How to Build an AI SDR Agent with Unified MCP

February 25, 2026

Modern B2B SaaS products don't just display CRM data. They qualify leads, enrich accounts, draft outreach, log activity, schedule meetings, and update pipeline stages.

If you're embedding AI into a revenue workflow inside your product, your agent must read and write across CRM, Enrichment, Messaging, Calendar, and Task systems — without building and maintaining each integration separately.

This is where Unified MCP comes in.

Unified's category APIs provide normalized, real-time access to CRM, Enrichment, Messaging, Calendar & Meetings, and Task Management platforms. Unified MCP allows LLMs to call those operations as structured tools.

This guide explains how to architect a production-safe AI SDR agent using Unified MCP.

What an SDR Agent Actually Does

An embedded AI SDR agent typically performs four stages:

1. Lead research and enrichment
2. Outreach and activity logging
3. Meeting scheduling
4. Follow-up and pipeline updates

Execution model:

Webhook or user trigger → LLM reasoning → MCP tool calls → Unified API → Source systems

Unified MCP executes structured tool calls. Webhooks trigger the agent. All calls are real-time pass-through requests to the underlying provider.

No CRM, email, or meeting data is cached or stored.

Stage 1: Lead Research and Enrichment

This stage gathers account and contact context before outreach.

Typical tools:

• CRM company and contact retrieval
• CRM deal or lead listing
• Enrichment company and person lookup

Enrichment is read-only. The Enrichment API exposes only person and company retrieval endpoints and does not support writes. It augments CRM data without mutating customer systems.

CRM objects support full CRUD in the unified specification, but stage and status semantics vary by provider. At this stage, the agent performs only reads.

Stage 2: Outreach and Activity Logging

Once a lead is qualified, the agent drafts and sends outreach.

Typical tools:

• Messaging message create
• CRM event (activity) create

Messaging provider constraints matter:

• Slack supports create/update/delete but only for messages authored by the bot or user.
• Teams supports create and limited update; delete is not supported via Unified.
• Gmail supports send and delete; sent content cannot be edited.
• Outlook supports editing drafts; sent body and subject are immutable.

CRM activity logging varies by provider:

• HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive support rich activity logging.
• Some providers do not expose an event object.

Write behavior must respect provider capability.

Stage 3: Meeting Scheduling

When a prospect responds positively, the agent schedules a meeting.

Typical tools:

• Calendar free/busy lookup
• Calendar event create
• CRM event create (to log the meeting)

Calendar supports:

• Free/busy retrieval
• Event create/update/delete
• Recurrence patterns
• Attendee lists and RSVP status
• Cancellation via status or delete

Provider variability applies:

• Some providers are read-only for events.
• Some lack free/busy endpoints.
• Recurrence modification support differs.

Scheduling logic must check provider capability before attempting writes.

Stage 4: Follow-Up and Pipeline Updates

After the meeting, the agent may:

• Update deal stage
• Update lead status
• Create a follow-up task

CRM write support varies:

• Some providers allow stage and status mutation.
• Some expose stage as read-only.
• Custom field support differs by provider.

Task write behavior also varies:

• Some providers require status on create.
• Some restrict status updates.
• Assignment is broadly supported.
• Deletion semantics differ.

Unified normalizes schema. Provider constraints still apply at execution time.

Model Tool Limits and Production Design

Most LLM providers impose strict limits on how many tools can be loaded at once.

Exposing the full CRM, Calendar, Messaging, Enrichment, and Task categories simultaneously will exceed those limits.

In production, restrict tool exposure using:

• permissions to scope allowed operations
• tools to allowlist specific tool IDs
• defer_tools to reduce initial tool tokenization where supported

Design the SDR agent in stage-based bundles. Only load the tools required for the current workflow.

Webhooks and Event Triggers

Native and virtual webhooks are available across CRM and Messaging integrations, depending on provider.

CRM providers may emit created and updated events for deals, contacts, and leads. Stage changes are treated as update events.

Messaging providers vary:

• Slack supports native events for new messages.
• LinkedIn supports reactions, comments, edits, and deletions.
• Teams supports created and updated events.
• Many providers rely on virtual webhooks (poll-based).

Webhooks trigger the SDR agent. MCP executes the resulting actions.

Compliance and Data Handling

Unified operates a zero-storage, stateless architecture.

• All API calls are real-time pass-through.
• Customer data is not stored at rest.
• Minimal operational metadata is encrypted.
• Logs are retained for 60 days.
• Regional routing (US/EU/AU) supports data residency requirements.

The hide_sensitive parameter redacts:

• Names
• Email addresses
• Telephone numbers
• Social security numbers
• Financial data

Message bodies and document URLs are not documented as redacted. Agents should avoid exposing unnecessary PII to the model.

API vs MCP for SDR Agents

Use Unified APIs directly when:

• Your backend runs deterministic scoring logic.
• You batch-process enrichment.
• You orchestrate CRM updates without model decision-making.

Use Unified MCP when:

• The LLM decides which action to take.
• The agent drafts and sends outreach.
• The model advances deal stages.
• The assistant schedules meetings.
• The agent creates follow-up tasks.

Execution remains: User → LLM → Tool call → Unified API → Source system

The difference is who selects the action.

Production Checklist

A production-ready AI SDR agent should:

• Use stage-specific tool bundles.
• Restrict tool exposure per workflow.
• Respect CRM and messaging provider variability.
• Handle rate limits and pagination.
• Use webhooks for event triggers.
• Apply hide_sensitive where required.
• Require human approval for high-impact changes.

When designed this way, Unified MCP enables real-time, agent-executable SDR workflows across CRM, Enrichment, Messaging, Calendar, and Task systems — without building per-provider integrations and without storing customer data.

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