---
title: "Unique Research Friend | Dudao Technology: Rebuilding the SDR Workflow for 5x Productivity with AI"
author: "Unique Research"
sourcePublication: "Unique Research Substack"
originalPublishedAt: "2025-11-20T08:00:53+00:00"
canonical: "https://ffcap.cn/en/research/src-20251120-01html"
source: "https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/src-20251120-01html"
language: "en"
---

# Unique Research Friend | Dudao Technology: Rebuilding the SDR Workflow for 5x Productivity with AI

_Original · Unique Research · 2025-11-20_

Editorial note: This complete English edition preserves the historical article and all thirteen interview questions. Dudao Technology transliterates 独到科技; DearLink.Plus is the product name supplied by the source, not a verified English company name. The career, technology and performance figures—including the headline’s 5x productivity—are source or company claims, not independently audited current results. The introduction reports 10 initial monthly leads, while Q11 gives 10–15; both are retained. The phrases 增长3倍 and 提升了3倍 are preserved as reported “three times” sales increases because the source does not define whether it means a threefold final total or an increase of three times the baseline. Q7 announces three dimensions but supplies only one, which is retained without inventing the other two. An incomplete phrase about daily high-intent customers in Q11 supplies no number, so none is inferred. Agentic AI is described as preliminary research and pilots in Q7; the stronger introduction is the source’s characterization, not confirmation of general deployment.

In the world of sales, there is an old and simple belief: results are earned one step at a time, through human effort. Today, however, Zhang Wenhao and the company he founded, Dudao Technology, are challenging this myth of experience-driven sales.

They have put forward a bolder proposition: the first half of sales was a labor-intensive war, while the second half will be a revolution led by AI intelligence—with people driving value creation and AI taking on the tedious work.

Sales Is Not Only an Art, but Also a Technology

Before founding Dudao Technology, Zhang Wenhao studied computer engineering and was accustomed to viewing the real world through a technical lens. He saw large numbers of salespeople trapped among low-quality leads: they made countless calls and sent large volumes of WeChat messages, yet closed very few deals. More frustratingly, no one knew when the next follow-up should happen. Traditional CRM systems functioned more like databases for passive recordkeeping. As much as 90% of the valuable information embedded in sales conversations was never effectively extracted or used, making genuinely data-driven sales difficult to achieve.

This prompted him to ask: if AI can win at Go, write code, and compose poetry, why can it not become a capable assistant to salespeople?

Building on this idea, Dudao Technology launched its core product, DearLink.Plus, to reshape every stage of sales with AI. From lead discovery to customer follow-up, and from converting customer needs into sales to management reviews, every step is driven by data and optimized by algorithms. Sales is no longer an experience-only craft practiced by intuition; it becomes a systems-engineering discipline that can be quantified, replicated, and continuously improved.

When AI Is Not Just a Tool, but a “Sales Partner”

In the past, when we talked about AI, we often treated it like Excel: an auxiliary tool people use to work faster. Dudao Technology envisions something that goes one step further—AI as a sales collaborator.

Zhang Wenhao is not content for AI to serve merely as a salesperson’s “secretary.” He wants it to become an “assistant sales representative” that can screen customers, analyze sales scripts, and simulate negotiations—even independently completing the front-end sequence of “initial communication + needs identification + solution recommendation” when an individual salesperson is overwhelmed by routine tasks. In retail, finance, automotive, and other industries, this idea has already been put into practice through real Agentic AI applications.

The case of a customer named Mr. Li offers a clear example. He had been an independent salesperson in the industrial-equipment sector. After adopting the system, his effective monthly leads rose from 10 to 50, while sales were reported to have increased by “three times” (增长3倍). He hired no additional staff; he simply gained an invisible intelligent partner, allowing one person to handle almost the workload of five.

