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# Grok Ran Outreach. I Went for a Run.
- URL: https://www.benharleyyy.com/grok-ran-outreach-i-went-for-a-run/
- Published: 2026-09-16T11:35:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T11:35:49.000Z
- Author: Ben Harley

Most AI demos start at the keyboard. Mine started with a run.

I'm obsessed with practical application. Not what a new tool can do in a demo. Whether it changes how I actually live and work.

So when I tested the latest of what Grok has to offer, I didn't want to build a few agents and play around with them at my desk. I wanted to live a normal hour of my life and see what kept moving without me.

That was the real test. Actually being separated from the work. You don't get real context if you're monitoring it.

And it wasn't easy. There were moments on the run where I caught myself thinking, I should really be working. That's distracting.

But the end result for all of us is to live life the way we want. So that's where I test things. While I'm living it.

### The hour

**The run.** 90 minutes going HAM. [Big Dawgs](https://open.spotify.com/track/4nLZSSwHqgNFib0Ww91o1S?si=87112a97fe4243e9&ref=benharleyyy.com) as my resting tempo. Midday hack to kill the 3pm slump. Fully present.

**The cool down.** On the last stretch, I talked strategy and big picture with Claude. My businesses sit at different stages. [Harley Oliver](https://www.harleyoliver.com/?ref=benharleyyy.com) is 20 years in and runs smoothly on meeting rhythms. [Ultrabeam](https://ultrabeam.ai/?ref=benharleyyy.com) is newer, a side hustle building proper operating systems for lean and growth teams. Two businesses, two very different conversations.

**The outreach.** Meanwhile, a Grok agent was running outreach. Sending emails. Handling the reply loop. Strategy time shouldn't mean the business pauses.

### What came back

35 net new emails sent.  
0 replies during the run.  
2 by EOD. (yet to be qualified)

The messages weren't sharp yet. And the agent ran with no guardrails.

### Honest take

This came down to Grok's agents versus building my own with n8n, Claude and Gmail.

Grok is a real contender. It ran outreach on its own while I was out, and as a coworker it's great.

But for outbound, my own SDR agent still wins. It's built on n8n, so the triggers are better and the system is more reliable. And I prefer Claude for the writing right now. It has my history and knows my tone.

Grok needs a deeper look from me before I'd let it run my pipeline.

*One day, 35 emails, 2 replies. A first look, not a result.*