BDR vs SDR in the AI era
BDRs specialized in outbound research; SDRs in inbound qualification. AI collapses research to seconds, so the modern AI BDR is an outbound-specialist agent with deep account context.
What good looks like
- Reads the account's last two earnings calls before writing
- References a specific product page or job posting in the opener
- Backs off the moment a human replies on any channel
Pod structure
One senior AE per 200 target accounts, one AI BDR doing research + first touch, one AI SE on standby. That's a real 2026 pod.