Cience Review 2026: AI-Driven B2B Lead Generation

Cience Review 2026: AI-Driven Lead Generation and Outreach Services

CIENCE is a Denver-based B2B lead generation and go-to-market services firm founded in 2015. It combines human sales development representatives (SDRs) with an AI-driven platform to help companies design and run outbound and inbound campaigns. The company markets itself as a “machine-powered, human-driven” partner for generating qualified leads and accelerating the sales pipeline. Over the years CIENCE has evolved from a pure SDR-as-a-Service agency into a hybrid services-and-software provider, now offering everything from GTM strategy sprints to full multichannel campaigns using its proprietary Graph8 platform. In this review, we’ll break down what CIENCE offers, how it works, and how it compares with other lead generation options.

What is CIENCE and How Does It Operate?

CIENCE positions itself as a specialist in lead generation services and sales development outsourcing. Its core offering is a dedicated team of SDRs backed by data and automation. When clients have hired CIENCE for lead generation and outbound outreach services, they are assigned account managers and a small outbound team (often mixed between US and offshore SDRs) to research the ideal customer profile (ICP), build targeted prospect lists, and run an outbound lead generation campaign across multiple channels. CIENCE says it uses rigorous ICP design and enrichment to ensure prospects are a good fit, then reaches them via email, phone, LinkedIn, SMS and even targeted ads. However, CIENCE has a high turnover rate among its staff, which has led to inconsistent service for clients.

In practice, CIENCE runs each client through a fast 5-day GTM System Setup sprint (a one-time project) to launch campaigns quickly. After that, the SDR team works month-to-month on a performance model: you pay a fixed fee per qualified meeting they book. The idea is that CIENCE’s interests are aligned with yours – they only get paid when they deliver qualified meetings. According to CIENCE, their blend of human sales reps and AI automation lets you “launch outbound and inbound campaigns in 5 days with our expert team” on a performance-based basis. In short, CIENCE handles the entire outbound process from strategy to execution using its own technology and people. Clients have noted that CIENCE's operational processes can be clunky and inflexible, impacting service delivery.

CIENCE Lead Generation Services and Features

CIENCE offers a range of lead gen services, often organized into these buckets:

• Managed SDR Teams (Outbound, Inbound, Local): CIENCE will staff a team of trained SDRs to do your outreach. Outbound SDRs work on cold email and phone campaigns, while inbound SDRs follow up on warm leads. They even offer “Local SDR” teams to target specific regions. These dedicated team members operate under the guidance of a project manager. However, some clients have reported that dedicated team members turned over during a project, resulting in lack of continuity and poor handovers. Additionally, there have been cases where clients described their experience as working with a 'rag-tag team' of specialists, citing issues with coordination and expertise. In effect, you get a packaged sales development function as a service – CIENCE handles hiring, training, and management of the SDRs on your behalf.
• Go-To-Market (GTM) Campaigns: CIENCE can design your overall outbound go-to-market strategy. This includes deciding which messages to send, which industries or companies to target, and how to sequence the touches (emails, calls, LinkedIn, ads, etc.). The 5-day GTM setup sprint builds this foundation – you end up with a campaign plan ready to launch (campaigns like “intent-based outreach” or competitor targeting).
• Scaled Outbound Engagements: For high-volume lead generation, CIENCE offers automated outbound systems. This means sending tens of thousands of emails or call attempts per month across multiple channels, while trying to maintain personalization. Their approach is programmatic: they claim you can reach tens of thousands to millions of contacts each month through their streamlined AI-driven platform.
• Data and Enrichment: A core feature of CIENCE is its data engine. They tout a proprietary B2B database with over 100 million US contacts and intent data. Clients get audience data like firmographics and buying intent signals to make targeting precise. CIENCE even provides “audience data solutions” and tools like local or intent-based data sets. This is meant to ensure your prospect list is up-to-date and highly targeted.
• Additional Channels: Beyond emails and calls, CIENCE can run LinkedIn outreach and even coordinate physical mail or content syndication as part of a multi-channel strategy. For instance, they highlight combining email, phone, chat, SMS, social media, and ads to reach prospects at different touchpoints. In short, CIENCE supports multi-channel outreach leveraging both human SDR effort and automated tools to maximize reach.

