How we automated email discovery, enrichment and deliverability checks across multiple platforms for a deal origination team.
- Industry
- M&A advisory and deal origination
- Service
- Custom AI agent · workflow automation · API integration
- Engagement
- Client-specific automation
- Client
- Confidential
One automated workflow in place of five manual steps across several platforms.
We built a custom AI agent for an M&A client to discover, enrich and verify business email addresses for deal origination and outreach.
The client’s team moved between Apollo, third-party verification services and several websites, retrieving information by hand, running checks and consolidating the results. The agent connects these steps into one process: it searches online first, falls back to Apollo only when needed, then routes each address through verification and bounce classification, and returns a consolidated list showing which addresses are classified as working.
What the client needed
In deal origination, finding the right person is only half the job; a usable email address matters just as much. The existing workflow ran across disconnected steps:
The manual workflow
- 01Search for contact information online
- 02Use Apollo when other sources come up empty
- 03Move to external platforms to check deliverability
- 04Investigate bounces to separate soft from hard bounces
- 05Consolidate everything into a final list of usable emails
Unnecessary enrichment costs
Apollo credits were used even when an address was already available online.
Repetitive manual work
Users switched platforms, copied data, ran checks, interpreted results and updated lists by hand.
Fragmented results
Discovery and verification lived in separate systems, with no single view of which emails were usable.
One agent, one workflow, five automated steps
We designed a bespoke agent around the client’s origination workflow. Rather than simply connecting two platforms, it orchestrates discovery, fallback enrichment, verification and bounce classification in sequence.
- Working
- Bounced or invalid
- Inconclusive
Apollo is a fallback, not the first step, so paid credits are used only where online search comes up empty.
- Step 01
Online email discovery
The agent first searches online sources for the professional email address, so information already available is used before any Apollo credits.
- Step 02
Apollo fallback enrichment
Only when the online search comes up empty does the agent query Apollo for the contact.
- Step 03
Automated email verification
Each address is routed through the client’s verification services, including Bounceback and VeriMail, with no manual checks.
- Step 04
Bounce classification
Where an address is non-deliverable or inconclusive, the agent separates soft and hard bounces where the data supports it.
- Step 05
Consolidated output
Results come back as one structured list with a final status column showing which addresses are classified as working.
What we delivered
What changed for the team
Fewer Apollo credits used
Searching online first makes Apollo a fallback rather than the first step, saving credits for contacts where it adds value.
Less platform switching
The agent runs the discovery and verification sequence, so researchers no longer copy addresses between systems.
Faster contact research
Routine data handling is automated, leaving more time for target research, relationships and outreach strategy.
Consistent email classification
One structured output separates working addresses from bounced, invalid or inconclusive ones.
Built around the existing stack
The client kept its tools; we built the agent around its established workflow and configured services.
Is a repetitive workflow slowing your deal team down? We’ll find the automation opportunity and build the agent.
Discuss your workflowThese benefits describe the intended operational impact of the workflow. No specific credit savings, time savings or deliverability improvements are claimed, because measured results were not provided.
Beyond email: AI agents across the M&A workflow
The same approach automates other repetitive, multi-step work in a deal, each agent built around your systems, business rules and approval steps.
Target research
Collect and structure information on acquisition targets.
Buyer identification
Build and enrich buyer lists for sell-side mandates.
Financial data processing
Extract and organise data from ledgers, trial balances and statements.
Due diligence
Organise documents and pull out key financial and operational information.
Outreach automation
Prepare contacts, personalise outreach and track activity.
Deal documentation
Draft structured documents and organise transaction materials.
Why this engagement matters
M&A teams rely on several specialised tools to complete a single workflow. Each tool has a purpose, but moving information between them by hand adds friction and cost, and eats research time.
We build custom AI agents that coordinate existing tools, automate the repetitive steps and produce structured output that matches how the team actually works. This engagement turned a specific operational bottleneck into a tailored automation for deal origination.
Is a repetitive workflow slowing your deal team down? We’ll find the automation opportunity and build the agent.
Discuss your workflowOr email harsh.jindal@valcoreanalytics.com