Not “Industry AI,” but “AI for the Industry”

Behind this is Dudao Technology’s deeper understanding of AI’s value: do not build a “universal AI”; build an “AI that understands the industry.” The company focuses on training a lightweight “sales foundation model” that can be adapted across industries. Using a “general-purpose foundation + industry plug-ins” approach, it embeds sales logic from education, manufacturing, finance, and other fields into the model. Intelligence cultivated within clear boundaries has instead become the most commercially valuable form of innovation.

The company’s understanding of “AI for the industry” is not empty talk about modularity. Through a practical “general-purpose foundation + industry customization” architecture, it incorporates scenarios such as “school-enterprise partnerships” in education, “repeat equipment purchases” in manufacturing, and “high-net-worth client follow-up” in finance into the model. As sales processes become increasingly complex and customer needs more differentiated, this “intelligence within boundaries” has become the most valuable kind of innovation.

Preserving Dignity for the Individual in the AI Dividend

The company’s ultimate ambition is to bring dignity to the “era of the individual.” It believes AI is not meant to replace people, but to free them—taking over low-value repetitive work so people can return to high-value creation. Dudao Technology uses AI to address the two core problems facing individual salespeople: customer acquisition and conversion. This amplifies individual expertise rather than allowing it to be overwhelmed by technology.

What is especially valuable about Dudao Technology is that it has not tried to turn its AI tool into an “all-purpose companion.” Instead, it uses AI to unlock the two capabilities individuals find most difficult: acquisition and conversion—the golden territory of sales, but also its most draining gray zone. By reshaping these processes with AI, the company allows individual expertise to be supported by technology rather than replaced by it.

The Final Question: Who Is Defining the Future of Sales?

Ultimately, it is not algorithms or systems themselves that will redefine sales, but creators like Zhang Wenhao who believe that “AI is an amplifier for people.” They are bringing technology back to serving people and making “one person is a company” a compelling possibility of our era.

Selected Interview Q&A

Q1: Could you first briefly introduce yourself, Dudao Technology’s background and development journey, and its core positioning in AI?

Zhang Wenhao: I am Zhang Wenhao, CEO of Dudao Technology. Dudao Technology’s first office was on the Tsinghua University campus, and the company later remained in Beijing’s Wudaokou area. Our core team was formed by PhDs from Tsinghua University’s Computer Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

The company initially focused on automating private-domain user operations. We accumulated extensive user profiles and consumer data, as well as high-quality private-domain conversations between salespeople and customers, and used them to develop a vertical model for sales. In AI sales products, we first entered the market with an intelligent sales-lead discovery system. As AI technology advanced and demand for enterprise digital transformation surged, we evolved from a single-tool provider into a provider of AI sales-agent products and services covering the full process of “acquisition-follow-up-conversion-management.” We train AI to become a digital salesperson. Its automated sales capabilities over telephone and WeChat deliver tangible value for enterprise revenue growth.

Our core positioning in AI is to be “the leader in AI-powered sales enablement across industries.” Drawing on Beijing’s talent advantages, we are not limited to any single industry. Through an architecture combining a “general-purpose technology foundation + industry-specific modules,” we provide different customers with AI sales solutions that can be adapted quickly.

Q2: How is your company’s flagship AI solution, “DearLink.Plus,” constructed? Which pain points in the sales process does it specifically address?

Zhang Wenhao: “DearLink.Plus” is built around a matrix of capabilities spanning the four core stages of the full sales process: acquisition, follow-up, conversion, and management.

AI intelligent acquisition matrix: This addresses the pain points of “low lead quality and high acquisition costs.” Drawing on a database containing tens of millions of enterprise profiles and on algorithmic models, we accurately identify high-intent customers. AI then automatically converts and follows up with customers showing initial interest. According to customer validation, acquisition efficiency has improved by an average of more than 70%, while lead-conversion rates have risen by 45%.

AI intelligent follow-up module: This addresses “poorly timed follow-ups and rigid messaging.” The system integrates multiple communication channels and uses foundation models to analyze communications in real time, identifying customer sentiment, needs, and historical conversation tags. It simultaneously recommends talking points and intelligently prompts the right follow-up timing. New-customer conversion rates have risen by an average of 38%.