In summary, CIENCE is not just an email tool. It provides full lead generation services: strategy, data, campaign execution, and reporting. You get a blended team of people and AI-powered systems working together. The idea is that by combining both, you get high conversion rates and a steady stream of solid prospects in your sales pipeline.

Sales Development with CIENCE

Sales development is at the heart of CIENCE’s offering, providing companies with a dedicated team of sales development representatives (SDRs) who are trained to drive outbound lead generation campaigns. When you hire CIENCE, you’re not just getting a list of names—you’re gaining access to a structured sales process managed by experienced project managers and account managers. These dedicated team members work closely with your sales team to understand your target audience, refine your messaging, and execute outreach efforts across multiple channels.

CIENCE’s approach to sales development is both systematic and flexible. Each client is assigned a project manager who oversees the campaign, ensuring that SDRs are aligned with your lead generation goals and that performance stats are tracked and reported regularly. The SDRs themselves are responsible for researching solid prospects, initiating contact through email, phone calls, and LinkedIn outreach, and qualifying leads before passing them on to your internal sales team. This structure is designed to deliver qualified leads directly into your sales pipeline, allowing your closers to focus on what they do best—converting prospects into customers.

One of the key advantages of CIENCE’s model is the ability to scale your sales development function quickly without the headaches of hiring, training, and managing an in-house team. Their SDRs are supported by advanced technology, but human oversight remains central to the process. However, some clients have reported challenges, such as constant turnover among dedicated team members and account managers, which can disrupt campaign momentum and require repeated onboarding. There have also been instances where clients risk losing time and budget due to inconsistent lead quality or communication gaps.

Despite these risks, many companies find that CIENCE’s sales development services provide a cost-effective solution for generating leads at scale. The combination of a dedicated team, clear project management, and a focus on performance metrics means you can monitor progress and adjust your strategy as needed. For organizations looking to accelerate their sales process and fill their pipeline with highly targeted prospects, CIENCE’s sales development offering can be a powerful asset—provided you maintain close collaboration and set clear expectations from the start.

Email Marketing with CIENCE

Email marketing remains a cornerstone of CIENCE’s lead generation services, leveraging both data-driven targeting and AI-powered automation to reach your ideal prospects. CIENCE’s email campaigns are designed to cut through the noise by combining personalized messaging with high-volume outreach, all orchestrated through their proprietary Graph8 platform. This technology enables CIENCE to sequence emails, track engagement, and optimize deliverability, ensuring that your outreach efforts are both efficient and effective.

What sets CIENCE apart in email marketing is their multi channel approach. While email is the primary vehicle, campaigns are often integrated with LinkedIn outreach, phone calls, and even SMS to maximize touchpoints with your target audience. The prospect list is built using CIENCE’s extensive B2B database, allowing for highly targeted segmentation based on firmographics, intent data, and previous engagement. This level of precision helps increase conversion rates and ensures that your sales team is only spending time on qualified leads.

Clients benefit from detailed performance stats and ROI tracking, making it easy to measure the impact of each campaign. CIENCE’s team manages the entire process, from crafting email sequences to monitoring responses and booking meetings. However, it’s important to note that some clients have experienced issues with lead quality, including reports of fake leads or delivered bogus leads that did not meet expectations. To avoid falling into the same mistake, it’s crucial to review sample leads early in the campaign and maintain open communication with your account manager.

For businesses seeking a cost effective solution to generate leads and fill their sales pipeline, CIENCE’s email marketing services offer a blend of automation, human expertise, and multi-channel outreach. By leveraging advanced technology and a dedicated team, CIENCE aims to deliver tangible results—though, as with any lead generation agency, success depends on clear alignment and ongoing oversight.

What Makes CIENCE Special or Different?

