Episode 10: From Leads to Loyalty: How AI Agents Are Redefining Sales Workflows

Enformed Insights Podcast Ep. 10 Transcript – James Walker, CEO Number5.AI 

Alex Richter – 0:00 

Welcome to Enformed insights the official podcast of Enformion.com and your guide to the world of public records and data analysis. 

Join our host, Fred Pfeiffer, as he interviews industry experts and shares practical tips for navigating the future of digital information. 

Joining us today on Enformed Insights is James Walker, a tech entrepreneur and AI strategist known for building high growth companies at the intersection of voice technology automation and data.  

As CEO of Numbers AI he leads the development of AI powered voice agents that are transforming how businesses engage with their customers. 

With a background spanning SaaS, marketing tech, and real estate development, James brings a unique blend of operational depth and product innovation to every venture. 

Now, here’s your host, Fred Pfeiffer. 

Fred Pfeiffer – 0:48 

James, can you walk us through the origin story of Numbers? 

What inspired you to launch the company? 

James Walker – 0:54 

Yeah, I’ve been building sales teams for the past 25 years – Numbers has always been this dream and it’s to solve a problem it’s not just about tech and the problem is 

I see it is really trying to scale a company is that there’s inconsistency there’s drift there’s been a real change in work ethic 

you know when I started selling I was making 250 plus outbound dials a day 

SDRs don’t do that anymore and so I saw a massive opportunity to replace human follow UPS and sales processes with AI 

agents that could operate with speed precision and empathy you know so we built Numbers to automate that process 

turning voice AI really into a revenue generating engine rather than just a support tool. 

Fred – 1:40 

What’s the meaning behind the name Numbers AI, is there a story or vision that ties into the brand identity? 

James – 1:46 

It really ties to our background of telecom you know telecom business is all about numbers. 

Numbers represent both you know inputs and outputs of our platform but it also is a measurable impact 

the more calls made the more leads that are converted resulting in more revenue generated at the same time it’s a nod to how we think analytically iteratively and data first 

every decision is driven by numbers from how we optimize call flows to how we prove ROI. 

Fred – 2:16 

How was your leadership philosophy evolved since becoming CEO?  

James – 2:22 

You know early on I thought being a CEO meant solving every problem personally now I know it’s about building the right environment it’s about creating velocity and setting the direction 

you remove blockers and trust your team I’ve Learned that momentum and clarity are far more valuable than perfection and that adaptability always beats rigidity we’ve got to be able to be flexible and navigate to the market  

Fred – 2:48 

What is a core technology or AI model powering Numbers.AI solutions? 

James – 2:55 

So Numbers is powered by multiple transcription engines voice generators 

and LLM models all working synchronously it’s about creating that integration of systems further we use a proprietary dialog manager 

and multiple memory layers think of it this way we can have anywhere from one to 10 AI agents with the same voice and the same prime objective schedule a live demo but 

each agent is performing a specific part of the process this framework deploys a high performing voice first agent that can act with intelligent and context 

most challenges is that folks are trying to get AI agents to do too much it’s about stacking them all of this goes on behind the scenes and the end user experiences a seamless integration with one intelligent voice agent. 

Fred – 3:50 

In a crowded AI landscape, how does Numbers differentiate itself from competitors? 

James – 3:55 

You know Numbers is not a chat bot with a voice it’s a performance based AI agent trained for real sales workflows complex tasks with multiple AI calls 

like ACA enrollments Medicare quoting selling tires buying and selling cars.  

We focus on vertical specific outcomes with native integrations into CRS and real compliance handling most solutions stop at answering basic questions 

really just a glorified AI assistant we focus on measurable conversions. 

Fred – 4:30 

Can you share a recent use case that showcases the impact of your technology? 

James – 4:35 

Absolutely, one that comes to mind is a recent Medicare enrollment campaign 

our Autobot or we call our AI agents managed over 3,000 calls per day with response times under 10 seconds qualifying leads and seamlessly scheduling with licensed agents 

we have the ability to be able to inbound and take calls send calendar links schedule send confirmations etc. all seamlessly with the multiple AI 

bots working in that synchronous manner the outcome was a 36% increase in conversion rates a 72% reduction in required agent hours it’s a clear example of how AI can scale human capability. 

