Unlock scalable, personalized sales automation by building an AI sales agent with Tavus—streamline outreach, qualify leads, and deliver impactful video interactions.
Technical prerequisites and requirements
Before you start building your AI sales agent, make sure you have the essential components in place for smooth integration and reliable functionality.
First, secure API credentials and permissions for your CRM, such as Salesforce or HubSpot. This access is vital for reading and writing contact, deal, and communication data, which forms the foundation of your sales interactions. Next, obtain access to communication channel APIs, including email (via SMTP/IMAP or provider API), chat platforms like Slack or Teams, phone and SMS services such as Twilio, and video through Tavus. This multi-channel setup ensures your AI agent can reach leads and customers on their preferred platforms.
You'll also need to register for a Tavus account at tavus.io and generate your API key through the Developer Portal to unlock Tavus's video capabilities. Confirm that your organization’s policies allow API-based integrations across all required channels to maintain compliance and security. Additionally, develop a working knowledge of REST APIs, JSON, and the integration points within your sales stack. This familiarity will help you set up and troubleshoot your agent efficiently.
Finally, use a sandbox or test environment with non-production data and test accounts. This approach lets you safely conduct setup and validation, reducing risk to live operations. For more detailed guidance, check out the Tavus API documentation.
Phase 1: Define the AI sales agent use case and business value
Before you build your AI sales agent, it's important to clarify its purpose and set clear success metrics.
Identify core sales tasks for automation
Start by pinpointing which sales processes are best suited for automation. Common tasks include lead qualification, initial outreach, follow-ups and reminders, product demos, and meeting scheduling. Map each task to a conversational workflow. For instance, lead qualification might involve a series of targeted questions, while product demos could use interactive video segments. This mapping is essential for designing effective workflows within Tavus, ensuring your agent can handle these responsibilities efficiently and accurately.
Map AI agent roles to business outcomes
Assign each workflow to a specific business objective, such as increasing lead conversion rates, reducing time to first response, or accelerating pipeline velocity. In Tavus, you can define these objectives as distinct agent personas or workflows. This modular setup makes it easier to optimize and update your agent as your sales strategy evolves, keeping your AI aligned with your business goals.
Document success metrics and KPIs
Choose measurable KPIs to track your agent’s performance. Metrics like conversion rate (leads to opportunities), response latency (average time to first response), number of meetings booked, and user satisfaction scores are all valuable. Capture these metrics through CRM integration and Tavus analytics dashboards. This data is crucial for ongoing optimization and demonstrating your AI agent's impact on your sales process.
Phase 2: Technical requirements and prerequisites
Set up the necessary systems and access so your AI sales agent can operate effectively.
Prepare CRM and sales data integration
Ensure you have API access to your CRM platform. Identify the critical data fields your agent will use, such as contacts (name, email, company, role), deal stages, and communication logs. You'll need API credentials with both read and write permissions for these fields. Review your CRM’s API documentation to confirm endpoint details and authentication requirements, making sure data flows smoothly between systems.
Set up communication channels and permissions
Provision access to the communication channels your agent will use. Secure SMTP/IMAP credentials or provider API access for email, obtain API credentials for chat platforms like Slack or Teams, and set up a Twilio API account for phone and SMS outreach. For video interactions, access the Tavus platform. Work closely with your IT or security team to confirm that API-based access is permitted for each channel, which helps prevent integration issues later on.
Tavus platform account and API access
Create a Tavus account, generate your API key in the Developer Portal, and familiarize yourself with the Tavus API documentation for endpoints related to conversations, personas, and video generation. Always protect your API key—never share it in public repositories or unsecured environments to maintain security.
Phase 3: Build and configure the AI sales agent
Once your foundation is ready, you can create, configure, and train your AI sales agent using Tavus’s conversational video interface.
Select or design the agent persona and workflow
Tavus offers predefined personas for various sales use cases, such as the Sales Coach. You can use these templates as they are or customize them to fit your needs.
For example, the Sales Coach persona is designed to facilitate dynamic and personalized sales coaching sessions. It uses Tavus’s full conversational pipeline—including perception and speech-to-text capabilities—to deliver realistic and engaging interactions.
{
"persona_name": "Sales Coach",
"pipeline_mode": "full",
"system_prompt": "You are Sabrina, a dynamic
and results-driven sales coach at PitchPro,
a premium coaching service dedicated to
helping tech professionals master the
art of selling. ...",
"context": "You're having a one-on-one
video session with a tech professional
who has booked time with you through
PitchPro's website. They're seeking
your guidance on improving their sales
skills, and this video call is part
of your regular coaching services.",
"default_replica_id": "r7bc3db0d581",
"layers": {
"perception": {
"perception_tools": [],
"ambient_awareness_queries": [
"Does the user maintain
consistent eye contact with the camera?",
"What's their posture and body
position during the conversation?",
"Do they use natural, confident
hand gestures or appear stiff/fidgety?",
"Is the user dressed appropriately
for their target customer segment?"
