How Brex Built an AI Outbound Engine Using Clay

​Operator Discussion: Welcoming Michael Tai — Senior Growth PM, Brex (formerly GM at DoorDash)

​Michael leads TAM sourcing and outbound systems at Brex. He built an AI-driven outbound engine using GPT + Clay for data enrichment and prospect intelligence.

​Result: ~20% of Brex’s new business is sourced through this system.

​Conversation Focus

​1. Brex’s Growth Engine

• ​Hypergrowth context at Brex and where outbound fits today

• ​Michael’s path into growth systems and GTM infrastructure

• ​How the TAM and outbound strategy evolved as the company scaled

​2. Building the AI Outbound System

• ​Architecture of the system: GPT API + Clay + enrichment workflows

• ​How TAM sourcing actually works in practice

• ​Key inflection points that made the system work

​3. Designing the Team

• ​How the growth team was structured around the system

• ​Onboarding new hires into AI-driven workflows

• ​The role of low-code tools vs traditional engineering

​4. Strategic Lessons

• ​What was intentional vs what emerged through iteration

• ​Where leadership buy-in mattered

• ​Constraints, tradeoffs, and mistakes along the way

​5. Operator Takeaways

• ​Tactical advice for founders and GTM leaders building similar systems

• ​Career lessons from building systems inside hypergrowth companies