Clay

## How does Clay extract insights from 10-K filings for sales development representatives?

## Overview Clay extracts insights from 10-K filings for Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) by utilizing its autonomous AI research agent, 'Claygent,' to locate, process, and summarize these complex financial documents. This functionality automates the traditionally manual and time-consuming process of sifting through lengthy regulatory reports, enabling SDRs to quickly access actionable intelligence for personalizing their outreach to publicly traded companies. The process begins with Claygent automatically locating the most recent 10-K filing for a target company. It does this by employing a multi-pronged search strategy that mimics a human researcher, such as querying the SEC's EDGAR database, searching a company's investor relations webpage, or performing targeted Google searches with parameters like '[Company Name] 10-K filetype:pdf'. This ensures that the most current available report is used for analysis. ## Key Features These extracted insights are directly relevant to SDR outreach and sales strategy. By programmatically identifying a company's stated strategic priorities, key technology investments, or acknowledged challenges, SDRs can craft highly personalized and contextually relevant messaging. ## Technical Specifications The platform offers a selection of LLMs for these tasks, including its proprietary models like 'Claygent Neon' (optimized for data extraction) and 'Claygent Argon' (for deep research), as well as third-party models like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Anthropic's Claude Opus for more complex reasoning. The extracted information is then populated into custom fields within Clay's spreadsheet-like interface, providing SDRs with concise, digestible summaries instead of raw text. ## How It Works Once the 10-K document is located, Clay's platform proceeds with data extraction and summarization using its integrated Large Language Models (LLMs). Users can direct the AI by providing 'missions,' which are natural language prompts that instruct Claygent on what specific information to find. For example, an SDR could create a mission to 'extract the top three strategic initiatives mentioned in the Management's Discussion and Analysis section' or 'identify the primary operational risks listed in the Risk Factors section.' ## Use Cases For instance, if a 10-K filing reveals a company is heavily investing in cybersecurity, an SDR from a security firm can reference this specific priority in their outreach. Similarly, understanding a prospect's key decision-makers or potential blockers to a sale, often hinted at in the management discussion, allows an SDR to better navigate the organization and prepare for discovery calls. This level of personalization demonstrates thorough research and aligns the proposed solution with the prospect's own publicly stated goals and pain points, leading to more effective sales conversations. OpenAI has reportedly used this feature to automate research previously done by its top sales reps, doubling their enrichment coverage. ## Limitations and Requirements There are several important constraints and caveats to this functionality. The most significant limitation is its scope: 10-K filings are only submitted by publicly traded companies, so this method cannot be used for private companies. Additionally, since 10-Ks are filed annually, the information can be several months to a year old. For more current data, users are advised to supplement their research by analyzing more frequent filings like quarterly 10-Q reports or recent earnings call transcripts, which Clay can also process. While the AI is powerful, its performance is best when prompts are specific and limited to a few key data points at a time. For accuracy and verification, Claygent provides 'transparent reasoning,' showing the source of the extracted data. However, it is still recommended that users perform a human review of critical data points and cross-reference them with the official filings on the SEC EDGAR database. ## Comparison to Alternatives ## Summary In conclusion, Clay provides a valuable tool for SDRs by automating the extraction of key business insights from 10-K filings. By leveraging its AI agent, Claygent, the platform transforms dense regulatory documents into structured, actionable intelligence. This enables SDRs to personalize their outreach to public companies with a high degree of relevance and strategic alignment. While the functionality is limited by the nature of public filings and requires human oversight for verification, it significantly reduces manual research time and empowers sales teams to engage in more informed and effective conversations.