],
"perception_model": "raven-0"
},
"stt": {
"stt_engine": "tavus-advanced",
"participant_pause_sensitivity": "high",
"participant_interrupt_sensitivity": "medium",
"smart_turn_detection": true
}
}
}To implement this, start by creating the conversation with the Sales Coach persona. Initiate a new conversation using the Tavus API with your chosen persona:
curl --request POST \
--url https://tavusapi.com/v2/conversations \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: <api_key>' \
--data '{ "persona_id": "pdced222244b" }'Replace <api_key> with your Tavus API key. The API response will provide a conversation_url. Open this link in your browser to join the session.
{
"conversation_id": "c7f3fc6d788f",
"conversation_name": "New Conversation 1747719531467",
"conversation_url": "<conversation_link>",
"status": "active"
}From a technical perspective, the Sales Coach persona uses Tavus’s comprehensive conversational pipeline, which includes perception, speech-to-text, large language model, and text-to-speech capabilities. The perception layer allows the agent to interpret nonverbal cues, making interactions more realistic and effective.
Integrate knowledge base and sales playbooks
Upload your company FAQs, product documentation, and sales scripts to the agent’s knowledge base using the Tavus API or the platform’s UI. Organize documents by topic or scenario for easy retrieval, and attach relevant resources to your persona configuration. This setup enables context-aware responses during live conversations, ensuring your agent always has the right information at hand.
Configure guardrails and compliance policies
Set up data access rules and compliance constraints to ensure your agent operates within regulatory guidelines. Restrict access to sensitive CRM fields as needed, define compliance requirements such as GDPR or CCPA, and implement escalation logic for complex queries or compliance triggers. Use Tavus persona configuration options to set system prompts and behavioral guidelines that enforce these policies.
Phase 4: Integrate with sales stack and communication channels
Connect your AI sales agent to your broader sales technology ecosystem for seamless automation and data flow.
Connect to CRM via API or native integration
Use Tavus’s CRM connectors or REST API to sync leads and contacts, log conversation activities, and update deal stages. Review your CRM’s API documentation for authentication and endpoint details. Tavus can trigger webhooks or callbacks to update external systems in real time, ensuring data consistency across platforms.
Enable omnichannel communication (email, chat, video, phone)
Integrate your agent with channels like phone and SMS (using the Twilio API), chat (connecting to Slack or Teams through their APIs), and video (using the Tavus video API for personalized outreach). Configure each channel’s API credentials and permissions in your Tavus agent configuration. Always test integrations in a sandbox environment before moving to production to ensure reliability and performance.
Automate scheduling and follow-ups
Leverage calendar APIs, such as Google Calendar or Outlook, to automate meeting bookings. Tavus’s scheduling modules can handle reminders and follow-up messages based on conversation outcomes or CRM stage changes. By automating triggers for follow-ups, you ensure timely engagement and maximize your conversion opportunities.
Phase 5: Test, deploy, and optimize the AI sales agent
Validate your agent’s performance, launch it to production, and iterate based on real-world feedback.
Simulate realistic sales scenarios
Use Tavus’s sandbox environment to run test conversations and video demos. Validate conversation logic and flow, personalization accuracy, and escalation or compliance handling. Simulate edge cases, such as ambiguous queries or compliance triggers, to make sure your agent responds appropriately and maintains compliance.
Monitor performance and collect feedback
Set up analytics dashboards in Tavus or your business intelligence tool to track conversation volume, KPI attainment (like conversion rates and response times), and user satisfaction through post-interaction surveys. Use Tavus’s webhooks and callbacks to push data to your analytics platform for deeper insights, enabling you to make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement and retraining
Regularly update your agent’s knowledge base and conversation flows. Refine video templates and messaging based on performance data and feedback from your sales team. Schedule periodic reviews of agent performance and retrain as needed to address new objections, product updates, or changes in your sales strategy.
Phase 6: Implementation patterns, best practices, and Tavus integration tips
Take advantage of these patterns and Tavus-specific features for scalable, effective deployments.
Modular agent design and multi-agent systems
Design separate personas or workflows for each stage of the sales process, such as prospecting, demos, onboarding, and support. This modular approach improves maintainability and allows you to optimize each workflow independently, ensuring every aspect of your sales process is finely tuned for performance.
Personalization with Tavus conversational video AI
Use Tavus’s video generation API to create personalized video messages at scale. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the Video Generation Quickstart.
For example, you can generate a personalized video with the following API call:
curl --request POST \
--url https://tavusapi.com/v2/video/generate \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: <api_key>' \
--data '{ "template_id": "<template_id>", "personalization_fields": { "first_name": "Alex", "company": "Acme Corp" } }'Replace <api_key> and <template_id> with your Tavus credentials and template ID.
Security, compliance, and data privacy
Follow Tavus’s security guidelines to keep your implementation secure and compliant. Make sure all integrations comply with GDPR, CCPA, and any industry-specific regulations. Store API keys and sensitive data securely, and regularly audit your agent’s data flows and access controls to maintain security and compliance.
References and further reading
- Tavus API documentation
- Tavus conversational AI use cases
- Tavus integration guides
- Best practices for AI sales agents
Start building your AI sales agent with Tavus today—define your workflows, integrate with your sales stack, and use analytics for ongoing improvement. For advanced configurations or troubleshooting, consult the official Tavus documentation or reach out to the Tavus support team.