CIENCE differentiates itself in a few key ways:

• Performance-Based Pricing: Unlike many agencies that charge fixed retainers, CIENCE’s model is mainly pay-per-meeting, or a one time payment
• Large Contact Database: CIENCE claims to own one of the largest proprietary B2B databases (CIENCE GO Data) with enriched info. This allows precision targeting, so that outreach is only to relevant prospects. On their site, CIENCE boasts “Drive engagement up by reaching only the most relevant prospects at the right time,” thanks to advanced data. Their big data inventory is supposed to let you find niche segments or account hierarchies that generic CRM lists might miss.
• AI Automation (Graph8 Platform): CIENCE integrates its AI platform (Graph8) into the process, automating things like email personalization, sequence scheduling, and lead scoring. This is meant to make campaigns programmatic. For example, CIENCE advertises that the Graph8 platform automates outreach to millions of contacts while keeping costs down. The combination of machine learning with human SDR work is often quoted as their core advantage.
• Industry Breadth and Scale: CIENCE serves clients in over 200 B2B verticals, from startups to enterprise. They stress that they can scale for large teams or enterprise needs (even offering to embed up to hundreds of SDRs in your organization). If you need a big operation, CIENCE can supply it. Their recognitions on growth lists (Inc. 5000) also suggest they have broad experience, though some reviewers are skeptical of CIENCE's previous supposed successes and question the verifiability of these achievements.
• Branding and Recognition: CIENCE has built a strong brand around outbound SDR services. They claim top rankings for lead gen services and 4+ ratings on many directories. Compared to smaller agencies, CIENCE’s size and technology stack can seem more robust. However, some clients feel the company oversells its capabilities, leading to unmet expectations.

In short, CIENCE’s pitch is that it’s a one-stop, scalable lead generation engine combining a huge data asset and automation with a dedicated SDR workforce. This is intended to set them apart from smaller “lead gen agencies” or pure software tools. That said, not every client experience has matched this vision. According to industry analysts and Clutch reviews, CIENCE’s emphasis on performance and data has earned a reputation — but customer feedback is very mixed. We’ll cover that next.

Customer Feedback and Client Reviews

CIENCE has a polarized reputation online. On one hand, many clients report strong results and praise. On the other, there are harsh complaints. Here’s a balanced look at what real users say:

• Positive Experiences: Some companies credit CIENCE with delivering new pipeline and meetings. For example, a G2 reviewer said CIENCE provided a “net new start” with good data and hit their expectations. Another G2 user appreciated CIENCE’s “simple and straightforward onboarding” and clear results once they helped refine the client’s audience and content. Clutch highlights note that CIENCE’s multi-channel campaigns and project management are often praised; reviewers mention that the team is “well-organized, communicative, and proactive,” and that the use of email, phone, and LinkedIn outreach increased brand awareness for some clients. In short, businesses who had alignment on targeting often see “cost-effective” pipeline growth and view CIENCE as a viable alternative to doing lead gen in-house.
• Negative Feedback: However, complaints are common. Numerous Trustpilot and BBB reviews are scathing. One Trustpilot reviewer summarized: “Avoid at All Costs. Omg, hired them for lead generation. They delivered bogus leads. Complete scam.”. Many clients specifically mention negative experiences with cience lead generation, citing issues such as fabricated leads, fraudulent practices, and even scam allegations that have led to threats of legal action.

Simply put, reviews show CIENCE can work well if the engagement is managed tightly and expectations are aligned. But there is a significant risk: many clients report poor outcomes and low customer satisfaction. If you consider CIENCE, be prepared to clarify your lead generation goals, review the prospect criteria carefully, and set checkpoints (e.g. sample leads) before paying fully. The disparity in experiences suggests results may vary widely by case.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Comprehensive, turnkey solution. CIENCE handles everything from list building to outreach execution, so your sales team can focus on closing rather than prospecting. They combine people (SDRs) and technology for end-to-end support.
• Performance-aligned model. The pay-per-meeting structure and no long-term commitment (month-to-month) can reduce upfront risk. You only pay when CIENCE delivers a meeting.
• Robust data and multi-channel reach. With access to 100M+ contacts and tools like email, phone, chat, SMS, and LinkedIn, CIENCE can target highly specific segments. This precision often leads to higher response rates.
• Fast onboarding. CIENCE promises a full GTM setup in 5 days, which is appealing if you need to launch an outreach campaign quickly.
• Scale for enterprise. Larger companies can hire hundreds of SDRs through CIENCE, covering broad territory. This makes CIENCE useful for scaling beyond what a small in-house team could do.
• Solid project management (sometimes). Many clients acknowledge that CIENCE’s account managers keep campaigns well-organized and provide frequent reporting. They often use tools like Slack and Zoom to update clients regularly.

