How to Build an AI SDR with OpenClaw [2026 Tutorial]

February 8, 2026 · 9 min read

Founder, marketbetter.ai

What if you could have an AI assistant that researches leads, writes personalized emails, monitors your pipeline, and reports to you via WhatsApp or Slack—all while you sleep?

That's not a hypothetical. We built it. Here's exactly how.

Why AI SDRs Make Sense in 2026

The average SDR spends just 35% of their time actually selling. The rest? Manual research, data entry, switching between 20+ browser tabs, and writing the same emails over and over.

AI doesn't replace your SDRs. It handles the grunt work so they can focus on what humans do best: building relationships and closing deals.

Here's what our AI assistant (we call it "Zenith") does for us at MarketBetter:

Researches every lead before we reach out
Drafts personalized emails based on company signals
Monitors our CRM and alerts us when deals are slipping
Tracks competitors and reports weekly updates
Manages our content calendar (yes, it helped write this post)

The best part? It cost us $0 to build (OpenClaw is open source) and runs on a basic cloud server.

Let's build yours.

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source gateway that connects AI agents (like Claude) to your messaging apps—WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, or iMessage.

Think of it as the bridge between "smart AI model" and "useful assistant you can actually talk to."

Key features:

Multi-channel: One assistant, available on WhatsApp, Slack, and Telegram simultaneously
Memory: Maintains context across conversations and sessions
Automation: Schedule tasks with cron jobs (like "send me a pipeline report every morning")
Tool access: Your AI can search the web, read files, access APIs, and even control a browser
Self-hosted: Your data stays on your infrastructure

Here's the architecture:

Your Phone/Slack/Telegram
        │
        ▼
  ┌─────────────────┐
  │    OpenClaw     │  (Gateway - runs on your server)
  │    Gateway      │
  └────────┬────────┘
           │
    ┌──────┴──────┐
    ▼             ▼
  Claude       Your Tools
  (AI)         (CRM, Email, Calendar, Web)

Step 1: Install OpenClaw (5 minutes)

Prerequisites: Node.js 22 or newer

Quick Install

# macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Run the Setup Wizard

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard walks you through:

API key setup — Connect to Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI
Gateway configuration — Set your timezone, workspace location
Channel connections — Link WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, or start with web chat only

Verify It's Running

openclaw gateway status

If everything's green, open the dashboard:

openclaw dashboard

You should see the Control UI at http://127.0.0.1:18789/. Try sending "Hello" in the chat.

Pro tip: For production use, run OpenClaw on a small VPS ($5-10/month on Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or Azure). This keeps your AI assistant online 24/7.

Step 2: Connect Your Messaging Channel

The magic of OpenClaw is that your AI assistant lives where you already are—your phone.

Option A: WhatsApp (Most Popular)

openclaw channels login

This shows a QR code. Scan it with WhatsApp (Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device).

Now message your own number and your AI responds.

Option B: Slack

Create a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps
Add bot scopes: chat:write, channels:history, users:read
Install to your workspace
Add credentials to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "botToken": "xoxb-your-bot-token",
      "appToken": "xapp-your-app-token"
    }
  }
}

Option C: Telegram

Message @BotFather and create a new bot
Add your bot token:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "botToken": "your-bot-token"
    }
  }
}

Now restart the gateway:

openclaw gateway restart

Step 3: Configure Your AI SDR Persona

Here's where it gets interesting. OpenClaw uses a workspace where your AI stores its memory, instructions, and tools.

Create Your Workspace

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace

Define Your AI's Soul

Create SOUL.md — this tells your AI who it is and how to behave:

# SOUL.md - Your AI SDR

You are an AI assistant specialized in B2B sales development.

## Your Role
- Research leads and companies before outreach
- Draft personalized emails based on company signals
- Monitor pipeline health and alert on stale deals
- Track competitor activity
- Keep me informed, but don't overwhelm me

## Guidelines
- Be concise. I'm busy.
- When you find something important, proactively tell me
- Never send emails without my approval—create drafts only
- Use data to back up recommendations
- Ask for clarification when uncertain

## Working Hours
- You can wake me up for urgent pipeline alerts
- Batch non-urgent updates for morning briefings
- My timezone: America/Chicago

Define Your Context

Create MEMORY.md for long-term context your AI should always remember:

# MEMORY.md - What to Remember

## Our ICP
- VP/Director of Sales at B2B SaaS companies
- 50-500 employees
- Has SDR team of 3-20 reps

## Competitors
- Warmly (visitor ID focus)
- Apollo (data + sequences)
- Unify (enterprise ABM)

## Key Accounts
- Acme Corp - Close by March 15, champion is Sarah (VP Sales)
- TechStart Inc - Pilot started Feb 1, check in weekly

Step 4: Set Up Recurring Tasks (Cron Jobs)

Now let's automate. OpenClaw's cron system lets you schedule tasks that run automatically.

Example: Daily Pipeline Review

Add to your cron via CLI:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "Pipeline Review" \
  --cron "0 8 * * 1-5" \
  --tz "America/Chicago" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Review our HubSpot pipeline. Flag any deals that haven't moved in 7+ days. Send me a summary on Slack." \
  --announce \
  --channel slack \
  --to "channel:C1234567890"

This runs every weekday at 8am Chicago time and posts results to Slack.

Example: Weekly Competitor Report

openclaw cron add \
  --name "Competitor Intel" \
  --cron "0 9 * * 1" \
  --tz "America/Chicago" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Search the web for news about Warmly, Apollo, and Unify GTM. Summarize any pricing changes, new features, or funding announcements. Focus on things that affect our competitive positioning."

