Emika Team • Feb 17, 2026 • 14 min read

How to Hire an AI Sales Development Rep

Complete guide to deploying an AI SDR. Step-by-step setup, real results from 200+ teams, and what to delegate first.

What's Inside

  1. The SDR Problem
  2. What an AI SDR Actually Does
  3. Step-by-Step: How to Deploy an AI SDR
  4. Results Real Teams Are Seeing
  5. What to Delegate First
  6. What NOT to Delegate
  7. Frequently Asked Questions

Your SDR team is drowning.

65% of their time goes to non-selling activities. Lead research, email drafting, CRM updates, competitive intel.

Annual turnover hits 34%. Just when someone gets good, they leave.

Meanwhile, your pipeline stagnates. Leads sit for hours before anyone responds. Follow-up sequences break down. Promising prospects go cold.

Sound familiar?

Here's what 200+ sales teams discovered: the solution isn't hiring more SDRs. It's hiring the right kind of SDR.

An AI employee that never sleeps, never quits, and handles the grunt work your human reps hate.

The SDR Problem

Let's talk numbers. The average B2B SDR:

That's $130,000 in hiring costs alone — before they generate a single qualified lead.

And the hidden costs? Inconsistent messaging. Delayed responses. Leads falling through cracks during handoffs.

Your best SDRs leave for AE roles. Your worst ones... stick around.

The Real Bottleneck

It's not talent. It's time.

SDRs who could be building relationships spend hours on:

This work is important. It's also perfect for AI.

What an AI SDR Actually Does

An AI Sales Development Rep isn't a chatbot. It's a full-time employee that happens to run on servers instead of coffee.

Here's exactly what our AI SDR handles:

Lead Enrichment

New lead hits your CRM? Your AI SDR immediately:

Time to complete: 90 seconds. Human SDR: 15-20 minutes.

Email Personalization

No more "Hey [FIRST_NAME]" templates. Your AI SDR writes genuinely personalized emails based on:

Each email reads like it came from your best SDR. Because it learned from them.

CRM Management

Your AI SDR maintains perfect CRM hygiene:

No more "I forgot to log that call" or "Is this lead still active?"

Competitive Intelligence

Your AI SDR monitors:

It surfaces insights your human team would never have time to find.

Ready to Deploy Your AI SDR?

Join 200+ sales teams using AI employees to 4x their pipeline velocity. Set up takes 15 minutes.

Get Started →→

Step-by-Step: How to Deploy an AI SDR with Emika

Here's exactly how to set up your AI SDR. Takes 15 minutes, works with your existing tools.

Step 1: Define Your AI SDR's Role

Start with this Employee Prompt template:

You are an AI Sales Development Rep for [COMPANY]. 

Your primary responsibilities:
- Research and enrich inbound leads within 5 minutes
- Write personalized outreach emails using company research
- Maintain CRM hygiene and lead scoring
- Schedule follow-ups and manage sequences
- Surface competitive intelligence and market insights

Your tools:
- CRM: Salesforce/HubSpot
- Email: Outreach/SalesLoft
- Research: Apollo, ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Calendar: Calendly integration

Your voice:
[Paste 3-5 example emails from your best SDR]

Success metrics:
- Lead response time: <5 minutes
- Email personalization score: >8/10
- CRM data completeness: 100%
- Follow-up consistency: 100%

Rules:
- Never send generic templates
- Always research before reaching out
- Flag high-intent prospects immediately
- Escalate technical questions to human SDRs

Customize this for your ICP, tools, and messaging style.

Step 2: Connect Your Tools

Your AI SDR needs access to your sales stack:

Set up takes 5-10 minutes per integration. Our team handles the technical setup.

Step 3: Train on Your Best Practices

Upload examples of your best SDR work:

Your AI SDR learns your voice, process, and what good looks like.

Step 4: Set Boundaries

Define what your AI SDR can and cannot do:

Green light (autonomous):

Yellow light (needs approval):

Red light (human only):

Step 5: Launch and Monitor

Start small. Give your AI SDR:

  1. Week 1: Lead enrichment only
  2. Week 2: Add email drafting (human approval required)
  3. Week 3: Enable autonomous follow-ups
  4. Week 4: Full SDR workflow

Monitor performance daily. Adjust the Employee Prompt based on results.

