The AI map · AI at work

Prospecting and sales

These tools find the right buyers, fill in their contact details, write and send outreach, and record and analyse sales calls. The ones that lead it as of 29 October 2026.

  1. Clay New since July

    Clay

    Building lead lists and enriching them from 150+ data providers, with an AI research agent (Claygent) that fills in custom data points.

    Pick it You want one table that pulls data from many sources and runs your own prospecting workflows.

    Price Free plan with 100 data credits a month; Launch plan shown at $167 a month (the page's FAQ says from $185 a month), costs grow with credits.

    Source: clay.com

  2. Apollo

    Apollo.io

    An all-in-one contact database, email sequences, dialer and call recording for small sales teams.

    Pick it You want a contact database and outreach in one cheap tool, starting on a free plan.

    Price Free plan; paid plans from $49 per seat a month, billed annually.

    Source: apollo.io

  3. Instantly

    Instantly

    Sending cold email at volume from many inboxes, with a lead database and an AI sales agent.

    Pick it Cold email is your main channel and you want unlimited sending accounts at a flat price.

    Price Outreach plans from $47 a month; lead and bundle plans cost more.

    Source: instantly.ai

  4. Attio New since July

    Attio

    A flexible CRM for startups, with AI research agents, call recording, sequences and custom agents.

    Pick it You are choosing your first CRM and want AI and automation built in rather than bolted on.

    Price Free plan; Plus $35 per user a month billed yearly ($44 monthly), Pro $79 yearly ($99 monthly).

    Source: attio.com

  5. Gong New since July

    Gong

    Recording and analysing sales calls, forecasting deals and running sales agents for revenue teams.

    Pick it You have a real sales team and want call insight, coaching and forecasting in one place.

    Price Quote only: a licence per user plus a platform fee.

    Source: gong.io

  6. 11x

    11x

    AI agents that run outbound email and social (Alice) and voice calls for inbound and expansion (Julian).

    Pick it You want an agent to run a whole outbound or inbound motion and can pay for an enterprise contract. Check references yourself: in March 2025 TechCrunch reported 11x listed customers it did not have.

    Source: techcrunch.com

  7. Artisan (Ava)

    Artisan

    An AI BDR called Ava that finds leads, writes outreach, handles replies and books meetings.

    Pick it You want an AI BDR with a managed service behind it. Note that LinkedIn briefly banned Artisan in January 2026 over use of its name and scraped data; it was reinstated.

    Price Plans priced per team after a sales call (about 2,500 or 6,000 leads contacted a month).

    Source: techcrunch.com

What changed

  1. Oct 2026 Attio launched four beta features for agents working in the CRM: SQL Engine, Data Connectors, Agent Scale and Activities. attio.com
  2. 30 Sep 2026 Gong launched Mission Callisto: Gong Enrich (third-party account and contact data), Deep Mode in Gong Assistant, Agent Builder updates, and Gong Activate. gong.io
  3. 29 Sep 2026 Clay opened a Skills Marketplace of community-built skills, free to install, that run in Claude Code, Codex or Cursor. clay.com
  4. Jul 2026 Attio acquired Inconvo, whose founders joined Attio to build more agents and integrations into the CRM. attio.com

Questions people ask about it

Sales Prospecting

  1. Why use AI to find and qualify leads (Clay, Apollo + AI workflows)?
  2. How do founders personalize cold outreach at scale without being creepy?
  3. What does an AI-assisted founder-led sales motion look like end to end?
  4. How do I define my ICP and build my first lead list with AI?
  5. Should I buy an AI SDR, or keep prospecting human?
  6. How do I use buying signals (job changes, funding, hiring) to time my outreach?

CRM & Sales Calls

  1. How do founders use AI notetakers and call analysis (Granola, Fireflies, Gong-style tools) to close more deals?
  2. Why let AI update the CRM, draft follow-ups, and forecast pipeline?
  3. Which AI notetaker should I actually pick: Granola, Fathom, Fireflies, or Otter, and what will it cost?
  4. Do I need a CRM at the pre-seed stage, and should I pick an AI-native CRM like Attio over HubSpot or Zoho?
  5. How are founders using AI tools like Clay and Apollo to run outbound prospecting and personalized cold email?
  6. Do AI SDRs actually work, or are they hype?

The rest of the map

Checked 29 October 2026. Prices and rankings move every few months; each tool links the page its claims were read from.

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