AI Tools for Sales Pros

Sean O'Shaughnessey

AI Tools for Sales Pros helps B2B sales professionals put artificial intelligence and automation to work in practical, real-world ways. Each episode explores use cases across prospecting, deal management, account growth, and revenue operations. Listeners gain actionable insights on how to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and scale revenue by combining the power of AI with smart automation.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    The 12-Part AI Revenue Stack That Reclaims Selling Time and Drives Revenue Growth

    Episode SummaryThe high-volume sales activity model is breaking down. Salespeople are losing too much time to manual research, CRM updates, administrative work, and disconnected tools while B2B buyers increasingly prefer digital, self-directed research. In this episode of AI Tools for Sales Pros, Sean O'Shaughnessey explains why artificial intelligence is creating a structural performance gap between AI-enabled revenue teams and teams still relying on legacy sales processes. He also introduces the 12-part AI revenue stack leaders should understand before buying another tool or launching another disconnected AI initiative. Major HighlightsMore activity will not fix broken revenue architecture.B2B buyers increasingly prefer autonomous, digital research, so sales strategies must adapt.Sales reps still spend too much time on non-selling work, including data entry, research, logistics, and CRM maintenance.Embedded AI is widening the gap between modern revenue teams and teams still dependent on manual sales processes.Modern sales management requires a move from fragmented tools to integrated, AI-native revenue platforms.Grammarly is a simple starting point because poor grammar damages Messaging, credibility, and trust.The modern CRM must become a system of action, not a passive database.The 12-part revenue stack includes CRM, sales engagement, sales intelligence, conversation intelligence, forecasting, inbound orchestration, lead routing, ABM, workflow automation, sales enablement, incentive compensation, and AI prospecting agents.The right first move is a Structural Gap Audit, not buying 12 new platforms.Action Items for This MonthList every piece of software your sales team touches and map each one against the 12 revenue technology categories.Identify tool bloat where multiple platforms perform the same job without improving Sales success, productivity, or Revenue management.Find capability gaps such as predictive intent, AI sales coaching, automated scheduling, workflow automation, or autonomous prospecting agents.Ask your top salesperson which manual task keeps them from spending one more hour each day with customers or prospects.Choose one high-friction task to automate this month before committing to a broader AI or sales technology overhaul.Review whether your current Messaging, CRM, and enablement systems support Value selling or simply add administrative burden.Join the B2B Sales LabB2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com. If you are trying to modernize sales management, improve sales processes, sharpen Messaging, evaluate AI tools, or build stronger Revenue generation capability, the B2B Sales Lab gives you a practical place to work through those decisions with peers who understand B2B selling. You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/ Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    22 min
  2. 27 APR

    AI for B2B Sales: Turn Admin Work Into Active Selling Time

    Episode Summary Modern B2B sales professionals are losing too much selling time to administrative work, fragmented tools, CRM updates, follow-up drafting, and prospect research. In this episode of AI Tools for Sales Pros, Sean O’Shaughnessey explains how artificial intelligence, agentic automation, and better sales processes can help sales teams reclaim strategic capacity and improve revenue generation. The core shift is moving from human-led, tech-assisted selling to a human-centric Cognitive Revenue Engine where AI handles the input work and sellers humanize the output. This episode is about building the sales equivalent of an efficient pit crew so high-performing salespeople can spend more time creating value with prospects and customers. Major Highlights The modern sales productivity problem is not a minor inconvenience. It is a structural issue that keeps salespeople from spending enough time in active selling conversations. The Cognitive Revenue Engine reframes the role of the salesperson from manual operator to strategic orchestrator. The key operating principle is: automate the input, humanize the output. AI should not replace the judgment, empathy, and business acumen of the salesperson. It should remove the low-value work that prevents those strengths from being used. Cognitive Prospecting allows sales professionals to monitor target accounts for meaningful buying signals such as executive changes, funding events, strategic initiatives, or operational challenges. Autonomous CRM workflows can improve sales management visibility by turning transcripts, notes, and voice summaries into structured CRM data. Always-On Hygiene is essential because dirty data weakens forecasting, slows revenue management, and limits the usefulness of AI-driven sales strategies. Personalization at scale works only when it is based on real account intelligence, clear messaging, and human review. The winning model is not AI replacing salespeople. It is human expertise amplified by machine speed. Action Items for This Month Run an Administrative Friction Audit. Track how much time you spend after each sales call updating the CRM, writing follow-ups, searching for content, and organizing notes. Perform a Post-Call Lag Check. Measure the exact time between ending a sales conversation and sending the follow-up email with the CRM fully updated. Pick one high-value prospect and complete a manual intelligence audit. Search their public materials for challenges, initiatives, and priorities, then use one specific insight in your next outreach message. Teach your AI tool your authentic voice by giving it examples of your best sales messaging, follow-up emails, and prospecting notes. Define where human review is required. AI can prepare the work, but your judgment should control customer-facing messaging, strategic recommendations, and deal-sensitive communication. Join the B2B Sales Lab If you are trying to apply artificial intelligence, agentic automation, better sales management, stronger messaging, and more effective sales processes to your real-world selling environment, the B2B Sales Lab was built for that work. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com. Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    22 min
  3. 20 APR