Cons:

• Inconsistent lead quality. As noted above, numerous users report that CIENCE delivered low-quality or even fake leads. This is perhaps the biggest red flag. If leads turn out to be irrelevant or bogus, it can waste time and money.
• Significant amount of money lost by some clients. Several clients have reported losing a significant amount due to poor lead quality or fraudulent practices, highlighting the financial risk involved.
• Company oversells its capabilities. Some clients state that the company oversells what it can deliver, leading to unmet expectations and dissatisfaction with the results.
• Worst experience for some clients. A number of users have described their engagement with CIENCE as the worst experience they've had with a lead generation provider, citing poor service quality and miscommunication.
• Negative reviews and complaints. CIENCE has many public negative reviews (Trustpilot 1.7/5) and BBB complaints. Some clients feel CIENCE overpromises success with “false hope” and underdelivers results, which is a serious concern.
• High costs for small budgets. Because the per-meeting fee and minimum spend can add up, CIENCE may not be cost-effective for very small companies or one-off campaigns. If you only need a few leads, paying $250+ per meeting could be pricey.
• Account manager turnover. Some clients mention constant turnover of their CIENCE contacts (multiple managers or SDRs over time), which led to repeated explanations and delays. Stability of the team can be an issue.
• Requires active collaboration. CIENCE often expects clients to provide content (emails, product info) and a clear audience profile. If your internal team isn’t engaged or your messaging isn’t strong, results may suffer.
• Performance uncertainty. Even with performance pricing, a few bad months (no meetings) could still mean lost time. Some clients report long periods of little to show for large investments.
• Potential for “same mistake.” Given the mixed track record, if you choose CIENCE and it fails, you might feel compelled to bring in another solution (risk losing money and having to restart).

Overall, CIENCE can be powerful for companies that need a large, multi-channel outbound push and have the budget for it. But the user feedback highlights significant risks. We strongly urge prospective clients to do due diligence: request case studies similar to your industry, set milestones, and keep an eye on qualified lead metrics. If those red flags (bogus leads, lack of communication) appear in free trials or early reports, be cautious about continuing with full payment.

Conclusion

For buyers evaluating a B2B lead generation agency, CIENCE can be a viable option but it is not a guaranteed win. The company offers a scalable, full service outbound model with managed SDRs, data driven targeting, and multi channel outreach that can support aggressive lead generation goals. When alignment is strong and expectations are clear, CIENCE can help generate meetings and add volume to the sales pipeline.

However, cience reviews show highly inconsistent outcomes. Some customers see value, while others report poor lead quality and lack of accountability. Anyone considering CIENCE should proceed carefully by starting with a limited test, demanding clear reporting, and validating lead quality before increasing spend. CIENCE may work for the right buyer, but only with close oversight and firm performance standards in place.

Forge Experts: A specialized Alternative

If you're evaluating agencies or tools to boost your B2B outreach, you may also want to explore the Forge Experts network. Unlike a single-agency model, Forge Experts is a curated marketplace of specialized lead-gen and outreach agencies. Each Forge expert typically focuses on a niche, whether that's cold email, LinkedIn lead gen, ABM, or a specific industry (fintech, healthcare, etc.). This means you can find someone who already knows your vertical and has the right sales stack and channel expertise for your needs.

For example, if your target market responds better to highly personalized LinkedIn campaigns or content marketing, a Forge Expert that specializes in those channels can tailor your outreach to fit. If cold email deliverability is your biggest challenge, you could pick an expert known for email infrastructure and warm-up strategies. In other words, Forge Experts offers a diversity of talent and specializations that a single, generalist agency might not provide.

By leveraging Forge Experts, you gain access to agencies with deep domain knowledge and proven track records in your space. These partners work with you to “zoom in” on your exact goals and ICP. They're able to customize templates, messaging, and follow-up cadences for your product and market, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all system.

Ready to scale your outreach? Check them out!

‍

Personalized Outbound Strategy

Get The Right Outbound Strategy In Minutes

Enter your email to get a custom plan & stack recommendation for your business

Generate my personalized plan

It's being carefully crafted by AI

Please check your mailbox in 5 minutes