Let's talk about the elephant in the room: SDRs drowning in low-level busywork. It's time for a wake-up call.

The SDR has become such a fixture in the sales world that people often forget it is a relatively new role within companies. Before the rise of SaaS in the early 2000s, most sales teams followed a 'full-cycle' sales process. One salesperson handled everything: lead prospecting, discovery calls, negotiations, and closing deals. Then major tech companies, like Salesforce, split this function into two separate roles: Sales Development Representatives (the people in charge of finding new business) and Account Executives (the people in charge of closing).

It made sense that this caught on with SaaS companies in particular. They had a recurring revenue model and were constantly afraid of customer churn. Having a role dedicated to increasing the volume of leads they were getting into their sales funnel was the most efficient solution. This model of lead gen-focused SDRs and people-focused AEs has stayed the same for most businesses. This means that many SDRs are drowning in low-level busy work like manual data entry, mindless email blasts, and manually dialling cold calling lists in order to maximise their qualified lead pipeline. This is a waste of talent and money.

In fact, I experienced first-hand the SDR-hiring spree that so many funded organisations had from 2018 to 2022. Calculations were made benchmarked on the best-performing rep, and then the expectation was to 100X the output by hiring 100 SDRs. Within a matter of months, the vast majority were let go, and I stepped in with a smarter model despite severe pushback, scepticism, critique, and even fear. Somewhat understandable. Even today, I still wish I had better words to articulate my vision back then.

Let's think about the things that AI is especially good at: processing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, and executing repetitive tasks at scale. These are the kinds of tasks that, going forward, will be replaced by increasingly sophisticated AI systems. These are also things that SDRs should not spend any time on. The focus of SDRs should instead be on building relationships, understanding the nuanced needs of customers, and adding a personal, human touch wherever it matters most—the human parts.

The future of SDR work is in high-value, relationship-building activities that machines cannot replicate. AI should act as an SDR assistant, providing systems to handle the initial outreach, qualification, and nurturing stages. The focus of an SDR should now be delivering the highest quality leads to their AEs, leads with entire backstories and personalised sales strategies. Or maybe scrap the split model?

The ideal outbound process should use AI as a funnel that hands off qualified, engaged prospects to your SDRs. Those SDRs should then sort through AI pre-qualified leads and tweak the system to ensure more of them convert to meetings. Yes, they'll be the ones talking to prospects in calls, but they'll also be the ones close enough to the action to push for improvements in the AI workflows. This approach ensures that human talent is used where it can make the biggest impact: in meaningful conversations with potential leads and in interpreting how effective your automations are.

This means that there is a new playbook for the things that SDRs should be trained in (and hired for). It's things like emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and strategic thinking. SDRs who know how to read the room (even if the room is on Google Meet) are positioned much better than SDRs who know how to click through LinkedIn for lead lists.

The speed at which the SDR landscape will change is going to accelerate as the technology becomes more advanced and universal. Therefore, a part of the job description of an SDR should be constant learning and adaptation. This is why SDRs need to understand the AI tools they're working with so that they can leverage them effectively and provide insights for improvement. With automation handling the bulk of initial outreach, SDRs will focus on fewer, higher-quality interactions. This allows for deeper research, a more personalised approach, and, ultimately, better conversion rates on the leads that matter most.

This also means that the role of the SDRs within teams needs to change. They should be elevated from lead generators to strategic partners in the sales process. They should be providing feedback to marketing and product teams, as well as senior sales staff based on the higher-value, higher-complexity interactions they are having.

The goal should never be to replace SDRs with AI but rather to empower them to do more. The SDR role is evolving, and by automating the grunt work, you can free up human talent to do what it does best (and what AI does poorly): connecting, understanding, and persuading. That's how you'll win the 2025 B2B marketplace and beyond.