    Stop Wasting 70% of Your Day: Reclaiming Active Selling Time with Agentic AI

    Episode Summary In this episode of AI Tools for Sales Pros, Sean O'Shaughnessey examines the administrative tax quietly draining sales productivity, revenue generation, and sales success across B2B teams. Using the story of a high-performing sales rep trapped in post-meeting digital grunt work, the episode shows how manual CRM updates, travel coordination, expense reporting, and fragmented sales processes keep reps away from the work that actually creates value. Sean introduces the Agentic Transformation, a shift from simple automation to AI-powered orchestration that allows sales teams to use artificial intelligence to reduce low-value tasks and increase high-value selling time. The episode gives sales leaders a practical path for using orchestration tools like n8n and Make.com to improve sales management, business acumen, messaging, value selling, and revenue management. Major Highlights The episode opens with the core problem facing many B2B sales teams: sellers are spending too much of their week on administrative work instead of active selling. Manual CRM hygiene, follow-up documentation, receipt management, travel logistics, and calendar coordination are not minor inconveniences. They represent a measurable drag on revenue generation. The episode reframes the role of AI in sales. The goal is not to replace the salesperson. The goal is to amplify the salesperson by moving low-value mechanical execution away from humans and into well-designed agentic systems. Sean introduces Agentic Transformation as the next stage beyond basic automation. Instead of rigid workflows that follow simple linear logic, agentic systems use artificial intelligence and large language models to interpret unstructured information, reason through context, and execute multi-step actions across the sales tech stack. The episode lays out a five-stage path to agentic maturity: Foundations, Context and Engagement, Automation, Autonomous Solutions, and Orchestration. For most sales leaders, the immediate opportunity is stage three: automating high-friction administrative work so sales professionals can reclaim meaningful selling time. The larger message is that the future of B2B sales is not humans versus AI. It is humans amplified by AI. The strongest teams will use artificial intelligence to protect human energy for trust-building, strategic judgment, business acumen, and value selling. Action Items for This Month Run a Capacity Audit on your own workflow or with your sales team. For one full day, track every task that requires no creativity, no empathy, and no strategic thinking. Time each task and calculate the total administrative burden. Identify the highest-friction administrative task in your sales process. Look for work that is repetitive, rules-based, and painful enough that your reps already complain about it. CRM updates, meeting recaps, expense management, travel logistics, and internal follow-up reminders are good places to start. Join the B2B Sales Lab B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It is a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. If your team is wrestling with CRM adoption, sales management discipline, AI workflow design, revenue management, messaging, sales processes, or the practical use of artificial intelligence in B2B selling, this is the type of conversation we are having inside the Lab. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com. Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    21 min
  4. 5 MAR

