Episode 277: How to Build an AI-Native Team with Rytis Lauris of Omnisend
Release Date: 05/27/2026
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Episode 277: How to Build an AI-Native Team with Rytis Lauris of Omnisend
The Smart Marketer Podcast
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info_outlineEpisode Description
AI can help your team move faster, work smarter, and free up hours of repetitive work… but only if you build the habits, systems, and ownership to actually use it.
In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Rytis Lauris, co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, shares the six practical lessons his company learned while transforming a 200+ person organization into a more AI-native team. From monthly AI Days and simple point-solution agents to the mindset shift required to “manage” AI assistants, this episode is packed with real-world examples you can bring back to your own business.
“AI can really help us to be way more productive and to be better employees, to be better specialists, to be better humans.” – Rytis Lauris
If you’ve been wondering how to get your team to move beyond “playing around with ChatGPT” and start using AI to save time, improve processes, and scale smarter, this one is for you.
You Will Learn:
• Why AI adoption has to be intentional and led from the top down.
• How Omnisend uses monthly “AI Days” to help employees build real AI habits.
• Why simple point solutions often work better than complex AI agents.
• How a sales team built an AI follow-up tool without engineers.
• How Omnisend reduced influencer review time from 90 hours to 20 hours per month.
• Why AI tools should be treated like products, not one-time projects.
• The importance of assigning a human “manager” to each AI agent.
• Why AI works best when it improves existing processes instead of creating new work.
• How AI can support email, SMS, segmentation, forms, support, and sales workflows.
• Why the future belongs to humans who learn how to scale themselves with AI.
Links & Resources:
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Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/
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Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/
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Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/
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Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table
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Omnisend Smart Marketer (sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend
Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.
Time Stamps:
00:00:15 – Welcome: Moving Beyond AI Marketing Tasks
00:01:13 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend
00:02:39 – John Introduces Omnisend and Rytis Lauris
00:04:16 – Why Becoming AI-Native Isn’t as Simple as Buying Tools
00:06:14 – Lesson 1: AI Does Not Adopt Itself
00:07:18 – How Omnisend Uses Monthly AI Days Across the Company
00:08:19 – The Sales Follow-Up AI Agent That Saves Time After Calls
00:09:30 – Reducing Influencer Review Time from 90 Hours to 20 Hours
00:10:31 – Lesson 2: Complexity Is a Trap
00:12:21 – Why Point Solutions Beat Over-Engineered AI Agents
00:13:24 – Lesson 3: Switch from a Project Mindset to a Product Mindset
00:15:24 – Lesson 4: Iteration Isn’t Sexy, But It’s Inevitable
00:16:24 – Why Every AI Agent Needs a Human Owner
00:17:23 – The AI Voice SDR Example: Smart, Useful, and Still Imperfect
00:19:13 – How Omnisend’s AI Support Agent Resolves 40% of Support Conversations
00:21:19 – Lesson 5: Build on Existing Processes, Don’t Create New Work
00:22:13 – Rytis’ LinkedIn AI Agent Story and Why AI Won’t Create Habits for You
00:23:55 – Omnisend’s Most-Used AI Features: Subject Lines and Preheaders
00:24:47 – AI for Email Copywriting and Segment Building
00:25:58 – AI Form Generation and Giving Customers Control
00:26:48 – Lesson 6: AI Is an Assistant, Not the Enemy
00:28:00 – How Point Solutions Can Free Up 30–40% of Your Time
00:28:45 – Recap: The Six Lessons for Becoming AI-Native
00:30:11 – Special Omnisend Offer for Smart Marketer Listeners
00:30:39 – Closing Thoughts
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