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AI startup MarkeTeam, which has raised $5 million in funding, specializes in using AI agents to replicate marketing tasks for small and medium-sized business. A year ago, the company created LinkedIn profiles of its five agents to showcase their capabilities and attract attention from prospective business interested in hiring its AI-driven talent.
This week, LinkedIn removed all five of its AI-generated ‘coworkers’ profiles, citing policy violations. MarkeTeam sees the move as a broader disconnect between the policies of platforms and the rapidly evolving role of AI in the workplace.
“Removing our AI agents’ profiles from LinkedIn highlights a disconnect between platform policies and the reality of the future of work,” Naama Manova-Twito, CEO and cofounder of MarkeTeam, told ADWEEK. “While companies are actively hiring and working with AI teammates, and industry leaders are openly declaring the transformation towards an agentic workforce, professional networks are still grappling with how to represent this evolution in the workplace.”
LinkedIn’s policy doesn’t allow “fake profiles or entities,” and warns people of posting “misleading or deceptive information about yourself, your business, your qualifications, work experience, affiliations, or achievements.”
MarkeTeam employs both humans and AI agents—the company currently has seven human staffers and five AI agents—and uses these digital workers to do a range of marketing functions from content marketing, SEO, and brand management.
The rise of AI agents
MarkeTeam’s AI employees have been operating LinkedIn profiles for the past year with resumes, and some are even being actively headhunted. Their LinkedIn profile images displayed the “#OpenToWork” badge, a feature that signals to their connections that they are seeking new job opportunities.