AI BDR agents are autonomous outreach workers. You give them a target, templates, and a budget — and they write personalised emails, follow up, and handle responses, all on their own. Before an agent works on a company, that company is automatically enriched — Alva finds contacts, email addresses, and ranks them by seniority so the agent can focus on what it does best: outreach.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alvahq.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Prerequisites
Before creating an agent, you need:At least one active Discovery profile
The agent needs companies to target. Create and activate an ICP or other discovery profile first, and wait for some results to come through.
Email templates
Agents send emails based on your templates. Create at least one template group with templates for initial outreach. The agent will use your merge fields and personalise based on the prospect.
A connected email account
The agent needs an inbox to send from. Connect your email in Settings → Email Connections.
Creating an agent
Go to Discovery → AI Agents and click Create Agent.Name and instructions
Give your agent a descriptive name (e.g. “Healthcare Agency Prospector”) and write instructions that guide its decision-making:- Who to prioritise — which roles or personas (e.g. “Focus on CTOs and VP Engineering”)
- Tone guidance — any specific tone or style to follow beyond your templates
- When to escalate — what situations should be flagged for human review
Don’t include messaging guidance in the instructions — the agent uses your email templates for that. The instructions are about who and when, not what to say.
Target profiles
Select which discovery profiles the agent should work from. The agent will take companies from these profiles and begin outreach.Email templates
Choose which template groups the agent can use. These control what the agent sends — it selects the most appropriate template for each prospect and personalises it.Email connection
Select which connected email account the agent should send from. This determines the sender address and signature.Allowed tools
By default, all tools are enabled. You can restrict which actions the agent is allowed to take:| Tool | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Send Email | Send outreach emails | Free |
| Create Contact | Save contacts to your CRM | Free |
| Update Status | Update outreach status on a company | Free |
| Escalate | Flag a company for human review | Free |
| Draft Reply | Draft a reply to a prospect’s response (for your review) | Free |
Escalation notifications
Optionally, add email addresses to receive notifications when the agent escalates a company for human review.Launching the agent
Once configured, save the agent. It starts in Paused state. Click Start when you’re ready for it to begin working. When active, the agent processes companies on a regular schedule (controlled by its run pace). For each company, it:- Checks enrichment — ensures the company has been enriched with contacts and emails
- Evaluates contacts — reviews the available contacts, prioritising economic buyers and senior decision-makers
- Sends personalised outreach — picks the best template and personalises it for the chosen contact
- Tracks responses — monitors for replies and classifies intent
- Follows up — sends follow-up emails according to the cadence you set
- Escalates when needed — flags situations that need human judgement
What happens after launch
The agent appears on the Discovery → AI Agents page with live stats:- Emails sent — total outreach emails dispatched
- Budget spent — how much of the monthly budget has been used
- Status — active, paused, or completed