Optimize Customer Acquisition with Agentic AI | Tory Burch Foundation

Just when you thought you had mastered AI, a new set of intelligent tools comes along: agentic AI, which flips the script on everything we thought machines could do. It doesn’t wait for commands; it takes initiative, learns, adapts and executes with intent—and all while you sleep. For founders who catch on early, it can be a turning point.

Expanding on her first primer on AI tech, Omni Business Intelligence Solutions founder and CEO Jacqueline Tangorra founder returned to our webinar series to show our community how agents  can drive growth and optimize customer acquisition. Agentic AI is incredibly powerful,” she said. “It’s like this digital brain that knows your business, knows what it needs to achieve and won’t stop until it gets there.” 

WHAT ARE THE KINDS OF AI?

There are three types of AI: 

Predictive

This is data-centric forecasting, such as Netflix’s recommendation engine, which analyzes your viewing history to suggest shows you’ll enjoy. 

Generative

This generates content text, images and videos. The output is the end point. 

Agentic

This is process-centric. Instead of simply predicting data or expressing it, agentic AI contextualizes information against a broader goal and acts on all the decision points along the way.

On the surface, agentic AI may seem similar to automation, since both perform tasks without constant human supervision. The latter, however, has a narrower scope and follows an “if X, then do Y” script—like delivery tracking notifications or automatic post-purchase emails. Agentic AI builds on that foundation by adding reasoning, learning and problem-solving. 

Take chatbots, for example. The automated version relies on canned replies and fixed flows. An agentic one, by contrast, can handle a natural conversation—adjusting its approach and making decisions on your behalf.

THE NEW ERA OF CUSTOMER ACQUISITION.

Traditionally, marketing followed the funnel, a linear framework guiding a decreasing number of potential customers from awareness to consideration and, finally, purchase and loyalty. No longer. Our digital-first world has fractured that customer journey. People interact with brands across channels and platforms, now that we’re forever scrolling, swiping, searching and streaming. The result is a web of interconnected touchpoints, with no clear beginning or end. 

Agentic AI helps founders easily manage this dynamic hub of activity in real time. It understands a company’s context (i.e. its memory, policies and identity) as it addresses multiple tasks, from finding, qualifying and nurturing customers to either closing the deal or handing it off to someone who does. Tangorra recommended the latter. 

Even across multiple channels and fragmented sources (e.g., paid ads, referrals, and website forms), agentic AI recognizes when, say, two touchpoints belong to the same person and maps everything correctly to your customer relationship management system, or CRM. Plus, it’s self-learning, looping insights back into itself so that every interaction informs the next, even across clients and campaigns. The bottom line: no more potential customers slipping through the cracks. 

DESIGNING YOUR AGENT.

1. Keep It Human

It’s important to sound human because that’s how you will stand out. “AI is a double-edged sword,” Tangorra said. “You don’t want to be written off for using agents for outreach. It’s up to you to make it feel like you.” Founders have to teach their agents style and tone, so that customers feel they’re interacting with a person. 

2. Invest in Context

When prompting, take the time to build what Tangorra called the context spine, which makes sure your AI is equipped with the knowledge it needs to stay on brand and aligned with your values. 

“It’s what governs the AI’s ability to understand all the nuances of your business,” she explained. “Imagine stepping away from your business for six months and training someone to take over. Put that level of intellect and depth into training the AI agent itself.” 

3. Track Performance

“You have to make sure your pipeline is healthy and that agents can support your business objectives,” said Tangorra. Key metrics include customer acquisition cost (how much you spend), conversion rate (how efficiently leads convert), sales velocity (how quickly sales progress), and payback period (how quickly you recoup your spend). Also: lifetime value relative to the customer acquisition cost—or LTV:CAC—which shows if the customers you acquire are profitable over time. 

BUILDING YOUR AGENT.

1. The Tools

Platforms like Zapier, N8N, Relay.app, Relevance AI, and Empire AI let you create custom AI agents using natural-language prompts, with zero to minimal coding. No developers or programming knowledge needed. 

Privacy

Tangorra admits that AI at large is still “a very gray area” regarding what’s collected and how it’s being used. Always review a company’s policy and use encryption or anonymization where possible. Most tools will let you turn off data training, too. “The burden falls on the business owners to protect their brand and data,” she said. “You control what you put in, so be smart about it.” 

For her own business, Tangorra uses Lindy, citing its strong security protections—it’s SOC 2 Type II Certified and both HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant (learn more here).

2. Prompting 101

Effective prompting matters. Tangorra outlines what you need to include:  

• Role: Establish your agent’s function and objective. Don’t forget to include your business type, e.g., hospitality SaaS. 

• Ideal Customer Profile: Who’s your audience? Do you have any exclusions? Be specific.

• Inputs: What information, like CRM data, does your agent need? This where you add the things that make up your context spine, such as brand book, voice guide and compliance rules. 

• Tools: How will it gather information? Via web search, Google Sheets, CRMs, email, or APIs? 

• Guardrails: This is where you set any ethical, legal, and brand boundaries. For instance, no scraping behind paywalls, no mass emailing, or requiring human approval if PR risks are detected. 

• Success Metrics: Don’t forget to include your KPIs to ensure the agent drives results. 

3. Sample Use Cases

Define clear use cases for every agent you deploy. “Don’t build to build,” Tangorra cautioned. “AI is a tool to support your business growth. Stay focused on that. Don’t get hung up on everything that’s out there.” 

Below are six practical plays she recommended—think of them as a digital team, all working in sync to find new customers. 

• Inbound Triage: Acts as your point person for incoming requests through emails, forms, and social channels, then qualifies them and routes them to the right people. They agent can also automatically schedule meetings with qualified leads.

• Outbound Communication: Personalizes multi-channel outreach and automates timely follow-ups at scale. You no longer have to worry about delayed responses or your team getting burnt out. 

• Predictive Lead Scoring: Recognizes and prioritizes the customers most likely to convert. (Tangorra noted this function may already exist in some CRMs, like Zoho or HubSpot.) 

• A/B Testing: Tests different versions of ads and landing pages to refine messaging and improve conversion. The agent then chooses and deploys the winner. 

• Reengagement: Identifies dormant customers and sends targeted win-back campaigns. 

• Meeting Prep: Conducts research on prospects for reps before meetings, using your CRM and available information on the client. The agent can create a one-pager to share with company reps ahead of meetings. “It’s a game-changer,” said Tangorra. “It helps to close those deals.” 

AEO IS THE NEW SEO.

Everything we’ve covered so far involves using agents to reach customers, but there’s another development Tangorra also flagged: optimizing your business for AI discovery. “The world has its own agents that are looking to find you,” she pointed out.

Just as Google transformed marketing with search engine optimization (SEO), the rise of AI has triggered the need for AI engine optimization (AEO). “It was a cultural shift for me when I discovered someone found me through AI,” admitted Tangorra. 

Here, a few tips to get started. 

• Keep your website clean, crawlable, and schema-marked (coded with structured data for agents).

• Boost credibility with verified customer reviews (Google, LinkedIn) and transparent policies (returns, privacy, security) on your website. Agents weigh trust when suggesting businesses.

• Write content in a way that matches how customers ask questions out loud—think who, what, when, and where. 

• Write FAQs as Q&As and maintain consistent formatting for company name, address, and phone across all platforms.