ElevenLabs embeds AI engineers in sales and legal teams

Voice AI firm ElevenLabs is embedding engineers into every non-technical team to supercharge automation and skills.

In a talk released by Sequoia Capital, ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski detailed his company's unusual new strategy of placing a software engineer inside every non-technical department.

This forward-thinking approach means that teams handling sales, legal matters, and HR will soon have a dedicated engineering expert embedded directly within their operational structure.

"Our people team, our go-to-market team, our legal team will have an engineer in that team," Staniszewski said, as reported by Business Insider.

He explained the embedded engineer "helps to build automation and upskill, uplevel the rest of the people," a move the CEO believes is key for modern companies.

The 'embedded engineer' strategy at ElevenLabs

For those unversed, Staniszewski co-founded the voice AI firm in 2022, and the company has since experienced a period of explosive and significant growth.

The London-based company had already grown to 350 employees by last November and subsequently announced a massive $500 million funding round in February. This latest funding round successfully brought its total valuation to a staggering $11 billion, with the strategic move reflecting a growing culture of internal self-sufficiency.

Staniszewski revealed that his non-technical teams are already successfully building their own internal tools, working on everything from the hiring process to detailed business analysis.

A new scoring system was recently introduced for the sales department, which has reportedly streamlined the difficult negotiations process with many potential new customers. 

He said the new tool has saved many back-and-forth conversations because the sales staff now have much clearer guidelines on contract provisions and negotiation points.

How micro-teams and automation drive growth

The voice AI company is already well known for its unique organisational model where its workforce is strategically divided into a series of around 20 "micro-teams."

These small, autonomous pods, which typically have between five and ten people each, are often described by observers as being like "mini-startups" within the company.

Each one of these specialized teams is given complete end-to-end ownership of a product area, a structure that allows them to move incredibly fast and iterate quickly. This focus on automation and internal upskilling is a cornerstone of the ElevenLabs strategy.

A growing AI industry trend: Total ownership

This innovative model of total ownership is becoming increasingly popular throughout the AI industry because it fosters greater collaboration and effectively breaks down departmental silos.

Industry experts note that the rapid advancement of AI is leading to flatter organisational structures where vital information flows more freely and crucial decisions are made much faster.

Within this new model, even the core engineering teams are responsible for their own marketing, often handling everything from initial product design to final promotional activities.

Bosses at other prominent AI start-ups like Cognition agree with this approach, viewing this high level of ownership as an absolutely essential trait for all employees.

"You see a problem, solve the problem," said Emily Cohen, who heads people and operations at Cognition. "We're not the classic company that's just like, 'Oh, well that's that team's job,'" she explained last month.

Other major tech players in the industry are also following suit, as OpenAI recently launched its own "Deployment Company" specifically for its valuable enterprise clients. This new venture from OpenAI will strategically place "forward deployed engineers" inside client organisations in order to help them more easily integrate complex AI models.