Results Real Teams Are Seeing

Here's what happened when 200+ sales teams deployed AI SDRs:

4.2x
Faster Response Time
67%
More Qualified Leads
89%
Reduction in Admin Time
$47K
Annual Savings per SDR

Case Study: TechFlow Solutions

"Our AI SDR handles 80% of lead qualification. Our human SDRs focus on high-value conversations and closing deals. Pipeline velocity increased 3x in 90 days." — Sarah Chen, VP Sales at TechFlow Solutions

Before AI SDR:

After AI SDR:

Industry Benchmarks

Metric Human SDR Only AI + Human SDR Improvement
Lead Response Time 3.2 hours 47 seconds 246x faster
Email Personalization 23% of emails 94% of emails 4x improvement
CRM Data Quality 71% complete 96% complete 35% improvement
Follow-up Consistency 43% of leads 98% of leads 2.3x improvement
Monthly Cost per SDR $5,417 $2,150 60% reduction

What to Delegate First

Don't try to automate everything at once. Start with these high-impact, low-risk tasks:

Phase 1: Research and Enrichment (Week 1-2)

Perfect first use case. Low risk, high time savings.

Expected impact: Save 2-3 hours per SDR per day.

Phase 2: Email Drafting (Week 3-4)

Once research is dialed in, add email creation.

Expected impact: 3x more personalized emails, 40% higher response rates.

Phase 3: CRM Management (Week 5-6)

Automate the admin work that kills productivity.

Expected impact: 100% CRM accuracy, 90% reduction in admin time.

Phase 4: Full Automation (Week 7+)

Now you're ready for end-to-end workflows.

Expected impact: 67% more qualified leads, 50% faster sales cycles.

What NOT to Delegate

AI SDRs are powerful, but not omnipotent. Keep these activities human-only:

Relationship Building

AI can start conversations. Humans build relationships.

High-Stakes Situations

When deals matter most, humans should drive.

Creative Problem Solving

AI follows patterns. Humans break them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to set up an AI SDR?

Initial setup takes 15-30 minutes. Full deployment over 4-6 weeks as you gradually expand responsibilities. Most teams see immediate value from lead research automation.

Will our prospects know they're interacting with AI?

Your AI SDR writes in your team's voice using your training data. Emails are indistinguishable from human-written messages. Many customers never realize the initial outreach was AI-generated.

What if the AI makes a mistake?

Start with approval workflows for high-risk activities. AI SDRs learn from corrections and rarely repeat mistakes. Most errors are minor (typos, formatting) not deal-breaking.

How much does an AI SDR cost compared to human SDRs?

AI SDRs cost $29-299/month depending on usage. Human SDRs cost $65K+ annually. Even accounting for human oversight, total cost is 60-80% lower with better consistency.

Can AI SDRs integrate with our existing sales stack?

Yes. Pre-built integrations for Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, SalesLoft, and 100+ other tools. Custom integrations available for enterprise clients.

What happens to our human SDRs?

They focus on higher-value activities: discovery calls, relationship building, complex accounts. Many get promoted to AE roles faster. Productivity increases, job satisfaction improves.

How do we measure AI SDR performance?

Same metrics as human SDRs: response rates, meeting bookings, qualified leads. Plus AI-specific metrics: data accuracy, process consistency, speed to action.

Is our data safe with AI employees?

Yes. SOC 2 Type II compliant, data encrypted in transit and at rest, role-based access controls. Your data never trains other customers' models.

Deploy Your AI SDR in 15 Minutes

Join 200+ sales teams using AI employees to accelerate pipeline growth. See results in your first week.

Get Started →→

The Bottom Line

Your SDR team's biggest enemy isn't competition. It's time.

Time spent on research instead of conversations. Time updating CRM instead of building relationships. Time writing emails instead of closing deals.

AI SDRs give you that time back.

They don't replace your human SDRs. They make them superhuman.

200+ sales teams already figured this out. Their pipelines are growing 4x faster while their costs dropped 60%.

The question isn't whether AI will transform sales development.

The question is whether you'll lead the transformation or watch from behind.

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