On The Advisory Board Podcast, I get the privilege of sitting down with leaders who are shaping the way we work, build, and think. It’s one of the things I value most about hosting this show—especially through the lens of the work we do at ClientTether, where operational clarity and human-centered automation matter more than ever.
Every so often, a conversation comes along that sharpens that mission. My time with Josh Yonke was one of those moments. Josh brings a unique blend of discipline from his years as a Navy pilot and the forward-looking insight of a technology executive. He doesn’t talk about AI like a toy or a trend. He talks about it the way operators talk about tools—practical, purposeful, and designed to make people better at the work only people can do.
Today’s world of headlines and hype cycles, where AI is either celebrated as the cure-all or feared as the replacement, Josh offers a grounded middle path: AI is most powerful when it becomes a teammate, not a threat. When it takes on the minutiae, not the mastery. When it empowers strong performers to become exceptional, instead of overwhelming them with tasks that dilute their value.
That mindset stayed with me long after we finished recording.
Meet Josh Yonke
Josh Yonke is the founder of Leashed AI, a fast-growing company helping sales teams overcome their biggest friction point: the endless prep work that happens before real selling even begins. His background as a Navy pilot shapes much of his worldview. Precision matters to Josh. Preparation matters. But so does efficiency. In the cockpit, you focus on the mission. Everything else is systematized.
That same principle guided him into AI.
What impressed me was how intentional his philosophy is. Many AI founders push speed or automation for the sake of automation. Josh pushes purpose. He is laser-focused on helping people do better work—not by doing it for them, but by taking away the tasks that dilute their attention and drain their performance.
As he put it:
“The idea isn’t to replace salespeople, but to remove the repetitive manual work so they can focus on conversations and closing deals.”
That’s a rare balance—technical clarity with human values. And it’s why the partnership between ClientTether and Leashed AI makes sense: we’re both building systems that free salespeople to do their best work, not bury them in everything else.
AI Removes the Minutiae So Salespeople Can Do Real Work
There’s a hard truth in sales most people don’t talk about:
the average rep spends far more time preparing to sell than actually selling.
Josh articulated that problem perfectly:
“Most sales teams spend hours researching companies and contacts before they even send an email or make a call.”
He’s right—and the cost of that front-loaded effort is massive. Reps lose momentum. Leaders lose visibility. Pipelines move slower than they should. Meanwhile, the most valuable skill a salesperson has—the ability to create trust and navigate conversations—gets pushed to the end of a long to-do list.
AI changes that. When the system handles research, list-building, enrichment, and message drafting, salespeople finally get their time back. And time is the oxygen of performance.
Personalization Can Scale Without Sounding Robotic
We’ve all cringed at AI emails that feel like they were stamped out of a template factory. That fear is why many leaders hesitate to adopt automation. Josh’s team tackled this head-on by designing their system around authenticity.
Instead of generic messaging, Leashed AI uses real data—company updates, public posts, press releases, industry signals—to craft messages that feel like a human actually took time to prepare.
Josh explained it this way:
“The system pulls from real company data—press releases, websites, LinkedIn posts—and builds a message that feels personal.”
This is the difference between automation and thoughtful automation. When personalization scales responsibly, reps don’t have to choose between volume and quality. They get both.
Trust and Compliance Are Foundational, Not Optional
As AI accelerates, compliance can feel like a moving target. But Josh made it clear: it cannot be an afterthought.
In sales outreach especially, the line between helpful and intrusive is thin. The moment AI crosses compliance boundaries—GDPR, CCPA, consent rules—you lose trust before the first conversation even starts.
Josh said it well:
“We make sure outreach stays within data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA… AI should assist humans, not mislead them.”
In a world where technology can move faster than regulation, responsible builders matter. Leashed AI is one of them.
The Efficiency Gains Are Real and Immediate
A lot of companies talk about efficiency gains. Josh showed what it looks like in practice.
“A sales team using our platform went from sending about 50 personalized emails a day to over 300… Their response rate doubled.”
That’s not an incremental upgrade—that’s a new operating model. And the key is this: the team didn’t hire more people. They didn’t burn out their reps. They didn’t sacrifice quality.
They simply removed the constraints that kept them from moving at modern speed.
For any leader responsible for pipeline, that kind of improvement isn’t just interesting—it’s transformative.
The Future of AI Is About Adoption, Not Hype
One of the most powerful insights from Josh was the reminder that we’re still early—very early.
“Probably only about 5% of companies in the U.S. have implemented AI in a full-scale way… The real opportunity isn’t the next flashy product—it’s adoption.”
The technology is here. The capability is here. But businesses are still watching—testing the water, waiting for someone else to jump.
Josh used a great mental picture: kids standing on the edge of a cliff above a lake, waiting for the first bold one to leap. Once that first person jumps, the others follow.
That’s where we are with AI. The shift will come from execution, not spectacle.
Wrap Up Thoughts
This conversation brought me back to something I’ve always believed: excellence in sales is less about talent and more about structure. A great rep thrives when the environment supports them. A struggling rep struggles more when the environment works against them.
Josh’s analogy from football really clicked for me. Sales reps shouldn’t be expected to do everything—research, blocking, running, throwing—on every play. That’s not how winning teams operate. They design systems that allow each role to specialize and perform.
That’s the heart of automation. Not replacing the quarterback. Not replacing the coach. But making sure no one is stuck doing work that keeps them out of the end zone.
This conversation reminded me just how much potential there is when businesses stop trying to be superheroes and instead design workflows that enable human greatness.
Listen & Watch the Full Conversation
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Check out the Podcast Hub Channel
Connect with Josh Yonke and visit Leashed AI.
