Why this tech startup has invested heavily in leadership talent ahead of 2025 

The past couple of years have seen GenAI evolve at a phenomenal pace. As we approach 2025, it looks likely that the momentum will continue, spurred by milestone developments like the launch of Apple Intelligence and OpenAI’s next LLM, Orion, on the horizon. 

This means GenAI will become an even more integral part of the professional workplace, helping to produce everything from emails and social media posts to sales pitches and executive presentations. 

Yet although the content-based nature of business communication is a natural fit for GenAI technology, users need to have a strong grasp on the fundamentals in order to build detailed, strategic prompts.

There are also concerns that an over-reliance on GenAI could erode core skills in communication if professionals become too reliant and “fall asleep at the wheel” when producing materials. 

High-level corporate comms need to impress, influence and inspire with eloquence, something that even the most sophisticated LLMs often struggle with. In fact, businesses in the U.S. may lose as much as $1.2 trillion per year as a result of business communication issues. This means effective workplace communication has never been more necessary yet more difficult to achieve.

Prezent is an AI-powered communication platform that was built to address these challenges, offering a way to produce corporate materials with character and help professionals retain and refine their understanding of the craft.

The tech company has been growing rapidly since its launch in 2021. Now, three new senior hires with specialized experience in sales, marketing and content are to accelerate this progress and help more organizations master the art and science of business communication.  

Strategic hires drive innovation and expansion 

While 2023 marks the year that ChatGPT went viral, it was also the year that much of Big Tech began aggressive “efficiency measures” that saw thousands of jobs cut. Although this trend has continued into 2024, with over 130,000 layoffs recorded this year alone, it doesn’t mean that hiring has ground to a halt. 

Talent is the driving force behind innovation and a critical growth lever. 

2025 is expected to see a highly strategic approach to recruitment, and Prezent’s recent hiring drive offers an ideal example of this in action as the company welcomes Maeva Riley, Michael Lam, and Lydia Abbot on board. 

As the new VP of Global Marketing, Maeva Riley is a marketing leader with over a decade of experience in B2B technology and data sectors. She has a proven track record of building and scaling high-performing teams, and driving growth through marketing strategies. Today’s marketing VPs and CMOs juggle a multitude of responsibilities—from launching new campaigns to navigating fast-paced changes driven by AI and the increasing need for personalized marketing—and Maeva thrives in this dynamic environment. Before joining Prezent, Riley was the VP of Marketing at PredictHQ, and prior to that, she worked for AppDirect and LinkedIn.

Michael Lam will head up enterprise sales for the West Territory within North America. The University of Washington graduate has experience driving SaaS thanks to his ability to strategically manage large, complex enterprise accounts.

In his previous role as an Enterprise Sales Manager of Smartsheet, he introduced a cloud-based selling toolkit and international shared services program to boost productivity and reduce administrative burdens, while developing a frontline sales playbook focused on strategic account planning and best practices.

Completing the picture as Prezent’s new Head of Content is Lydia Abbot. As an integrated marketing and content specialist, Abbot has spent more than a decade developing strategic content for LinkedIn. As an accomplished content leader who transformed the LinkedIn Talent blog into a top industry publication, she achieved over 3x the readership of competing blogs and a 500% increase in audience engagement.

She also managed a team of writers and an editorial calendar, producing 30 original articles monthly while redesigning the blog to enhance SEO and promotional strategies, resulting in a 30% year-over-year readership increase and a 5x boost in newsletter subscribers.

A team-first culture from day one 

The combined expertise of Riley, Lam and Abbot promises to build on the results achieved by Prezent so far, including strong relationships with Fortune 2000 clients and the launch of its proprietary AI copilot, ASTRID, in 2023. 

Rajat Mishra, CEO and Founder commented “I am tremendously proud to welcome these remarkable individuals to the Prezent organization.”

“We know that the success of Prezent is thanks to the tireless efforts of our remote-first team, and our latest team leaders will add remarkable value and strategic insights to help propel us forward into the next stage of growth,” added the executive.  

The decision to invest in growing the team is in line with Mishra’s consistent approach to talent management, reflected in the company’s culture of innovation, flexibility and work-life harmony, which aims to prioritize team success over individual gain, demonstrating how the tech sector can drive results without losing the human touch.