The Agentic SDR Blueprint: How to Build a 24/7 Lead Research System with AI

This guide shows you exactly how we built an agentic SDR system that researches, qualifies, and enriches leads 24/7 - without human intervention.

You'll learn the complete architecture, every tool and API we use, how the agents work together, code snippets to get started, and a full cost breakdown.

Total cost: ~$325/month for the full stack
What it replaces: A $65k/year SDR doing lead research

What is an Agentic SDR?

An agentic SDR is an AI-powered system that autonomously researches and qualifies leads 24/7 without human intervention.

Unlike chatbots or simple automation that follow rigid rules, agentic SDRs use AI to:

• Monitor dozens of signal sources for buying intent
• Research companies and determine ICP fit
• Identify pain points and personalization hooks
• Enrich contacts with verified emails
• Score and prioritize leads
• Generate personalized first lines

The key word is autonomous. Once configured, the system runs continuously without requiring human input for each decision.

Why This Matters for B2B Sales Teams

Traditional SDRs spend 50-60% of their time on research, not selling. That's 20-25 hours per week per rep spent on:

• Finding companies that match your ICP
• Researching each company's business
• Finding the right contacts
• Verifying email addresses
• Writing personalized outreach

An agentic SDR handles all of this at scale, freeing your reps to focus 100% on outreach and closing.

Architecture Overview

Here's how the complete system works:

SIGNAL DETECTION (Funding, Hiring, Products, Tech)
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RESEARCH AGENT (Claude AI) - Company analysis, ICP matching
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ENRICHMENT (Apollo) - Contact finding, email verification
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QUALIFICATION & SCORING - ICP score, timing, data quality
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HUMAN AE REVIEW - Quality check, final approval

The flow:

1. Signals come in (funding news, job posts, product launches)
2. Claude analyzes and qualifies against your ICP
3. Apollo enriches with contacts and emails
4. Scoring ranks leads by fit and timing
5. Human reviews before delivery

The Tool Stack

Here's every tool we use and why:

Total: ~$325/month (with buffer for overages)

Signal Detection Layer

Signals are triggers that indicate a company might be ready to buy. We monitor four types:

1. Funding Signals

Companies that just raised are often in buying mode. They have budget and pressure to grow.

• Sources: Crunchbase, TechCrunch, news APIs
• Signal strength: High

2. Hiring Signals

If they're hiring for a role your product enables, they're feeling the pain.

• Sources: LinkedIn Jobs, greenhouse.io, wellfound
• Signal strength: High

3. Product Signals

Launching or growing products means they need tools and services.

• Sources: Product Hunt, Hacker News "Show HN", Reddit
• Signal strength: Medium-High

4. Tech Signals

Adopting complementary tech or removing a competitor indicates change.

• Sources: BuiltWith, G2 reviews, GitHub
• Signal strength: Medium

Research Agent (Claude)

Claude is the brain. It analyzes signals, researches companies, and determines ICP fit.

What Claude Outputs

For each company, Claude generates:

• Summary: 2-3 sentence company description
• Business model: How they make money
• ICP match score: 0-100
• Match reasons: Why they fit
• Mismatch reasons: Why they might not fit
• Pain points: Problems your product solves
• Personalization hooks: Angles for outreach
• Recommendation: pursue / maybe / skip

Enrichment Layer (Apollo)

Apollo provides contact data: names, titles, emails, phone numbers.

Enrichment Strategy

Important: Only enrich companies that score above 70 on ICP fit. This saves Apollo credits and keeps quality high.

For each qualified company:

1. Look up company in Apollo
2. Find contacts matching target titles
3. Verify email addresses
4. Prioritize by seniority

Qualification & Scoring

Every lead gets a 0-100 score based on five factors:

Lead Tiers

• Tier A (80-100): Immediate outreach - hot leads
• Tier B (60-79): Nurture sequence - warm leads
• Tier C (40-59): Monitor - not ready yet
• Tier D (0-39): Disqualify - don't pursue

Human Review Workflow

Every lead gets reviewed by a human before delivery. This is non-negotiable.

AI is good but not perfect. The human review layer catches:

• Companies that are competitors or existing customers
• People who've left the company
• Stale or misinterpreted signals
• Awkward or incorrect personalization

Review Checklist (2-3 min per lead)

1. Company Fit: Matches ICP industry and size?
2. Contact Fit: Title matches, still at company?
3. Signal Quality: Recent and indicates intent?
4. Personalization: Natural, no errors?

Cost Breakdown

Monthly Tool Costs

Cost Per Lead (at 100 leads/month)

Key Takeaways

1. Agentic SDRs use AI to autonomously research and qualify leads 24/7
2. Signal detection is the foundation - monitor funding, hiring, product, and tech signals
3. Claude handles research, ICP matching, and personalization generation
4. Apollo provides verified contact data and emails
5. Human review is non-negotiable for quality assurance
6. Total cost is ~$325/month, or about $3.05 per vetted lead

Questions? Email hello@parslead.com - we reply fast.