    The Efficiency Trap: Why Your 2026 Playbook is Broken

    Episode Summary Most sales organizations are trying to fix a 2026 productivity problem with 2010 management logic: more headcount, more dials, more activity. The result is a plateauing metric crisis where effort rises while outcomes flatten, because the architecture of the sales system is broken. This episode lays out a structural reversal: move from brute-force selling to a Cognitive Revenue Engine where AI handles the machine work, and humans handle judgment, orchestration, and relationship-building. You will learn how agentic automation, modern sales processes, and board-level productivity metrics reset sales management for durable sales success and revenue generation. Major Highlights The plateauing metric crisis: why “more activity” is producing fewer results and why the old playbook is failing revenue management.The real constraint is not effort; it is architecture. Administrative tax is quietly consuming selling capacity and degrading sales processes.The shift from the Artisan Trap to the Cognitive Revenue Engine: the salesperson moves from being the engine to being the orchestrator.Agentic automation explained: systems that reason over unstructured data and orchestrate workflows, not just simple if-then rules.Pillar 1, Tactical Efficiency (Time Reclaimer): use artificial intelligence to eliminate the “sales tax” of email drafting, CRM logging, and baseline lead research.The Tollbooth Effect: every post-call manual step creates momentum loss. Automation protects deal velocity and follow-up quality.Pillar 2, Strategic Intelligence (Seat at the Table): using AI as a decision partner for deal strategy, competitive positioning, and value selling.Cognitive Prospecting: move from “search and read” to “verify and act” by extracting headwinds, tailwinds, and decision risks from real customer context.Orchestration platforms (n8n, Make.com) as connective tissue: enabling multi-agent workflows that reduce friction and increase contextual intelligence.The Autonomous CRM: always-on hygiene that keeps data trustworthy so reps adopt systems willingly and managers can coach with clarity.Voice-to-structured-data: turning parking lot updates into automated CRM fields, lead summaries, and sales management signals.Measurement upgrade: stop tracking dials and start tracking AI usage density, selling time percentage, and next best action adherence.Augmented coaching: use AI to surface teachable moments, talk-to-listen ratios, and question quality without drowning in call recordings.Action Items for This Month Run an Administrative Friction Audit with your best rep and newest rep: track every post-call click, copy-paste, and delay across three discovery calls. Capture minutes lost and use it as your automation roadmap.Pick one high-friction task and pilot a “single workflow” fix for one week (example: prospect research, follow-up drafting, or CRM updating). Measure time saved and impact on response speed and opportunity progression.Define three board-level productivity metrics for sales management: selling time percentage, AI usage density tied to win rate movement, and next best action adherence tied to pipeline health.Standardize a source of truth for your team’s messaging: core positioning, pricing logic, qualification fields, and a small set of approved value selling narratives that AI can reliably use.Join the B2B Sales Lab If you are struggling to build the business case for AI-driven changes, you are not alone. This is exactly the kind of hurdle we solve inside the B2B Sales Lab. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    23 min
  5. 27 FEB

    Reclaiming 15 Hours a Week: The Sales Professional’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI

    Episode Summary If you feel like your CRM is turning great sellers into tired administrators, you’re not imagining it. This episode breaks down the administrative drag that steals selling time, distorts forecasts, and quietly taxes revenue generation. We introduce a practical artificial intelligence approach: automate the inputs, then humanize the output so your messaging stays authentic and effective. The outcome is simple: higher-quality sales processes, stronger sales management decisions, and better Sales success without adding headcount. Major Highlights The real productivity crisis in B2B sales: administrative drag, CRM debt, and the “technology trap” of too many tools that create more manual work.Why the old brute-force model is breaking: buyers self-educate earlier, competitors respond faster, and generic messaging gets ignored.The core principle: Automate the Input, Humanize the Output. Use AI for research, data capture, and workflow execution while humans control judgment, voice, and value selling nuance.How Benjamin Todd’s “human bottlenecks” framework applies to sales: as AI automates routine work, business acumen, strategic leadership, and complex social intelligence become more valuable.Orchestration engines (n8n and Make.com) as the nervous system: connecting CRM, email, LinkedIn, and transcripts into cohesive sales strategies and repeatable sales processes.Cognitive Prospecting: use AI listening posts to detect triggers (exec hires, funding, cost containment signals) and arrive with a “why now” dossier instead of starting from scratch.One-to-One-at-Scale outreach: generate hyper-relevant drafts from a strategic brief and prospect dossiers, then apply a human “smell test” so messaging lands.Immediate Recap workflows: transcripts flow into structured CRM updates, follow-up tasks, and recap email drafts, accelerating deal momentum and improving revenue management.Always-On Hygiene: AI deduplication and fuzzy matching to reduce bad data, improve forecasting, and protect downstream automation quality.Predictive intelligence and deal risk: revenue intelligence platforms flag risk signatures earlier than human inspection, improving pipeline accuracy and resource allocation.Sales management evolution: managers move from pipeline inspectors to augmented coaches using call analysis to focus coaching where it changes outcomes.The practical end state: more selling time, faster follow-up, improved win rates, and a human-AI centaur model where humans own the last mile.Action Items for This Month Run a Post-Call Lag Check: time how long it takes to send a follow-up and fully update the CRM after three calls. Write down the minutes. That is your baseline sales tax.Design one Immediate Recap workflow: transcript to structured notes (pain, budget, stakeholders), CRM updates, tasks, and a draft recap email for human approval.Build a simple AI listening post for 10 target accounts: track executive changes, funding, priority language, and cost signals; use the outputs to drive relevant outreach.Implement Always-On Hygiene: schedule weekly deduplication and field normalization so your CRM remains a reliable source of truth for AI and forecasting.Create a one-page Strategic Brief template: value selling angle, positioning, proof points, and constraints so your outreach drafts are consistent and on-strategy.Join the B2B Sales Lab If you want actionable insights, not theory, join B2B Sales Lab. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    20 min
  6. 23 FEB

