Jaspar Carmichael-Jack: The 23-Year-Old Who Told San Francisco to Stop Hiring Humans
From a jungle detox in Tulum to Y Combinator, he built a $25M AI company that replaces entire sales teams—and became Silicon Valley's most controversial young founder.
The Key Lesson
"Controversy is a strategy. The billboards that got him death threats also got him 300+ enterprise customers in months. Sometimes the best marketing is being impossible to ignore."
The Surrey Kid Who Couldn't Wait
Jaspar Carmichael-Jack started his first business at age 7 in Surrey, England. By his late teens, he'd already built Burst Digital, an international branding agency with 15 employees. But the startup world was calling.
In 2023, at just 22 years old, Jaspar found himself in Tulum, Mexico, doing a "detox in the jungle." He locked himself in an Airbnb to disconnect and figure out what he really wanted to build. What emerged was somewhere between a startup pitch deck and a science fiction novel: AI employees that would automate entire job functions.
"I was in Tulum doing a detox in the jungle. I locked myself in an Airbnb to disconnect from the world and reflect on what I wanted to do in business. I landed somewhere between a startup pitch deck and a science fiction novel."
— Jaspar Carmichael-Jack
Building Ava: The AI That Never Sleeps
Jaspar co-founded Artisan AI with Dr. Rupert Dodkins, an Oxford PhD in astrophysics. Their first product? Ava, an AI Business Development Representative that automates the entire outbound sales process.
"She automates the entire role of a BDR," Carmichael-Jack explains. "From lead discovery, lead research, writing the emails, sending the emails, managing deliverability, sending LinkedIn messages. The human takes over when they get a response."
0 to $1.3M ARR
In just 8 months as a first-time founder
$5M ARR
Reached in 9 months total
300+ customers
Enterprise organizations using Ava
Y Combinator and the $25M Bet
Artisan graduated from Y Combinator and closed an $11.5M seed round—remarkable for a first-time venture-backed founder. In May 2024, they announced another $7.3M. The company was growing faster than anyone expected.
But Jaspar wasn't satisfied with quiet growth. He wanted to make a statement.
The Billboards That Broke the Internet
In December 2024, billboards appeared across San Francisco with messages that made tech workers' blood boil:
- "Stop hiring humans"
- "Artisans won't complain about work-life balance"
- "Artisans are excited to work 70+ hours a week"
The backlash was immediate and intense. Critics accused Jaspar of promoting a dystopian future. He reportedly received thousands of death threats. The campaign was called tone-deaf, cruel, and everything in between.
It also worked spectacularly.
Despite—or because of—the controversy, Ava is now used by 300+ organizations. Artisan's ARR surged to $5M in just nine months. The campaign that got him death threats also got him customers.
The Meta Move: Replacing Himself
In late 2024, Jaspar took his philosophy to its logical extreme: he announced he was replacing himself with an AI. The CEO of an AI company that replaces workers... replacing himself with AI.
Whether it's a stunt or genuine conviction, it perfectly encapsulates Jaspar's approach: if you're going to build something controversial, you better be willing to eat your own dog food.
What Founders Can Learn
Attention is a resource
In a crowded market, being forgettable is worse than being controversial. Jaspar understood that the billboards would generate more earned media than any ad budget could buy.
Youth can be an advantage
At 23, Jaspar had less to lose and fewer preconceptions about what was "possible" or "acceptable." He could take swings that established founders wouldn't dare.
Practice what you preach
By "replacing himself" with AI, Jaspar showed he wasn't just selling a vision—he was living it. That authenticity (or audacity) builds trust with customers who share his worldview.
Find co-founders with complementary skills
Jaspar brought the hustle and vision; Dr. Rupert Dodkins (Oxford PhD) brought the technical credibility. Together they could sell and build.
The Controversial Truth
Jaspar Carmichael-Jack is polarizing by design. Some see him as a visionary who's honest about where AI is heading. Others see him as a provocateur exploiting workers' anxieties for attention.
But here's what's undeniable: at 23, with no prior venture experience, he built a multi-million dollar AI company in less than a year. He got into Y Combinator, raised $25M, and built a product that 300+ companies pay for.
Whether you love him or hate him, you can't ignore him. And that might be his greatest lesson of all.
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