AI Agents in Outbound: Hype vs. Reality

Everyone’s talking about AI agents. Feels like hype, right? Half the posts in your feed are screenshots of “AI SDRs” booking meetings while their humans sip margaritas.

Here’s the thing: it’s both true and BS. Two sides of the same coin.

On the real side: AI agents are starting to nail some of the grunt work.
I’ve seen tools create highly targeted lead lists that were about 70% as good as what I’d do manually. That’s not bad. Saves time, gets you close, and lets you focus on refining instead of building from scratch.

On the hype side: writing cold emails.
This is where the wheels fall off. Most AI agents spit out garbage like:
“Congrats on your new role at Acme Corp! I’d love to introduce our revolutionary platform…”

�� Nobody’s replying to that. Why? Because cold email isn’t about signals. It’s about resonance.
And only you know what will actually click with your buyers. AI doesn’t have your scars, your client stories, your insights. Not yet.

So here’s the play:

· Let AI do the research and list-building. It’s already good enough to save hours.

· Write your own copy. No shortcuts. If you want replies, you still need to sound like a human who understands the other human.

Outbound is always evolving, but the fundamentals don’t change. AI is a tool, not a silver bullet.

Yours,
—R