On average, what we see is every dollar invested in an AI agent delivers about a 10 dollar savings in human capital. 

Fred – 5:25 

I’m curious about the timeline of when you saw the advances in AI. So, 5 years ago I can’t even imagine having this type of discussion,  if you were picking up the phone 

and speaking with any type of AI agent 5 years ago, it probably wasn’t a great experience. 

So when did you really start to see the changes occur for the better? 

James – 5:44 

Yeah, great question. You know, the Autobotter AI agents that we employ today are something that I whiteboarded in 2015 and so you know 

we’ve been working on this for a decade and to your point they were horrible initially it was rough you know you’d ask a question it would be that 

you know it make this fake sound and then it would be this robotic voice what we really saw is the world changed about 18 months 

ago and that’s with the advent of open AI having the ability in an LLM a large language model to be able to at any given second have instant recall of 128 k 

ultimately that means is you think about it you know that’s a series of novels that AI has the ability that any given second have instant recall of and that instant recall really 

eliminated a large percentage of the hallucinations and it dramatically changed our ability to be able to do speech to text and then text to speech and that interaction is really what changed the game 

so in the last 24 months we’ve seen an incredible transformative increase in the number of AI agents we feel again our competitive advantage is 

you know we’ve been doing it for a decade and so we know really the ins and outs and that ability to be able to ultimately you know multiple AI agents working as one has really changed the game. 

Fred – 7:12 

What is your stance on ethical AI and responsible data usage and how does Numbers.AI embody those values? 

James – 7:20 

We believe that any AI that interacts with real people must meet or exceed the ethical clarity and trust standards we expect from human agents 

every interaction with our AI is opt in it’s explainable it’s fully transparent we anonymize all training data provide clear disclosures in every voice and SMS message and maintain strict compliance 

as an example completely HIPAA compliant all recordings all transcriptions everything is redacted sensitive data is removed so that privacy and peace of mind are ensured. 

Fred – 7:56 

How do you ensure the data that fuels your model is clean relevant and bias aware? 

James – 8:02 

Yeah, we control for quality at the input layer we curate the main specific data as example insurance industry automotive industry with our clients we apply strict formatting and validation rules 

of course we run AB performance testing to direct drift and bias additionally our AI agents are designed to clarify uncertainty rather than guess reducing the risk of bad data being acted upon. 

Fred – 8:28 

Who are your primary customers and what kinds of problems are they coming to Numbers.AI to solve? 

James – 8:35 

Many of our customers are in sales driven organizations operating in regulated high volume industries insurance is a great example automotive home services 

one of their biggest challenges is the speed to lead gap they simply can’t follow up with every inbound or aged lead fast enough with consistency and without drift 

Numbers bridges that gap with AI voice agents that respond within seconds qualify leads and drive immediate action whether it’s answering product questions 

or closing on a set of tires our AI delivers faster more consistent engagement 24/7, 365 days a year. 

They’re never sick they don’t have bad days, they’re not fighting with a spouse or a partner, they’re always at their best. 

Fred – 9:28 

how do you approach partnerships or integrations with other tech or data companies? 

James – 9:33 

I love that question you know we look at going deep not broad it’s about prioritizing high impact integrations where our AI agents operate 

the primary one being CRM, secondary certainly dialers quoting engines and analytic dashboards you know BI interfaces  

we also partner with data providers, kudos to you Fred to enhance personalization and real time decision making, every integration is engineered for performance 

not just connectivity ensuring our agents drive results not just activity it’s about conversions that affect the bottom line that return on investment. 

Fred – 10:12 

What metrics do you focus on most when evaluating growth and product success? 

James – 10:19 

I think this follows to the last question we track what matters most conversion rates, 

secondarily it would be abandon rate, human agent deflection, average handling time, certainly lead response SLAs and then of course revenue generated per seat by each AI agent 

on the business side we focus on MRR growth, sure, and campaign level ROI ensuring we’re not just scaling but consistently delivering outsized value. 

