# Outreach Adds Claude Plugin — September 2026 > Outreach integrates with Anthropic's Claude Sales plugin as Apollo.io launches Agents and names a Chief Product Officer. *Sales Intelligence · sales · 30 September 2026* Outreach integrated its revenue data with Anthropic's Claude Sales plugin and listed on Salesforce AgentExchange, while Apollo.io launched Agents to automate prospecting and sequencing and named Mark Sieglock Chief Product Officer. Across the 30 competitors monitored, 18 news items and 64 social posts landed this period, with Apollo.io generating the most activity at 7 insights. ## Key Findings - Outreach integrates with Anthropic's Claude Sales plugin, embedding account, deal and forecast data inside the AI tool reps already use, raising the bar for competitive intelligence vendors that lack native AI-assistant access. - Apollo.io launches Agents to automate prospecting and sequencing, extending its agentic automation layer and reinforcing a 'one connected GTM system' pitch that competes for the whole go-to-market budget. - Apollo.io named flagship data partner for Salesforce's Hunter Agent, opening a distribution channel into enterprise CRM workflows with general availability planned for November. - Outreach lists on Salesforce AgentExchange for private offers, becoming the first revenue orchestration platform available there and deepening its Salesforce-ecosystem presence for enterprise deals. - Apollo.io appoints Mark Sieglock as Chief Product Officer, a C-suite product hire signalling consolidation of product leadership as Apollo scales its agentic GTM platform. - Lusha adds Gong revenue-intelligence integration to its marketplace, pushing verified B2B data into a conversation-analytics platform and extending its ecosystem beyond CRM and enrichment. - Instantly launches Solution Partners Program with recurring commissions, converting its agency user base into a paid distribution channel and deepening partner lock-in beyond one-off referrals. ## What changed in B2B sales intelligence in September 2026 Outreach made the period's most consequential integration move, connecting its platform to Anthropic's official Claude Sales plugin on September 24. The integration lets Claude answer account, deal and forecast questions directly from Outreach data, embedding the platform inside the AI tools reps already use. Outreach also listed on Salesforce AgentExchange for private offers on September 15, claiming the first revenue orchestration platform available there. Across the 30 competitors monitored, 18 news items and 64 social posts landed this period, with Apollo.io generating the most activity at 7 insights. Apollo.io matched Outreach's partnership tempo with two high-urgency moves. On September 16, Apollo was named flagship data partner for Salesforce's Hunter Agent, embedding its data in Sales Cloud's outbound agent with general availability planned for November. Apollo also launched Agents to automate prospecting and sequencing, delivering proactive recommendations via Slack. The company appointed Mark Sieglock as Chief Product Officer on August 25, a C-suite hire signalling product leadership consolidation. Apollo's homepage now leads with 'Grow revenue with one connected GTM system,' dropping the prior 'AI sales platform' framing. Lusha added Gong to its integration marketplace, pushing verified B2B data into a revenue-intelligence platform that analyzes customer conversations. Instantly launched a Solution Partners Program with recurring commissions, an Experts directory listing and certification, converting its agency user base into a paid distribution channel. For teams evaluating how these moves compare, our [Outreach vs Instantly comparison](/compare/outreach-vs-instantly) tracks the diverging channel strategies. ## How Outreach and Apollo.io are building AI agent infrastructure Outreach is hiring a Director of Applied Science and Engineering plus Staff and Senior Applied Scientists for Knowledge Graphs & AI, based in Hyderabad. The roles point to a per-tenant knowledge-graph build feeding the platform's reasoning layer, suggesting the intelligence behind Outreach's agents is being built in-house rather than licensed. Outreach also published case studies on Corpay (3X SDR opportunity) and SailPoint (agentic AI pipeline scaling), plus stories claiming WithMe turned cold calls into 70% of pipeline via Kaia and that 'top teams' created $1.5B in pipeline. Apollo.io's Agents