AI conversion-enablement module: This addresses challenges such as “difficult negotiations for large orders.” Based on conversations between salespeople and customers, the system uses foundation models to automatically analyze a salesperson’s weaknesses during the sales process and generate effective key-conversation strategies for the customer. It helps the salesperson conduct negotiations promptly and later produces targeted training strategies for challenges identified in the sales process, shortening the time it takes new salespeople to close deals by 30%.

AI sales-management module: This gives managers real-time data monitoring, team-efficiency analysis, target-attainment forecasting, and other capabilities.

Q3: What is the core innovative value of the “DearLink.Plus” solution? What breakthroughs does it offer compared with other tools on the market?

Zhang Wenhao: We believe general-purpose foundation models offer relatively comprehensive capabilities in general scenarios, but they are not sufficiently specialized for sales. We use historical data from top-performing salespeople to give the model sales experience, and it is essential for the model to understand the customer’s industry. Our innovative value therefore lies in two breakthroughs: an “industry-vertical model + full-process sales coverage.”

Full-process coverage: Unlike AI tools on the market that address only one stage, our platform connects data across the entire sales chain, creating closed-loop enablement spanning “leads-follow-up-conversion-management.”

Industry customization: Dudao’s AI foundation model can adapt quickly to sales scenarios across manufacturing, finance, education, and other industries. Customers do not need extensive secondary development to achieve generalized adaptation to their industry. The system is ready to use out of the box while preserving industry fit.

Q4: As a founder, what were your original motivation and vision in creating Dudao Technology? What drives the team to keep working deeply in AI sales?

Zhang Wenhao:

Original motivation: “Use AI technology to reconstruct the value of sales, enabling every salesperson to create results efficiently.” We want AI to reduce salespeople’s workload and improve efficiency, freeing them from basic tasks so they can focus on core, high-value activities such as maintaining deeper customer relationships and closing deals.

Vision: “Build a new form of productivity for an intelligent era in which people and AI collaborate, and become a world-leading AI-agent service provider.” AI sales is our first application scenario for agents. We expect AI to become every salesperson’s “intelligent partner,” ushering sales into a new era of “competing through intelligence and creating value.”

Driving force: Beyond AI programming, AI sales is one of the scenarios in which agents can most readily be deployed. Real customer feedback—for example, that “1 salesperson can produce 2 times the sales results in 3 months”—shows that effective deployment is reaching more industries and genuinely creating value. This positive feedback lets people experience the product’s value to society and see technology truly reshaping the world.

Q5: What do you see as the most significant breakthroughs in generative AI today? How does Dudao Technology incorporate these frontier technologies, such as industry foundation models, into its products?

Zhang Wenhao: I believe the most significant breakthroughs are “lightweight deployment of industry-specific foundation models” and “the practical application of multimodal interaction technology.”

We have already integrated them deeply into our products. Leveraging Beijing’s talent advantages, our proprietary architecture, and 8 years of multi-industry sales data accumulated by the company, we trained a lightweight “industry sales foundation model.” Compared with general-purpose foundation models, optimization has reduced deployment costs by 75%, while raising answer accuracy for sales-scenario questions to 95%. The AI’s work output also exceeds that of human workers, enabling it to accurately identify industry terminology and sales logic. It produces higher-value results at lower cost.

At the technical level, we also emphasize AI’s self-learning capabilities, lowering the barrier for customers to optimize foundation models repeatedly and reducing subsequent operations and maintenance complexity. For highly human-like AI, we have developed our own multimodal voice model. In text-based communications such as WeChat, we train the AI in human-like expression and style so it behaves more like a person and provides human-like service and care. With the AI salespeople we currently train, users find it difficult to tell that they are conversing with a robot.

Q6: Against a backdrop of rapidly advancing AI technology, how does Dudao Technology balance technical innovation with commercial deployment? What priorities guide resource allocation and strategic planning?

Zhang Wenhao: We adhere to the core principle of “commercial deployment as the goal, supported by technological innovation.”

