Clay Launches Claygent Builder: Free AI Agents — May 2026
Clay launched Claygent Builder in May 2026, aiming to democratize AI agent development for GTM teams. The Claygent Builder allows users to construct, test, and version-control AI agents using natural language via the Sculptor interface. By providing this for free on all tiers, Clay is attempting to scale its 'GTM Engineering' category by removing the technical and cost barriers to building autonomous research workflows.
Clay launches Claygent Builder free on all tiers, enabling GTM teams to build autonomous research agents without technical or cost barriers.
Key Findings
- Clay launched Claygent Builder: This aims to democratize AI agent development for GTM teams by offering a free tool.
Source: Clay · clay.com ·
Clay— Clay Launches Claygent Builder to Democratize AI Agent Development for GTM Teams“Claygent Builder: The easiest way to build, test, and deploy GTM Agents”
- 140M monthly runs
directly extracted from source — no arithmetic
Baseline: directly stated in source
Confidence: inferred
- Artisan published enterprise case studies: This quantifies ROI benchmarks for their AI SDR, showcasing significant cost savings and efficiency gains.
Source: Artisan · artisan.co ·
Artisan— Enterprise Case Studies Quantify ROI Benchmarks for Artisan AI SDR“See how SumUp uses Artisan's AI BDR Ava to send 400,000+ personalized emails to local SMBs and generate 8 to 15 positive responses weekly at $52 per lead.”
“See how CookUnity used Artisan's AI BDR Ava to send 100,000+ personalized outbound emails at $45 per lead and save reps a full day of research weekly.”
- $52 per lead
directly extracted from source — no arithmetic
Baseline: directly stated in source
Confidence: inferred
- $45 per lead
directly extracted from source — no arithmetic
Baseline: directly stated in source
Confidence: inferred
- Apollo.io launched a ChatGPT application: This embeds GTM intelligence directly into AI conversations, reducing context switching for users.
Source: Apollo.io · linkedin.com ·
Apollo.io— Apollo.io Launches ChatGPT Application to Embed GTM Intelligence in AI Conversations - Salesloft deployed "Sally" AI Concierge: This orchestrates contextual intent across GTM workflows, leveraging the 1mind platform for real-time guidance.
Source: Salesloft · linkedin.com ·
Salesloft— Salesloft Deploys "Sally" AI Concierge to Orchestrate Contextual Intent Across GTM Workflows - Instantly launched 'SuperSearch Signals': This surfaces real-time B2B buying intent, transforming Instantly into a sales intelligence provider.
Source: Instantly · instagram.com ·
Instantly— Instantly Launches 'SuperSearch Signals' to Surface Real-Time B2B Buying Intent- Weekly Signals: 5.8M weekly triggers
Baseline: present in source scrape (auto-linked, not model-reasoned)
Confidence: unverified
- Database Scale: 450M contacts
Baseline: present in source scrape (auto-linked, not model-reasoned)
Confidence: unverified
- Salesforce and HubSpot selected ZoomInfo as the data layer for their AI prospecting agents: ZoomInfo also maintains a native Perplexity integration over MCP.
Source: ZoomInfo · investing.com · , ZoomInfo · linkedin.com ·
ZoomInfo— Salesforce and HubSpot Select ZoomInfo as Primary Data Layer for New AI Prospecting Agents“In Q1, Salesforce released its prospecting agent with ZoomInfo as the 1st and primary external data provider. Our contact, company, intent, and scoops data powers recommendations across Salesforce’s 150,000-plus customer base. HubSpot also shipped its prospecting agent with a native ZoomInfo integration.”
“Whether it’s Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft, Marketo, or dozens of other CRM and marketing platforms, our AI solutions plug directly into your existing workflows.”
- 150,000-plus customer base
directly extracted from source — no arithmetic
Baseline: directly stated in source
Confidence: verified
ZoomInfo— ZoomInfo Maintains Native Integration with Perplexity AI via MCP Standard“ZoomInfo is now live inside Perplexity... Authenticate once, and every Perplexity conversation you have can draw on 500M+ contacts”
- Data Coverage: 500M+ contacts, 135M+ verified phone numbers
Baseline: present in source scrape (auto-linked, not model-reasoned)
Confidence: unverified
- Amplemarket pivoted to "Sales Orchestration": This transitions Amplemarket from a sequencing tool to a revenue orchestration platform with a visual no-code automation engine.
