There's a wave of excitement right now around AI agents built to generate leads and book meetings. I recently spoke with a CEO who was proud of firing the employee who used to handle scheduling — the agent was handling it now.

So I looked at the actual leads these AI systems were producing. The reality was disappointing. Most — possibly all — were low quality. People who respond fast without really reading, who click without thinking. The kind of leads that look good in a dashboard and go nowhere in a pipeline.

Then I had a conversation that flipped the whole thing for me. A financial advisor I reached out to — who hadn't responded to an AI outreach campaign — told me directly: she felt like she was talking to a machine, and that's exactly why she didn't book the meeting.

She might represent a "conservative" segment. But here's the thing — most serious B2B buyers are conservative. They're cautious, they do their homework, and they can smell automation from the first message.

The irony is that AI agents are best at converting the leads you probably don't want, and worst at converting the ones you do.

Curious what others are seeing — both as businesses running these campaigns and as potential customers on the receiving end.