Fred – 10:50 

What emerging trends in AI 

or data science excite you the most right now 

James – 10:56 

You know certainly the rise of AI agent systems, you know, certainly stoked by that persistent autonomous agents that can plan act and learn over time 

when you combine that with voice memory and real world context they unlock entirely new business models this shift from passive chat interfaces glorified AI assistance 

to action oriented AI marks a leap a significant as the transition from static website to the dynamic web apps that we saw in the early 2000’s. 

Just like the dot com boom redefined how business operated online, we’re now entering an era where intelligent agents will define how businesses operate in the real world from now and evermore. 

Fred – 11:44 

Where do you see the biggest opportunities or challenges for AI in the next 3 to 5 years? 

James – 11:51 

Yeah, one of the most exciting frontiers in AI is expanding beyond what we would call deskbound knowledge workers into the real world of non desk workflows 

IE technicians field reps brokers mobile professionals these roles have traditionally been underserved by automation and digital tools due to the complexity and really 

the context rich nature of their tasks agent based AI combined with voice interface AR and mobile first design opens the door supporting these professionals in real time. 

On the other hand as AI moves from the back office optimization to front line decision making especially in regulated sectors like healthcare insurance and finance 

trust becomes the ultimate currency the challenge isn’t just technological it’s ethical and operational AI systems must be safe audible and aligned with both human intent and legal frameworks 

Fred – 12:51 

If you could give one piece of advice to early-stage founders in the AI space, what would it be? 

James – 12:59 

I love that question. Don’t build for novelty build for need start with the pain not the tech the AI that wins is the one that gets results in 

the real world not just the demo validate fast stay focused and no matter what keep shipping keep iterating your product technology is changing at an ever increasing rate 

so keep shipping and changing and you’ll meet the needs of your customers put them first and everything else takes care of itself. 

Fred – 13:34 

The following set of questions are actually being answered by James Walker’s AI Voice: 

How do you balance AI performance with user experience especially in voice based interactions? 

James (Altered Voice – AI) – 13:47 

That’s a great question balancing AI performance with user experiencing voice based interactions is all about making the AI 

feel both responsive and natural at Numbers we design AI to perform like a machine but sound like a person this means we focus on quick response times while maintaining a natural conversational flow. 

Our AI agents listen first and then respond clearly ensuring they don’t interrupt or repeat themselves unnecessarily it’s all about creating a smooth and human like interaction. 

We prioritize empathy at scale ensuring our AI delivers results without sacrificing the human touch by constantly analyzing drop offs sentiment and behavior in real time. 

We find tune our conversations for both performance and user experience so it’s a mix of technical precision and how the AI operates in a thoughtful design approach 

to make interactions feel effortless and engaging for the user. 

Fred – 14:35 

Where does the human still matter most in your process and how do you design AI to work alongside them? 

James (AI) – 14:43 

Humans are invaluable in moments requiring nuance judgment and relationship building particularly in complex or emotionally sensitive situations 

our AI handles the repetitive time consuming tasks like lead qualification scheduling and data collection allowing human professionals to focus on interpersonal 

aspects such as closing deals advising clients and empathizing and nuanced conversations essentially the AI doesn’t replace human roles 

but enhances them by acting as an intelligent tireless assistant this collaboration allows humans to do what they do best which is building relationships and making informed decisions. 

Fred – 15:20 

Do your customers ever worry about replacing human jobs, how do you reframe that conversation? 

James (AI) – 15:27 

Absolutely, it comes up often but we reframe the conversation from replacement to redeployment our AI agents don’t eliminate jobs 

they eliminate the tasks humans don’t want to do repetitive follow UPS chasing cold leads or data entry that allows teams to redeploy talent to higher impact work like closing 

cross selling or customer success it’s about shifting from volume to value when framed this way AI becomes a growth enabler not a threat. 

Fred – 15:53 

James, thank you so much for joining us on the Enformed Insights podcast, I really look forward to seeing where Numbers goes in the future.  

For our listeners, can you share where they can find you? 

James – 16:04 

absolutely you can reach us certainly at our website that is “Number 5 dot AI” or call us at (800) 798-5555 for an interactive demo with one of our Autobots today. 

Fred – 16:20 

Great, thank you so much James. 

Alex – 16:24 

Thanks for listening to Enformed insights, to learn more or listen to another episode please visit Enformion.com.