Find laid-off LinkedIn prospects and draft outreach
Joanna Stern's Newsletter. Task: Joanna Stern used Perplexity Comet to replace a human research assistant for book research. The workflow involved instructing the browser's AI sidebar to scan LinkedIn for specific job loss discussions, extract names and links, and draft outreach messages. The human role was strictly limited to reviewing, editing, and approving these drafts before any communication was sent, ensuring human oversight over automated actions.; tools: Perplexity Comet. Human role: The original post describes the human role this way: Obviously, I wanted to edit and approve all the messages before sending them.; limitations: Comet is currently restricted to Perplexity Max subscribers ($200/month) or a waitlist, creating a high barrier to entry. The tool has acknowledged privacy issues, requiring users to adjust settings carefully. Integration with personal accounts like Gmail allows sending, but this introduces security risks if not properly sandboxed or monitored. Human approval is mandatory to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate outreach..
Tools
Published on Agent Work Atlas:
Overview
Joanna Stern's Newsletter
Workflow
Joanna Stern used Perplexity Comet to replace a human research assistant for book research. The workflow involved instructing the browser's AI sidebar to scan LinkedIn for specific job loss discussions, extract names and links, and draft outreach messages. The human role was strictly limited to reviewing, editing, and approving these drafts before any communication was sent, ensuring human oversight over automated actions.
Reported result
The source does not provide measured business outcomes or efficiency metrics. It only describes the functional capability of the tool to generate drafts and find leads quickly. No data on conversion rates, time saved, or error rates is available. A measurable acceptance check would require tracking the percentage of AI-drafted messages that required significant editing versus those approved as-is.
Human role
The original post describes the human role this way: Obviously, I wanted to edit and approve all the messages before sending them.
Limitations
Comet is currently restricted to Perplexity Max subscribers ($200/month) or a waitlist, creating a high barrier to entry. The tool has acknowledged privacy issues, requiring users to adjust settings carefully. Integration with personal accounts like Gmail allows sending, but this introduces security risks if not properly sandboxed or monitored. Human approval is mandatory to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate outreach.
Try it
Act as a research assistant using Perplexity Comet. My goal is to identify [replaceable target audience, e.g., laid-off customer service workers] on LinkedIn and draft personalized outreach messages. Steps: 1. Search LinkedIn for recent posts discussing [replaceable topic, e.g., AI-driven layoffs]. 2. Extract 5-10 relevant profiles with public contact info or messaging options. 3. Draft a concise, respectful outreach message for each, referencing their specific post. 4. Present the drafts and source links to me for review. Do NOT send any messages or connect with anyone. Wait for my explicit approval on each draft. If I approve, I will send them manually. If inputs are missing, ask for clarification on the target audience or message tone. Measure success by the relevance of the leads and the minimal editing required for the drafts.
Source reports are not independently verified. Publication date is the catalog publication date, not the original article date.