Claygent
by Clay · New York, USA · Founded 2017
The research agent the other AI SDRs are built on
Overview
Clay is not a turnkey AI SDR and should not be evaluated as one — it is the data and research layer that serious outbound teams build their own agent on top of. Claygent is the piece that matters here: an agent that visits the web, reads sources and answers an arbitrary question per row, such as whether a company runs a specific tech stack, has opened a new location, or matches a qualitative ICP definition. That capability produces personalisation and targeting that no fixed-template SDR tool reaches. The trade-off is real work: Clay is a builder's product with a genuine learning curve, credit-based pricing that surprises teams at scale, and no native sending motion for cold email, so you still pair it with a sequencer. Teams that invest in it consistently outperform teams that buy a turnkey agent; teams that do not have someone to own it get very little from it.
Our verdict
The highest-ceiling tool in this category and the one the best outbound teams actually use — but it is infrastructure, not an agent that books meetings for you. Budget for a person to own it, and model your credit spend carefully before committing, because Claygent-heavy workflows are where teams get billing surprises.
Best for
Teams with a GTM engineer or technical RevOps owner who want best-in-class targeting rather than a hands-off agent.
Avoid if
Nobody on your team will own it — an unowned Clay seat produces nothing.
Pros
- Research quality no template-based SDR tool can match
- Waterfall enrichment beats any single-vendor data source
- Composable — feeds whatever sequencer or CRM you already run
Cons
- Not turnkey; needs a dedicated owner and weeks to ramp
- Credit pricing escalates fast on Claygent-heavy tables
- No native cold email sending — still needs a sequencer
Key capabilities
Frequently asked questions
What is Claygent?
Claygent is an AI research agent inside Clay that browses the web and answers a custom question about each account in your list, such as whether they use a given technology or recently opened a location.
Is Clay an AI SDR?
No. Clay is the data, research and personalisation layer. It does not send cold email on its own, so most teams pair it with a sequencer such as Smartlead, Instantly or Outreach.
Why does Clay get expensive?
Clay bills by credits, and Claygent runs cost significantly more per row than standard enrichment. Large lists with several research columns can consume a monthly credit allowance in a single run.