Emmett Nelson joins Openlayer as Account Executive
Based in Austin, TX, Emmett has over 5 years of experience in cloud and AI/ML sales. He began his tech career at AWS as a BDR before transitioning into account management, primarily assisting customers with high-performance computing and AI/ML solutions for genomics, weather modeling, and geospatial data analysis. In early 2024, Emmett joined Metaplane, an ML-based data observability startup, where he helped build the enterprise sales and partnerships strategy until Metaplane's acquisition by Datadog.
What drew you to a career in sales?
When I decided I wanted to work in tech I was drawn to sales because of the optionality it offers. At least in the B2B world, every company needs two things - a product and some way to sell it.
Why are you at Openlayer?
I joined Openlayer because I believe we need to fully trust AI for society to realize all of its benefits. Openlayer is building the best solution on the market for evaluation, observability, and governance, the key ingredients to reliable, trustworthy AI. I’m excited to do my small part in bringing this platform to the world.
What resource made you better at what you do (book, blog post, course, talk, person)?
I’m a big fan of podcasts to stay updated on the ever-changing world of AI. Two of my favorites are World of DaaS and BG2.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received about prospecting?
Think about messaging from the perspective of the person on the receiving end. In every call or email, I try to consider how I would receive this outreach - Is it easily digestible? Is it obvious why I’m the person being targeted with this communication, and how it benefits me and my team? Am I being contacted at an appropriate time through an appropriate channel?
What part of your work do you love the most?
The opportunity to learn about many different businesses and industries from professionals who are world class in their fields. In sales, I find myself surrounded by brilliant, thoughtful people, and I learn something new every single day.
How do you handle rejection and stay motivated?
I try to look at every rejection or failure as a learning opportunity, and to get better every day. Dealing with rejection is part of the job in sales and you can’t take it personally.
What’s a personal habit or system that helps you stay organized?
I live and die by my color-coded calendar and am pretty crazy about keeping my email inbox at zero unread. I also use a lot of reminders across multiple platforms. If there’s something important I need to get done, I’ll often set myself 2-3 reminders across tools like Google Calendar, HubSpot, and Superhuman.
What’s your favorite image from your camera roll in 2025 so far?
Visiting Milford Sound in New Zealand!