Example: Lead Research Before Calls

openclaw cron add \
  --name "Morning Lead Research" \
  --cron "0 7 * * 1-5" \
  --tz "America/Chicago" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Check today's calendar for any sales calls. For each call, research the prospect's company, recent news, and any MarketBetter product features that match their pain points. Create a prep brief."

Step 5: Connect Your Tools

Your AI SDR needs access to your sales stack. Here are the most useful integrations:

HubSpot (CRM)

Store your HubSpot private app token in the environment:

export HUBSPOT_API_KEY="pat-na1-xxxxx"

Your AI can now query contacts, deals, and companies via the HubSpot API.

Email (Read-Only Research)

For Microsoft 365:

Create an Azure app registration
Grant Mail.Read (application permission)
Store credentials in ~/.openclaw/.env.ms365

Your AI can scan emails for buyer signals without sending anything.

Calendar

Grant calendar read access so your AI can:

See upcoming meetings and prep research
Block focus time around important calls
Alert you to scheduling conflicts

Web Search

OpenClaw includes Brave Search by default. Your AI can research:

Company news and recent announcements
Competitor pricing and features
Industry trends

No additional setup needed—just ask "Search the web for..."

Step 6: Real-World Workflows

Here are workflows we run at MarketBetter with Zenith:

New Lead Research

Trigger: We add a lead to HubSpot

What the AI does:

Searches for the company's website, recent news, job postings
Identifies their tech stack (via job postings or BuiltWith)
Finds the decision maker on LinkedIn
Drafts a personalized first-touch email
Creates a task with the draft for review

Deal Slippage Alert

Trigger: Scheduled check every 6 hours

What the AI does:

Queries HubSpot for deals in "Demo Scheduled" or "Proposal Sent" stages
Flags any that haven't moved in 5+ days
Sends a WhatsApp alert: "🚨 Deal Alert: Acme Corp hasn't moved in 7 days. Last contact was Jan 28. Should we follow up?"

Competitor Tracking

Trigger: Weekly cron job

What the AI does:

Searches for competitor news, pricing changes, feature announcements
Checks their blog and changelog
Summarizes insights in a weekly brief
Posts to our #competitive-intel Slack channel

Pre-Call Prep

Trigger: 30 minutes before any calendar event with "Demo" or "Discovery" in the title

What the AI does:

Pulls the prospect's company from the calendar invite
Researches recent news and job postings
Checks our CRM for deal history and previous conversations
Creates a one-page prep doc with talking points
Sends it via WhatsApp

The Cost: Less Than One Coffee Per Day

Let's do the math:

Component	Monthly Cost
VPS (basic cloud server)	$5-15
Claude API (moderate usage)	$20-50
OpenClaw	Free (open source)
Total	$25-65/month

Compare that to hiring an SDR ($4,000-6,000/month) or even an AI SDR tool ($500-2,000/month).

The ROI isn't close.

Getting Started Today

Install OpenClaw — 5 minutes with curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
Connect WhatsApp or Slack — Have an AI you can message from your phone
Create your first cron job — Start with a simple daily brief
Iterate — Add tools and workflows as you find friction

The full documentation is at docs.openclaw.ai.

Or if you want to see an AI SDR in action without building one, book a demo of MarketBetter—we'll show you what's possible when AI augments your sales workflow.

FAQ

Is this legal for B2B sales?

Yes. You're using AI to research and draft—final emails still require human review and approval. Always comply with CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Can I use GPT-4 instead of Claude?

Yes. OpenClaw supports multiple AI providers. Just update your API key configuration.

What if I don't know how to code?

You don't need to. The setup is copy-paste commands. The workflows are plain English instructions to your AI.

How is this different from ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a chatbot. This is an agent with memory, scheduled tasks, tool access, and integration with your actual work systems. It proactively helps you, not just responds to questions.

This post is part of our AI SDR series. Next up: "10 Claude Prompts That 10x Your SDR Productivity."

Why AI SDRs Make Sense in 2026​

What is OpenClaw?​

Step 1: Install OpenClaw (5 minutes)​

Quick Install​

Run the Setup Wizard​

Verify It's Running​

Step 2: Connect Your Messaging Channel​

Option A: WhatsApp (Most Popular)​

Option B: Slack​

Option C: Telegram​

Step 3: Configure Your AI SDR Persona​

Create Your Workspace​

Define Your AI's Soul​

Define Your Context​

Step 4: Set Up Recurring Tasks (Cron Jobs)​

Example: Daily Pipeline Review​

Example: Weekly Competitor Report​

Example: Lead Research Before Calls​

Step 5: Connect Your Tools​

HubSpot (CRM)​

Email (Read-Only Research)​

Calendar​

Web Search​

Step 6: Real-World Workflows​

New Lead Research​

Deal Slippage Alert​

Competitor Tracking​

Pre-Call Prep​

The Cost: Less Than One Coffee Per Day​

Getting Started Today​

FAQ​

Why AI SDRs Make Sense in 2026

What is OpenClaw?

Step 1: Install OpenClaw (5 minutes)

Quick Install

Run the Setup Wizard

Verify It's Running

Step 2: Connect Your Messaging Channel

Option A: WhatsApp (Most Popular)

Option B: Slack

Option C: Telegram

Step 3: Configure Your AI SDR Persona

Create Your Workspace

Define Your AI's Soul

Define Your Context

Step 4: Set Up Recurring Tasks (Cron Jobs)

Example: Daily Pipeline Review

Example: Weekly Competitor Report

Example: Lead Research Before Calls

Step 5: Connect Your Tools

HubSpot (CRM)

Email (Read-Only Research)

Calendar

Web Search

Step 6: Real-World Workflows

New Lead Research

Deal Slippage Alert

Competitor Tracking

Pre-Call Prep

The Cost: Less Than One Coffee Per Day

Getting Started Today

FAQ