SDRs Managing AI Agents Will Command Higher Salaries

Jason Lemkin believes we're witnessing a fundamental transformation in sales and go-to-market, where AI is rapidly replacing certain roles while creating new opportunities for those willing to adapt.

At SaaStr, Jason transformed his sales team from 10 humans to just 1.2 humans plus 20 AI agents, maintaining the same business performance. This shift came after experiencing the frustration of SDRs quitting and realizing that AI could handle many sales functions more reliably. As he puts it, "AI is replacing the jobs people don't want to do today and it is displacing the mid-pack and the mediocre."

The classic SDR model—junior employees hired from college to send emails and qualify leads—is becoming obsolete. Jason predicts these roles "should be extinct next year" as AI can handle email outreach and lead qualification more efficiently and consistently. The agents work around the clock: "agents work all night and they work weekends and they work on Christmas."

However, this doesn't mean the end of sales careers. Rather, it's transforming what makes salespeople valuable. The "people person" who lacks product knowledge is at risk, while those who deeply understand their products and can manage AI agents are becoming more valuable. Jason envisions "$250,000 a year SDRs but they'd be like at Vercel they'd be managing 10 agents not 10 people."

For sales professionals concerned about their future, Jason recommends picking an AI tool to solve a specific pain point and learning it thoroughly. The process involves ingesting company data, training the agent through answering questions, and continuously refining it. This hands-on experience is invaluable: "if you can go do this and get it live into production you're hyper employable."

The most successful implementations come from training AI on your best performers' work. Take your top salesperson's email templates and use them to train your AI, then let it iterate and A/B test variations. The result won't be perfect, but it will outperform mediocre human efforts and scale infinitely.

Despite this automation, Jason believes we'll need more sales professionals than ever because AI-driven companies are growing so rapidly. The difference is these professionals will need to be significantly more productive and technically savvy than before. The future belongs to those who embrace these tools rather than resist them.