AI Won’t Replace SDRs—It’ll Supercharge Them

AI isn’t coming for your Sales Development Reps—it’s coming to upgrade them.

At SaaStr Annual, Carta’s CRO Jeff Perry and LinkedIn’s first VP of Sales Brendon Cassidy made one thing clear: the smartest sales teams are using AI to make SDRs faster, sharper, and more effective—not redundant.

Here’s the takeaway that says it all:

“The real playbook: Use AI to make SDRs 2x more efficient, not replace them.”

Instead of wasting hours on manual prospecting or repetitive follow-ups, AI is doing the heavy lifting—surfacing the right leads, crafting personalised outreach, and streamlining workflows. That gives SDRs more time to do what humans do best: connect, influence, and convert.

The future isn’t about choosing between reps and robots. It’s about building teams that use both to win faster.

Reference: Lemkin, J. (2025, May 12). Not Using AI to Replace Your SDRs, But to Make Them 2x Better: A Deep Dive with Carta’s CRO and LinkedIn’s First VP Sales. SaaStr.