Artisan

AI employees that take on real work, starting with sales

4.1Score#148 of 999 agents#8 of 44 in SDR

Why it ranks #148

Artisan, an AI SDR from YC W24, ranks #148 of 999 AI agents and #8 of 44 in SDR, with a score of 4.1 of 10. Data as of 3 Oct 2026.

The score adds four parts, each 0 to 10, by weight. Every point comes from public evidence. How scoring works ·

Proof 0 × 30% 0.0
Scale 9 × 30% 2.7
Momentum 2 × 25% 0.5
Autonomy 6 × 15% 0.9
= 4.1

Proof
Do customers use it? 30% of the score
0
No public claims of customers or revenue yet.
Not found: revenue or growth (+4), named customers (+3), a customer result (+2), a customer count (+2), work done at scale (+2)
Scale
Is there a real company behind it? 30% of the score
9
50 people, raised $25M.
- +6
  50 people on its YC page50 to 99 people
- +3
  Largest of 4 rounds: $25MArtisan, the 'stop hiring humans' AI agent startup, raises $25M -- and is still hiring humans | TechCrunchSource · 9 Apr 2025
Momentum
Is it shipping and growing now? 25% of the score
2
Shows hiring.
- +2
  Hiring: 4 open rolesBuilder, Forward Deployed GTM Architect, Founding Growth MarketerYC page
Not found: launch YC post in the last 6 months (+3), new traction claim in the last 6 months (+2), funding news in the last year (+2), a batch in the last year (it is YC Winter 2024) (+1)
Autonomy
How much of the job does it do on its own? 15% of the score
6
Supervised agent: takes actions in other systems; a person approves key steps.
- +6
  Level 2 of 4: Supervised agentTakes actions in other systems; a person approves key steps.
What the model read
- Acts in other systems: 92% likely
- Finishes whole tasks: 30% likely
- Calls itself an agent: 96% likely
Level 2: Takes actions in other systems; a person approves key steps.

About Artisan

Artisan builds AI employees, called Artisans, that take on real work and help teams accomplish more. Our mission is to build AI employees that can take responsibility for work across a broad range of roles and industries.

Our first three Artisans focus on sales:

Ava is our outbound AI BDR. She finds and researches prospects, runs personalized outreach, handles replies, and books meetings.

Aaron is our inbound AI SDR. He engages website visitors, answers questions, qualifies leads, and books meetings with the right person.

Aria is our AI account executive. She delivers personalized product demos, handles objections, and helps prospects take the next step.

These first three employees are the starting point for a much broader AI employee company. We're building toward a future in which businesses can delegate meaningful work to AI employees across their organizations, with people setting direction and collaborating where their judgment matters.

We're a small team with offices in San Francisco and New York. We value technical ambition, fast iteration, and taking responsibility for results. We're hiring people who want to help build the next generation of AI employees.