By: Mara Cortez
“I think the future of this is going to be teams of agents working together as employees.” That is how Italo Leiva, the Peddle founder, frames the next wave of AI revenue on Backstory: Marketing and AI with host Guy Powell.
Early Experiments That Shaped a Builder
Italo did not start in agencies. He began by solving problems. In college, he invented color-coded guitar strings to learn songs faster while gigging on weekends. He chased the idea hard. He entered competitions and reached the MassChallenge finals.
The product did not scale. “Guitar strings were only worth like five, six bucks and to paint them like that at that scale would make them 20, $30 a pair.” The experience taught him to test demand, value price, and move on when the math doesn’t add up.
He returned to healthcare operations and brought automation to billing and revenue cycle work. That phase set the path. He built systems, tracked metrics, and used processes to grow. The lesson stuck: build feedback loops and make the flywheel turn.
What RevOps Means When Growth Must Repeat
Revenue operations for Italo are not just a slogan. It is a method. It aligns marketing, sales, and success around recurring revenue and measurable improvement. “Goal number one is to get the revenue goal. Number two is how much profit can I squeeze from this?” he said.
He prefers a scientific cadence. Map the lifecycle. Instrument the pipeline. Test scripts. Track unit economics. Keep customers longer by fixing weak links fast. That approach lets founders step away without growth stalling.
Turning HubSpot into an AI Revenue Engine
Peddle is a Platinum HubSpot Partner. Italo uses HubSpot as the central record and control room. “We use HubSpot to do everything from ICPs personas like is this the right customer?” He layers agents on top to remove manual updates and accelerate follow-through.
“The first part of it’s listen to all your calls and make sure that your records update streamline.” The system captures discovery answers, writes properties, drafts quotes, sends them, and books kickoffs after signature. He extends the loop with email and chat agents that nurture form fills and webinar leads until they are ready to meet.
Why Agent Teams Beat Single Automations
Italo sees a shift from isolated bots to coordinated teams. The relay is simple to picture. One agent researches LinkedIn. Another pulls website data. A third drafts a context-aware opener.
That choice depends on what the first agent found. “Instead of going to next scrape his company’s website, maybe he then thinks of scrapping UNC’s website.” He expects the broader internet to reflect this shift. “In the future, the web is going to be AI, it’s going to be interactive.”
Red Flags: Wrong ICPs and Missing Metrics
Italo often meets teams that cast too wide a net. “The first thing is that people don’t take the time to do the research.” He urges depth over breadth. Define one or two specific customer types. Solve a few complicated problems completely—price for commitment. Then measure what investors and acquirers value in SaaS and services.
Most founders track win rate and little else. He recommends learning the full metric stack tied to churn, expansion, and lifetime value. If you plan to exit or raise, you need those numbers clean and trending up.
A Startup Path That Actually Reduces Risk
For new ventures, Italo favors service before software. Validate the pain and the price. Then productize. “The lean startup is where you have to start with a problem to fit a solution… You then do it for five or 10 of them and you get to charge them to do it.” Once the service works, ship a minimal product. Keep the weekly loop of feedback, fixes, and releases until revenue passes seven figures.
The Throughline: Systems That Scale While You Sleep
Italo’s journey connects the dots. Curiosity led to experiments. Experiments led to the process. Processes led to engines. The constant is a builder’s bias for simple steps that compound. He repeats the theme with calm clarity. Teams win when the system carries the work forward.