Resource allocation: We use a “7:2:1” model for allocating R&D resources.

70% is invested in iterative optimization of existing products and support for commercial deployment, addressing practical customer-adaptation needs.

20% is invested in frontier technologies that can be deployed within the next 1-2 years, such as AI sales-forecasting models.

10% is invested in forward-looking technology exploration over a 3-5-year horizon, such as Agentic AI.

Strategic planning: We follow a dual-engine model of “technology R&D + market validation.” From needs research to small-scale trials and then end-to-end tracking by the customer-success team, we form a feedback loop that prevents technology development from becoming detached from the market.

Q7: Has Dudao Technology begun developing emerging paradigms such as Agentic AI? How do you think they will reshape future AI applications?

Zhang Wenhao: We have launched a dedicated initiative and are currently in a stage of “technical pre-research + scenario pilots.” We believe Agentic AI’s core value lies in “autonomously understanding tasks, planning processes, executing, and responding to feedback,” which closely matches the need for autonomous operation across the full sales process.

Our efforts focus on the following areas:

Building core capabilities: We train sales agents to break down tasks autonomously according to “monthly targets” and dynamically adjust their strategies.

Conducting scenario pilots: We are testing in three industries—manufacturing, finance, and education—allowing agents to independently perform upstream processes such as “lead screening-initial communication-needs analysis.” Preliminary data shows this can save salespeople 65% of the time they spend on upstream work.

I believe Agentic AI will reshape the AI ecosystem across three dimensions:

Changing the human-AI collaboration model: It shifts from “people plan, AI executes, and people take over complex tasks” to “AI plans autonomously, AI executes autonomously, and people supervise and make decisions,” gradually increasing the share of work handled by AI.

Q8: What opportunities and challenges has Dudao Technology encountered while globalizing its AI products? What differentiated strategies has it adopted for overseas markets such as Europe and the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East?

Zhang Wenhao: Chinese customers place greater emphasis on solutions and actual results, so products are tightly coupled to their processes. European and American customers place greater emphasis on a tool’s completeness and experience within a single scenario, as well as its ability to integrate with other global platforms. The product form therefore differs. Dudao is currently grounded in China’s intensely competitive market and will gradually expand into overseas markets in the future.

Opportunities: 1. Universal demand for sales enablement; 2. Demand among small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East for digital transformation; 3. Beijing’s brand advantage as an international center for scientific and technological innovation.

Challenges: 1. Differences in industry characteristics across regional markets, such as a greater emphasis on privacy in Europe and the United States and on price in Southeast Asia; 2. Technical adaptation costs across different platforms and tools; 3. The cost of building localized service systems.

Q9: What role do you believe Chinese AI companies play in the global AI market? How should they further strengthen global competitiveness and influence?

Zhang Wenhao: I believe Chinese AI companies are moving from being “technology followers” to becoming “leaders in application innovation,” playing the role of “drivers of real-world scenario deployment.” Their advantages lie in abundant application scenarios, vast user data, and efficient execution.

To enhance global competitiveness and influence:

Integrate into global culture: Both product design and marketing methods must align with global discourse and meet the needs of overseas markets.

Strengthen core technology R&D: Drawing on Beijing’s technology-talent advantages, we have increased investment in algorithms specialized for AI sales, creating a dual advantage in “algorithms + data.”

Deepen localized operating capabilities: Combine “globalized products + localized services,” build local teams, and integrate into local ecosystems.

Q10: The theme of this conference is “Pioneering Intelligence | The Era of the Individual.” How do you interpret this theme? How will AI technology redefine the creativity, productivity, and commercial value of the “individual”?

Zhang Wenhao: I interpret the theme this way: “AI technology breaks the boundaries of individual capability, allowing each person to possess capabilities comparable to those of a team and thereby opening a new form of business centered on the individual.”

AI is redefining individual value across three dimensions:

Creativity: It frees individuals from tedious basic work, such as market analysis, copywriting, sales communication, and customer-service interactions, enabling them to focus on core creative work such as product innovation.

