Pianpian Xu Guthrie, founder and CEO of Amotions AI, joins Sunny Ray to explain how her company builds a behavioral and emotional intelligence layer for customer facing teams. Drawing on a sociology background from Yale and ten years as a product manager at companies like Priceline, GoDaddy, and Ticketmaster, Pianpian describes how Amotions AI gives sales reps live, on screen coaching during calls, plus practice roleplay and post call feedback. The AI detects tone, pacing, and sentiment to suggest next best actions without ever speaking, so conversations stay natural. She shares how unexpected early traction came from a hearing clinic and later a dental practice, and how customers in insurance, mortgage, and tech have seen measurable revenue gains, including one client reporting $160,000 more in monthly revenue after a few weeks. Pianpian and Sunny discuss balancing helpful guidance against cognitive overload, keeping the AI invisible to the other party, and her long term vision of turning any new hire into a top performer, eventually expanding beyond sales into customer success and support.
Amotions AI's Pianpian Xu Guthrie explains how live emotional intelligence coaching helps salespeople handle objections and close more deals.
What is Amotions AI, and why should listeners care? What problem are you solving?
We're building the behavioral and emotional intelligence AI layer for customer facing teams. Our AI helps salespeople increase win rates by giving live coaching and feedback during calls, plus practice before calls and feedback afterward. Emotional intelligence is central to what we do. We want to help humans connect better with other humans by bringing that layer into AI.
How do you actually bring emotional intelligence into a conversation?
AI cannot biologically feel emotions, but it is very good at analyzing data and finding patterns. I studied sociology at Yale and in Hong Kong, and emotional intelligence, a term coined by Peter Salovey and colleagues, involves detecting emotions and then adjusting behavior to influence yourself and others. In sales, that means communicating in a way that builds trust, and we help AI detect those subtle skills and give feedback.
What were you doing before this, and what was the moment you decided to build it?
After my masters in sociology from Yale, I worked in tech as a product manager for ten years at companies like Priceline, GoDaddy, and Ticketmaster, and later as head of product at a Series A startup. As a new manager I struggled with communication and often said things I regretted. I wished something could coach me in the moment, and I had been thinking about that idea since 2016.
Coaching someone on a live call sounds impossible without getting in the way. What made you think it could work?
It has to be subtle, and the person has to be open to suggestions. We show tips on screen while the call is happening, without the AI making any sound. We keep it concise, so if someone feels stuck after an objection or an unexpected question, they can glance at the screen and quickly see guidance on the next best action.
Your first real traction came from a hearing clinic, not a software company. How did that happen?
It was very surprising. We started by focusing on tech sales, but got inbound leads from a hearing clinic owner who found us by asking Google AI mode for solutions. More recently an operations manager from a dental practice told us we were the only company whose AI could analyze tone and confidence in doctor patient conversations. We now also have customers in insurance, mortgage, and tech.
Walk me through a live call. If a customer objects, what happens on screen in the next few seconds?
If a customer says they do not have a need for insurance, our AI shows a suggestion like acknowledging that and asking what cars or property they have, so the rep can find the best plan for their family. It just gives suggestions on screen about how to handle the objection and what to say next, staying invisible to the other side.
Has this proven out with data? How do you show it actually helps conversions and doesn't overwhelm people?
We have customers using the product end to end, practicing beforehand, getting live coaching during calls, and detailed feedback afterward. One customer's revenue increased by $160,000 a month after just a couple weeks of using it. We also do before and after comparisons of average sale price, or test groups with and without the product to measure impact.
Where's the line between helpful live coaching and cognitive overload?
There are two things we're improving. One is timing, giving the right suggestion at the right time rather than overwhelming people, and letting users control how much guidance they get. The other is making the AI read the room and communicate correctly, which is hard, since even humans take years to build emotional intelligence.
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