    Instant Follow-Up for Field Sales: AI Meeting Recaps That Speed Up Deals

    Episode Summary In complex field sales, deals don’t die in the meeting, they die in the lag after the meeting. When a buyer asks a technical question, and the rep has to “get back to you,” momentum evaporates, and authority erodes. This episode lays out how artificial intelligence enables an Instant Field Response: capturing the meeting, retrieving the right internal knowledge, and drafting a precision follow-up before you leave the parking lot. The outcome is Sales success through faster revenue generation, tighter sales processes, and higher-quality value selling. Major Highlights The real enemy: Post-Meeting LagThe “gap” between meetings and follow-ups is a graveyard for complex B2B deals. A response that arrives tomorrow to a question asked today is already losing heat. The Administrative Tax in field salesFor decades, reps have carried the burden of manual note-taking, post-call recap, and late-night follow-ups. That tax steals selling time, reduces responsiveness, and quietly damages revenue management by slowing sales velocity. The shift: from “I’ll get back to you” to the Cognitive Revenue EngineInstead of treating insight as something created later, you build a workflow where AI supports immediate, contextual delivery. Cognitive overload is the hidden performance limiterReps aren’t overwhelmed by “too much work.” They’re overloaded by trying to listen, interpret, remember, and retrieve technical details under pressure. When AI captures the nuance, the seller can focus on empathy, discovery, and Messaging that advances the deal. Nodal Automation: the new operating philosophyThe salesperson stops being the single repository of information and the primary transcriptionist. Instead, AI agents handle the mechanical tasks so the rep can lead. This is a sales management shift, not a tech novelty. The three-layer architecture 1) Field Ear 2) Knowledge Bridge 3) Drafting Agent Precision Value beats generic follow-up Most follow-ups are polite but empty. This episode shows how to “mine the meeting” for the buyer’s phrasing and priorities, then mirror their language back in a tailored response. Signal-Based Selling extends relevance beyond the room An agentic follow-up can incorporate external signals—market shifts, announcements, or operational triggers—to increase relevance. The three-stage implementation roadmapStage 1: Manual capture (voice memo + AI drafting).Stage 2: Automated capture (recording app + CRM sync + action items).Stage 3: Full orchestration (multi-source retrieval + drafted email with attachments queued for review). This is how you modernize sales processes without trying to “boil the ocean.” Action Items for This Month 1) Establish a “24 minutes” standard 2) Run the five-minute parking lot workflow 3) Build a minimum “Knowledge Bridge” 4) Convert follow-up into a repeatable template system Join the B2B Sales Lab If you want to implement this without guessing, join the B2B Sales Lab. It’s a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    24 min
  7. 16 FEB

    Why B2B Sales Teams Miss Targets: An AI Operating Model to Eliminate Admin Drag

    Episode Summary In this episode of AI Tools for Sales Pros, we tackle the hidden operational drag limiting revenue generation across B2B teams: highly paid sellers spending most of their week on administrative work instead of customer conversations. The conversation reframes this as a sales management and revenue management problem, not a rep effort problem, and outlines how artificial intelligence and AI orchestration can reverse the trend. You’ll hear a practical shift from “artisan sales” toward a Cognitive Revenue Engine where automation handles data-heavy tasks, and people focus on value selling, messaging, judgment, and trust. The result is a more scalable model for Sales success built on better Sales processes, stronger Business acumen, and faster execution. Major Highlights The core bottleneck in modern B2B selling is not activity volume; it is administrative drag that consumes prime selling time and weakens pipeline momentum.Most teams are trapped in a Technology Trap: adding tools without orchestration, which increases complexity and reduces real customer-facing capacity.The strategic shift is from “human-led, tech-assisted” to “tech-led, human-centric,” where AI handles repetitive data entry, and sellers own high-value decisions.The Autonomous Revenue Engine is presented as an integrated operating model, not a single app—combining data hygiene, automation workflows, and AI content support.No-code orchestration platforms (for example, Make.com, Zapier, n8n) are the connective layer that turns disconnected tools into coordinated execution.Signal-Based Selling replaces manual account research with AI-powered monitoring for buying triggers, strategic shifts, and timely engagement opportunities.The “Editor-in-Chief” model upgrades seller productivity: AI drafts and structures; humans validate, refine, and personalize quickly.Always-On Hygiene is non-negotiable: deduplication, normalization, and CRM integrity are prerequisites for reliable AI outputs and budget efficiency.The 80/20 “last mile” principle remains central: AI can handle the first 80%, but human context, empathy, and risk judgment determine deal quality.A deterministic hybrid model protects trust by keeping facts and pricing rules-based while using AI for language and speed.Action Items for This Month Run a Post-Call Lag Audit on 10 calls. Measure time from call end to CRM completion and follow-up sent. Establish a baseline and identify where minutes are being lost in your current Sales processes.Deploy one Signal-Based Selling listening post for top target accounts. Track buying signals weekly and tie each signal to a specific outreach play.Complete a stack rationalization review. Identify tools that duplicate function, increase friction, or degrade data quality, then simplify for faster execution.Launch an Always-On Hygiene cadence. Deduplicate records, normalize account naming, and define ownership for CRM data integrity across the team.Pilot one conversation intelligence flow for discovery calls. Auto-capture pain points, budget clues, and next steps, then score recap speed and follow-up quality.Train managers to coach outcomes, not just activity dashboards. Move pipeline reviews toward decision quality, deal progression, and Revenue generation impact.Join the B2B Sales Lab If you want practical execution support, join the B2B Sales Lab. It’s a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    18 min
  8. 8 FEB