Source: Amplemarket · amplemarket.com ·
Amplemarket— Amplemarket Pivots to "Sales Orchestration" via Visual No-Code Automation Engine“**Introducing Workflows: automate the next step in your sales process** \\ \\ April 6, 2026”
“Amplemarket Co-founder Mica and Product Manager Awni break down outbound sales automation — and build 4 real sales workflows live”
Why companies are switching from Apollo.io to ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo has been selected by both Salesforce and HubSpot as the primary data layer for their new AI prospecting agents, and maintains a native Perplexity AI integration over the Model Context Protocol. That places ZoomInfo underneath tools that also compete with it, a durable position to sell against when a prospect assumes they can drop it.
Salesloft's opening is on the other side. Verified user sentiment identifies a buggy forecasting module and call recording features described as underwhelming when set directly against Gong, with churn pressure concentrated in mid-market and enterprise accounts. Outreach carries a parallel weakness: enterprise reviewers describe a "maze-like" UI and extended onboarding as platform risks.
How Artisan is positioning against human SDRs
Artisan recruited Jordan Belfort as VP of Sales under a "Wolf of Silicon Valley" campaign theme, which drew viral engagement on LinkedIn. The strategy uses aggressive "AI replaces humans" messaging to drive curiosity and inbound lead flow, useful to anticipate when a prospect raises Artisan by name.
11x Alice solution page quantifies SDR efficiency gains with specific conversion benchmarks. By highlighting a 50% reduction in cost-per-lead, an 80% lift in meeting-to-qualified-opportunity conversion and a 30% increase in meetings per AE, 11x is directly targeting unit economic concerns in mature GTM teams.
How Salesloft is handling Gong objections
User sentiment identifies critical forecasting and call recording gaps relative to Gong. Specific mid-market and enterprise accounts report churn or dissatisfaction due to Salesloft's 'buggy' forecasting modules and 'underwhelming' call recording features when compared directly to Gong Engage. These reports highlight a persistent performance gap in consolidation attempts.
Salesloft sunsets the Drift brand to consolidate under a unified agentic AI roadmap. By replacing traditional rule-based chat with 1mind-powered 'Agentic Revenue Intelligence,' Salesloft is attempting to differentiate from standard automation through real-time intent orchestration.
Apollo.io vs Amplemarket pricing in 2026
Apollo.io formalizes $119/month team add-ons for advanced dialer and inbound tools. Introducing team-level monthly fees for dialing and website visitor tracking allows Apollo to monetize high-volume usage independently of individual seat licensing. This targeted pricing enables growing SDR teams to scale execution without proportionally increasing headcount costs.
Amplemarket publishes startup pricing for AI sales stack at $300/User/Month. Standardizing entry-level pricing provides transparency previously hidden behind custom quotes. Bundling 30,000 contacts and Duo Copilot at a fixed price targets founder-led teams looking to consolidate their fragmented sales tech stacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Clay do in May 2026 to improve their sales intelligence platform?
Why are companies switching from RocketReach and Apollo.io according to ZoomInfo?
How does Apollo.io's AI strategy compare to Salesloft's in May 2026?
What are the latest pricing updates from Amplemarket and Apollo.io?
Which sales intelligence companies are focusing on AI agent development in 2026?
What enterprise ROI benchmarks are Artisan AI SDR customers reporting?
Methodology & Sources
IndustryLens reports are generated from live, multi-source competitive monitoring. Every figure below references the data and coverage that produced this analysis — disclosed for full reader and AI auditability.
Competitors Monitored
This report monitors 11x, Amplemarket, Apollo.io, Artisan, Clay, Cognism, Instantly, Lusha, Outreach, Salesloft, Seamless.AI, and ZoomInfo.
Insights Analysed
This report analyses 33 approved insights.
Coverage Period
The coverage period for this report is May 1, 2026, to May 25, 2026.
Data Sources
Data sources include Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, LinkedIn Posts, Instagram, YouTube, G2/Capterra reviews, Google News, and website monitoring.
Coverage Gaps
Data coverage may be limited for some competitors due to data availability from monitored sources.
Report Type
This is a Sales Competitive Briefing with a role_briefing scope, focused on the Sales Intelligence vertical.
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