100+ sales intelligent companies uses Valley

Learn More

Saniya Sood

AI SDR vs Human SDR

AI SDR vs Human SDR

AI SDR vs Human SDR

2025 Cost & Performance Reality Check

2025 Cost & Performance Reality Check

The Human SDR Model Is Financially Broken

In 2025, the average U.S. SDR costs $98,500/year fully loaded—and only 15.5% hit quota. With 78% annual attrition, most reps burn cash for 7 months before breaking even.

Yet outbound pipeline is non-negotiable. So what’s the alternative?

AI SDRs for LinkedIn outreach promise 80% cost savings and 2X activity volume. But real-world execution reveals hidden pitfalls and complex tradeoffs.


The Case Against Human SDRs

Expense Category

Avg. Cost (USD)

Base Salary

\$55,000

Commissions & Benefits

\$30,000

Tech Stack (avg. 6 tools)

\$13,500

Total per SDR

\$98,500


Only 5.1% of daily human SDR touches convert. That’s $23.47 per touch and $459.80 per conversation.

And generic messaging has consequences—68% of buyers say it damages brand perception.

Section 2

AI SDR platforms slash monthly spend to $1,200–$5,000, with daily activity volumes 10–20X higher than human SDRs.

But the real total cost of ownership includes:

  • $1,800/mo for IP warming & inbox repair

  • $950/mo in third-party enrichment

  • 22 dev hours/month for integration upkeep

And poor AI personalization? It backfires hard.

“When AI referenced my college in a cold email, it felt creepy. I blocked the sender.” — SaaS CMO

Performance Benchmarks (2025)

Metric

Human SDR

AI SDR

Hybrid Model

Daily Emails

127

2,300

1,800

Connect Rate

5.1%

8.3%

9.7%

Meetings Booked/Month

10.4

15.1

18.7

Opps Created/Month

3.2

2.1

5.4

CAC (SQL)

\$4,800

\$3,100

\$2,700

Source: 11,000+ campaigns (2023–2025)


Why Hybrid > AI or Human Alone?

The best-performing B2B SaaS GTM teams use:

  • AI for mass sequencing, research, and firmographic personalization

  • Humans for high-touch messages and sales conversations

This combo achieves 43% higher win rates and 68% faster SDR payback periods.

“AI does the what. Reps bring the why.”
— VP of Sales, Series B SaaS


Valley = AI SDRs Without the Complexity

Most AI SDR tools force GTM teams to cobble together 5–7 point solutions. Valley is different.

✅ Signal-based triggers from job changes, funding, tech installs
✅ LinkedIn, email, SMS orchestration with smart timing
✅ No engineering lift — prebuilt sequences, automated IP rotation
✅ Advanced guardrails for GDPR, deliverability, and compliance

Valley users report 59% lower tool overhead vs traditional stack

See Valley’s AI SDR Engine in Action

Valley delivers AI SDR performance—without the deliverability drama or dev burden.

👉 Try Valley

Give your sales team
an unfair advantage.

Give your sales team an unfair advantage.

We tripled our meetings in 93 days using Valley" - gocanvas

The Sales Company

of Tomorrow.

Delivered Today.

Newsletter

The exact learnings, tactics, and playbooks that actually close deals and build scalable sales systems. All signal, zero noise.

Valley 2024

The Sales Company

of Tomorrow.

Delivered Today.

Newsletter

The exact learnings, tactics, and playbooks that actually close deals and build scalable sales systems. All signal, zero noise.

Valley 2024

The Sales Company

of Tomorrow.

Delivered Today.

Newsletter

The exact learnings, tactics, and playbooks that actually close deals and build scalable sales systems. All signal, zero noise.

Valley 2024

Product

Customers

Resources

Pricing