launch extends its agentic automation layer, delivering proactive recommendations via Slack and reinforcing its 'one connected GTM system' pitch. The company also opened its first dedicated EMEA partnerships role, hiring a Director-level lead in London to recruit agencies and test reseller models country by country. Apollo is simultaneously building out its People organization with a Head of Talent Acquisition and a People Strategic Programs Manager whose scope includes M&A integration playbooks and UK employment infrastructure. Instantly launched five new AI agents covering partnerships, investment, recruiting, user research and voice on September 22, extending beyond outbound sales into non-sales GTM workflows. The company also hosted a LinkedIn Live on September 30 featuring ColdIQ's Michel Lebien on scaling a $7M ARR agency. For a deeper look at Instantly's autonomous agent trajectory, see our [Instantly autonomous AI sales agent report](/reports/apollo-io-acquires-pocus-outreach-expands-agentic-ai-march-2026). ## Who is competing for B2B sales intelligence budgets in September 2026 Apollo.io generated the most activity this period with 7 insights, followed by Outreach at 5, Lusha at 4, and Salesloft and Instantly at 3 each. Apollo's moves span partnerships, product updates, personnel changes and positioning, while Outreach concentrated on partnerships and hiring. Lusha reframed its homepage around 'B2B Data and AI Prospecting for GTM Teams and AI Agents' with a new 'Data you can build on' hero and a two-layer Search + Deep Intelligence framework, citing 290M+ verified contacts and 26 buying signals refreshed weekly. Salesloft ran dual webinar series to push Clari-integrated workflows, including 'Power Plays: Spot Deal Risk Early' on September 22 and 'A Day in the Life of a Sales Manager' on October 7. The company also ran a Dreamforce Lamborghini giveaway to drive booth traffic. Clari and Salesloft united under a single Salesloft brand on September 2, with Clari's site redirecting to Salesloft on September 15. Groove's product page now carries a redirect notice pointing to a Clari-Salesloft merger page. Artisan expanded its conquesting blog with seven comparison posts between September 17-20, targeting Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot, RB2B, Warmly and Vector. Clay posted a broad open-role slate led by GTM and engineering leadership, including a Head of GTM Strategy & Ops and an Engineering Manager. Cognism ranked highest in the G2 Europe Regional Grid for Sales Intelligence with a G2 score of 88 and 759 verified European reviews. For a broader view of how these vendors stack up, see our [marketing intelligence hub](/intelligence/marketing-intelligence). ## What to watch in B2B sales intelligence for Q4 2026 Watch whether Apollo.io's Salesforce Hunter Agent partnership converts to enterprise traction when it reaches general availability in November. The early-access arrangement embeds Apollo data inside Sales Cloud's outbound agent with no separate Apollo contract required, which could accelerate adoption in accounts that already standardised on Salesforce. Apollo's first EMEA partnerships hire and its Director of Technology Alliances role suggest a channel motion is being tested country by country. Outreach's knowledge-graph hiring in Hyderabad signals a deeper in-house reasoning layer is being built. If the per-tenant knowledge graph ships, Outreach's agents could differentiate on proprietary context rather than licensed models. The company's Claude Sales plugin integration and Salesforce AgentExchange listing give it two distribution channels into enterprise workflows. Watch whether Outreach publishes pricing for its Amplify tiers with consumption-based AI credits, which remain undisclosed. Several competitors showed limited public activity this period. Attention, Ebsta, Falkon, Forecastable, Jiminny, Revenue.io, Seamless.AI, Terret and Weflow each registered minimal or no new insights, suggesting a quiet period for those vendors. Among the more active players, Clay's insight volume dropped 24 versus the prior period (26 to 2), Instantly fell 18 (21 to 3), ZoomInfo declined 17 (18 to 1), Cognism dropped 15 (16 to 1) and Salesloft fell 14 (17 to 3), which may reflect pipeline gaps or reduced publishing cadence rather than strategic retreat. ## Key Facts - Outreach Integrates with Anthropic's Claude Sales Plugin (2026-09-24) — [Source — Outreach](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/outreach-saas_your-reps-are-already-asking-claude-for-revenue-activity-7508978858646298624-CyXQ) - Outreach Lists on Salesforce AgentExchange for Private Offers (2026-09-15) — [Source — Outreach](https://www.outreach.ai/company/newsroom/newsroom-categories/press-releases) - Outreach Hiring Director and Scientists for Knowledge Graph & AI Team — [Source — Outreach](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4403636020/) - Apollo Appoints Mark Sieglock as Chief Product Officer (2026-08-25) — [Source — Apollo.io](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apollo-appoints-mark-sieglock-as-chief-product-officer-302858765.html) - Apollo Named Flagship Data Partner for Salesforce's Hunter Agent (2026-09-16) — [Source — Apollo.io](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/apolloio_big-news-live-from-dreamforce-apollo-activity-7506019961245708288-aIRu) - Apollo Launches Agents to Automate Prospecting and Sequencing — [Source — Apollo.io](https://www.apollo.io/magazine/apollo-launches-agents) - Apollo Repositions Homepage Around 'One Connected GTM System' — [Source — Apollo.io](https://www.apollo.io/) - Apollo.io Opens First Dedicated EMEA Partnerships Role, Hiring Director-Level Alliances — [Source — Apollo.io](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4444736581/) - Clay Posts Broad Open-Role Slate Led by GTM and Engineering Leadership — [Source — Clay](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4400551274/) - Salesloft Runs Dual Webinar Series to Push Clari-Integrated Workflows — [Source — Salesloft](https://www.linkedin.com/events/7503896929232273409/) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What did Outreach do in September 2026? Outreach integrated with Anthropic's Claude Sales Plugin, listed on Salesforce AgentExchange for private offers, and posted hiring for a Director and scientists for its Knowledge Graph and AI team. These moves followed the pattern of partnerships and personnel changes across the sales engagement category. ### Why are companies switching from Outreach to Apollo.io in 2026? Apollo.io launched agents to automate prospecting and sequencing, appointed Mark Sieglock as Chief Product Officer, and was named flagship data partner for Salesforce's Hunter Agent. These product and partnership moves may be driving switching conversations, though the data does not include specific customer migration figures. ### How does Apollo.io compare to Outreach in 2026? Apollo.io focused on product updates and partnerships, including launching prospecting agents and being named Salesforce's flagship data partner, while Outreach emphasized AI team hiring and integrations with Claude and Salesforce AgentExchange. Both were among the most active competitors this period, with Apollo.io generating 7 insights and Outreach 5. ### What new AI features did sales engagement platforms launch in September 2026? Apollo.io launched agents to automate prospecting and sequencing, and Outreach integrated with Anthropic's Claude Sales Plugin. Lusha added a Gong revenue-intelligence integration to its marketplace. These product updates reflect the cross-competitor pattern of AI feature launches in the sales engagement space. ### What pricing or partnership changes happened in B2B sales software in September 2026? Instantly launched a Solution Partners Program with recurring commissions, Lusha added a Gong integration to its marketplace, and Outreach listed on Salesforce AgentExchange for private offers. Apollo.io was named flagship data partner for Salesforce's Hunter Agent. These partnerships were part of a broader cross-competitor pattern. ### Which B2B sales intelligence companies were most active in September 2026? Apollo.io led with 7 insights, followed by Outreach with 5, Lusha with 4, and Salesloft and Instantly with 3 each. Cognism was ranked highest in G2 Europe Regional Grid for Sales Intelligence, and Clay posted a broad open-role slate led by GTM and engineering leadership. --- Source: IndustryLens — automated competitive intelligence. Read online: https://industry-lens.com/reports/outreach-adds-claude-plugin-september-2026 Competitors monitored: 11x, Amplemarket, Apollo.io, Artisan, Attention, Aviso, Backstory, Clari, Clay, Cognism, Ebsta, Falkon, Forecastable, Gong, Groove, Instantly, Jiminny, lemlist, Lusha, Nektar, Outreach, Reply.io, Revenue.io, Salesloft, Scratchpad, Seamless.AI, Terret, Weflow, ZoomInfo.