enrich your data first.

But don’t stop there. That’s just the beginning. Once your data is enriched, the question becomes: Where can I apply this to create real value?

For most teams, the starting point is pipeline generation — outbound, inbound, and especially PLG signups. If someone signs up for your product, they’re already showing intent. Clay lets you instantly enrich that record, route it appropriately, and automate personalized follow-up.

Stacey Epstein (15:40):
So does this mean lead scoring becomes obsolete?

Yash Tekriwal (15:46):
Not obsolete — but automated. You still need a rigorous scoring model. But now, instead of an SDR manually reviewing every lead, Clay can automatically enrich and score every signup, and trigger the right follow-up motion based on lead grade.

Stacey Epstein (17:13):
And that means we can finally kill the long forms!

Yash Tekriwal (17:21):
Exactly. No one should be filling out a form with 10 fields anymore. You can get all that data automatically with an email address or LinkedIn URL.

Stacey Epstein (18:06):
OK, so now you know who to call on — what happens next?

Yash Tekriwal (18:12):
Now the focus shifts to making your team more human — not less. Clay helps automate everything up to the first touch, but once a rep is engaged, it’s about enabling them to be their best.

We send every AE a full call brief each morning — who they’re meeting with, what that person cares about, what their company’s been up to, etc. It's like having a chief of staff. They walk into meetings fully prepared.

Stacey Epstein (21:22):
Yes! It’s like treating your reps like senior execs. No CEO dives into their day without prep — and now your team doesn’t have to either.

Yash Tekriwal (23:33):
Exactly. For the first time, you can have both quantity and quality in sales. And that’s the unlock.

Stacey Epstein (24:12):
It’s also about trust. People don’t just buy the best tool — they buy from people they trust. And enabling that human connection is everything.

Yash Tekriwal (25:43):
Totally. The best companies aren’t just automating outreach — they’re empowering humans to build relationships.

And while Clay started in sales, the same principles apply across the org. Marketers can build personalized landing pages. CS teams can get full customer digests and renewal health insights. It’s the same engine — just pointed at different problems.

Stacey Epstein (27:13):
So how big does a team need to be to use Clay?

Yash Tekriwal (27:24):
Honestly, one or two people can run everything we talked about. The hard part is finding those people — people who know how to think in systems, use tools like Zapier or Make, maybe write a little code. We're going to see a lot more demand for that kind of “GTM engineer.”

Stacey Epstein (28:41):
Got it. That’s a job description right there! Well, this was an amazing conversation — and yes, we went long, but totally worth it. Let’s do a round two sometime soon.

Yash Tekriwal (29:08):
I’d love that. Thanks for having me — and for the great questions. You helped me reflect in ways I haven’t before.

Stacey Epstein (29:13):
Thanks, Yash!