Automated lead qualification with AI agents (HubSpot and Salesforce)
Inbound leads arrive faster than anyone can check them. This guide shows how to set up an Orkeste agent, or a swarm of two, that reads inbound emails, checks HubSpot or Salesforce, applies your qualification criteria, records the lead and drafts a reply. A rep approves every email and every CRM change you choose to keep under review.
The problem
Most teams qualify leads with a form score and a review once a day. Promising leads wait, poor fits take a rep's time, and the CRM fills with half-complete records. Rule-based automations score on form fields but cannot read what the prospect actually wrote.
How the workflow runs
Runs: Every hour, or when you start it.
Read inbound emails: The agent reads recent emails in the sales inbox, in Gmail or Outlook.
Check the CRM: In HubSpot it finds the contact by email and its deals; in Salesforce it searches the contact, the account and open opportunities.
Qualify: It applies the criteria from its briefing and writes its verdict in one sentence.
Approve: CRM changes and the reply draft wait in Validations for a rep.
Record the lead: In HubSpot it creates the contact and a deal at the first stage, or adds a note. In Salesforce it logs an activity on the existing record.
Hand off: Qualified leads are posted to the sales channel in Slack. Approved replies are sent from Outlook or saved as Gmail drafts.
The agents propose; a rep approves the CRM changes and every email before it goes out.
Who does what
Qualifier agent: Reads the email, checks the CRM and applies your criteria.
Reply drafter: Writes the first answer from the CRM history and your knowledge.
Sales rep (human): Approves CRM changes and replies, and handles the conversation.
What this workflow does not do
No web access: no enrichment from public sources or LinkedIn.
In Salesforce, agents do not create leads or accounts; in HubSpot they create contacts and deals.
Agents run on a schedule, at most hourly, not the instant a form is submitted.
Those run fixed rules on structured fields. Here the agent reads the message the prospect wrote, checks your CRM and explains its verdict in a sentence, and the steps you choose wait for a rep.
Do I need HubSpot or Salesforce?
Either. With HubSpot the agent creates the contact and the deal itself; with Salesforce it logs activities on existing records and flags new companies for a rep to create.
How do I write the criteria?
In plain language in the briefing: company size, the needs you serve, the signals that matter such as a budget or a deadline, and what to do with poor fits.
What does it cost to run?
Each run uses credits from your plan, from 2 credits with Claude Haiku 5.5 to 235 with Claude Fable 5.1 depending on the model you choose, and you can set a daily and a monthly budget per agent.