    The Last Mile in Sales AI: How to Scale Revenue Without Losing Trust

    Episode Summary In this episode of AI Tools for Sales Pros, Sean O’Shaughnessey breaks down the “Last Mile” problem in modern selling: AI can assemble the first 80% of the work, but only a human expert can deliver the final 20% that protects trust, margin, and outcomes. He argues that the real productivity crisis in B2B sales is not effort, but misallocation—top sales talent is buried in administrative work instead of revenue generation. The episode introduces a practical operating model where deterministic automation handles fixed truths and process control, while AI accelerates messaging and drafting. The result is faster execution, better sales management discipline, and more time for the trust-building conversations that drive sales success. Major Highlights The “Last Mile” principle: artificial intelligence is an accelerator, not an autopilot. Human judgment is still required to validate context, edge cases, and risk.Why productivity is stuck: many B2B teams still spend roughly one-third of time on revenue generation and two-thirds on internal sales processes and admin overhead.The “Artisan Trap” vs. the “New Way”: handcrafted work from scratch is being replaced by cognitive prospecting, listening posts, and autonomous workflows.Deterministic vs. Non-Deterministic outputs: high-risk outputs (pricing, contracts, compliance) require deterministic controls; AI should support formatting, messaging, and personalization.Automation + AI hybrid model: rules-based automation supplies verified data, AI shapes language, and final checks enforce consistency and accuracy.Revenue management implication: the objective is not more content—it is more high-quality customer conversations and better conversion velocity.Trust and value selling: relationship depth, multi-threading, and repeated high-value interactions are still core drivers of win rates and profitable growth.Real-world lesson: AI can flag opportunities, but business acumen determines timing, sequencing, and whether an account is ready for expansion.The “5-Minute Value-Add” mindset: AI removes blank-page work so reps can focus on strategy, messaging quality, and customer-specific relevance.Leadership call to action: evaluate current AI deployments as systems for revenue generation, not isolated tools for novelty or speed alone.Action Items for This Month Run a Last Mile audit: identify where your team is accepting AI output without deterministic checks, then define human approval points by workflow stage.Classify outputs by risk: separate “must-be-perfect” assets (quotes, pricing, legal language) from “can-be-variable” assets (outreach drafts, summaries, internal notes).Build one production workflow: trigger a stage-based sequence in your CRM that pulls fixed data, drafts AI messaging, and validates critical fields before send.Reclaim selling time: track how many hours are shifted from admin work to live customer conversations and tie that shift to pipeline movement and win rates.Create a manager review cadence: compare AI recommendations vs. manager judgment weekly to sharpen forecast quality and coaching priorities.Pilot one-account scaling: prove the workflow on a single target account, then expand to 25 and 100 accounts only after accuracy and consistency thresholds are met.Resources: Kendra Ramirez article, "Why Last Mile Knowledge Still Matters in the Age of AI"Whiskey is for Closers podcastJoin the B2B Sales Lab B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It’s a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com. Custom theme music for AI Tools for Sales Pros created by Casey Murdock

    22 min

About

AI Tools for Sales Pros helps B2B sales professionals put artificial intelligence and automation to work in practical, real-world ways. Each episode explores use cases across prospecting, deal management, account growth, and revenue operations. Listeners gain actionable insights on how to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and scale revenue by combining the power of AI with smart automation.

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