Productivity: It creates a “multiplier effect” for individual productivity. For example, with our AI system, an individual salesperson can increase the number of customers followed up each day from 20–30 to more than 100, equivalent to the workload of a five-person team in the past.

Commercial value: It lowers the barriers to individual entrepreneurship, enables individuals to match market demand precisely, supports “small-batch, high-precision” commercial operations, and substantially increases returns on commercial value.

Q11: In the context of Dudao Technology’s business, could you share a specific case showing how your products empower a “one-person company” or “small team” to achieve “big-team results with a small team”?

Zhang Wenhao: We have a typical customer, Mr. Li, who operates a “one-person sales company” selling industrial automation equipment.

Before adoption: He faced three major difficulties: 1. Customer acquisition was hard—he spent at least 2 hours a day, generated only 10-15 effective leads a month, and had to keep holding his phone and watching for replies, making the work exhausting; 2. Conversion was low—he lacked technical sales scripts, and his conversion rate was below 3%; 3. Management was chaotic—he kept records in Excel and often missed follow-ups.

After adoption:

Acquisition: When a customer adds him on WeChat, AI begins communicating and serving the customer immediately, with no delay, so no business opportunity is missed. It automatically screens interested, high-intent customers each day and has increased effective monthly leads to 50, accomplishing work that once required a team.

Conversion: When customers ask technical questions, the system recommends professional language and case data in real time, such as “25% more energy-efficient than peers...” Conversion has risen to 15%. High-intent customers are immediately transferred to Mr. Li for deeper human conversations and order conversion, while AI continuously nurtures low-intent customers and stimulates their purchase intent.

Operations: The system automatically generates customer follow-up and maintenance milestones and recommends personalized content. Reactivating dormant users alone contributed sales growth equivalent to Mr. Li’s previous sales.

Final result: Without adding staff, Mr. Li reported that monthly sales increased by “three times” (提升了3倍), achieving a breakthrough in which a “one-person company delivers big-team results,” while significantly improving his profit margin.

Q12: For “AI Creators” in your field, what are the biggest opportunity and most severe challenge today?

Zhang Wenhao:

Biggest opportunities:

Explosive growth in market demand: Enterprises urgently need to reduce costs and improve efficiency. AI sales is the most essential and readily verifiable AI deployment scenario for businesses.

Lower implementation costs: The spread of lightweight foundation models and open-source tools, together with the continued year-over-year decline in foundation-model call costs, is turning ROI positive.

Ample room for differentiation: There are still few solutions on the market that can be genuinely deployed and rapidly adapted across multiple industries.

Most severe challenges:

Accumulating multi-industry data and managing compliance risks: Business scenarios and data accumulation differ across industries, while privacy regulations increase compliance costs.

Demanding user-experience standards: Achieving “a different experience for every person”—extreme personalization and human-like interaction—is a technical challenge for AI sales.

Intensifying market competition: AI sales is a clearly established AI category with many competitors. Providers must genuinely solve customer problems to win orders.

Q13: Looking ahead 1-3 years, what preparations should “individuals” or “small teams” make in their skills, tools, and mindsets to capture the opportunities of the AI era?

Zhang Wenhao:

Data: Prioritize the accumulation of high-quality data—the earlier, the better. Chinese companies do not pay enough attention to data accumulation, but it is extremely important for AI.

Skills: Focus on improving “the ability to collaborate with AI,” building a combined “AI+ sales” skill set, and on “professional industry insight,” because AI cannot replace a deep understanding of customer pain points.

Tools: Build a tool matrix of “core full-process tools + scenario-specific auxiliary tools.” Focus deeply on using 2-3 core tools and avoid piling up tools.

Mindset: Make three shifts:

From “experience-driven” to “data-driven.”

From “working alone” to “AI collaboration.”

From “passive selling” to “value marketing”—after AI completes the basic work, focus your energy on creating value for customers.

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Original publication: https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/src-20251120-01html
On-site reading page: https://ffcap.cn/en/research/src-20251120-01html