I Let an AI Agent Find Leads and Send My Cold Emails: Setup, Fixes, What Broke

Description and use

Automating cold email outreach with Grok Bot using a free Google Maps/Places lead finder. The workflow runs daily, but initial emails were messy and engagement metrics were not tracked.

Problem

Automate daily cold email campaigns with an AI agent while avoiding paid lead tools and ensuring email quality.

Outcome

The setup succeeded in automating lead discovery and email sending, but initial email quality was poor and no engagement data were collected during the test run.

Workflow

• Connect Grok Bot and Gmail plugin
• Create a local lead‑finder project using Google Maps/Places API
• Configure the bot to read inbox and delete spam
• Set up a daily routine to find leads and send emails
• Iteratively refine email template from messy to plain
• Deploy the workflow for continuous daily execution

Evidence

I connected Grok Bot (a desktop AI agent) to Gmail and asked for a daily cold email campaign of 10 emails.

Source

It wanted a paid lead tool, so I pointed it at a free Google Maps method I'd built before.

Source

The first emails came out messy, then over‑designed, and only the third try was a plain email I'd send.

Source

The automation ended up running, but I have no opens, replies or meetings from this run.

Source