I’ve been in SaaS sales for nearly 20 years and I’ve never seen so much change. And one of those is that the SDR role as we know it is dying. Not because SDRs are bad at what they do, but because the entire game has changed.
Five, maybe ten years ago, VCs were throwing umpteen millions of pounds at companies and it was basically growth at all costs. They didn’t care about profitability. It was all about chasing big ARR numbers and not worrying too much about acquisition costs. Bums on seats, churn it out. Simple as that.
But that world doesn’t exist anymore.
Profitability matters
We’re in a completely different market now. VCs are being tighter with investments. They’re doing smaller rounds and they’re looking for real rocket ships. They’re throwing money at the companies that are doing crazy numbers with tiny teams. Not massive teams burning through cash.
Profitability in SaaS used to be a dirty word. But VCs are looking for profitability AND ARR growth now. And that’s because you can now do more with less.
Think about it. What’s more attractive, six account executives where three are underperforming (constantly hiring, firing, replacing), or three killer account executives running serious numbers? The answer is obvious.
Why the traditional SDR model is broken
Here’s what I’m seeing from founders, and it’s the biggest mistake: “We need more opportunities, we need more SDRs.” That isn’t the case anymore.
When you’re selling a product in a new market, you’re often having to sell change. You’ve got to create demand. And SDRs aren’t always great at that. Sure, they can book a meeting with someone, but if your product is fairly early into the market, you’ve got to sell change and sell that demand. That requires a different approach.
The traditional SDR model has three core problems:
- Volume over quality: Churning out a hundred calls a day to people who aren’t ready to buy
- No buyer intent: Treating every prospect exactly the same regardless of where they are in their journey
- Expensive and inefficient: High churn, constant recruitment, and inconsistent results
If an SDR is just smashing out the phones and that stops working one day, you’re screwed. You’ve built your entire pipeline on one channel, one motion, one person.
Enter the GTM Engineer
This is where things get interesting. I think we’re going to see a decline in the SDR role, but a massive increase in the GTM engineering role. And to be fair, Clay kind of innovated and created this role because they’ve got a product that’s excellent, but it’s also fairly technical.
The idea is simple but powerful. You have a tiny team of three killer account executives, but you spread their arms like an octopus. You give them tentacles in different areas.
What does a GTM Engineer actually do?
A GTM engineer builds the infrastructure that lets your sales team punch way above their weight. We’re talking:
- Clay for data enrichment and waterfall stuff to get quality data flowing into your CRM
- N8N for complex workflows that automate the busywork and let salespeople focus on selling
- Bringing the whole GTM function together by dragging marketing into these workflows properly
For example, if someone signs up for a webinar, the salesperson doesn’t need to do anything manually. They get notified, the tasks are already set up for them, everything’s completely automated at that stage. The rep can just focus on the high-value activities.
I’m not saying all the outreach is going to be automated. What I’m saying is that you need fewer people with the right resources and complex workflows so they can spend time in the highest value places.
The power of the pod structure
Personally, I think we’re going to see a bit of a pod structure emerge. You have the GTM team aligned to one GTM engineer, and that engineer is touching customer success, partnerships, marketing, and sales.
What this means in practice is that the GTM team can spread their wings far wider than a much bigger team could. With a team of three people, you can effectively operate like a ten-person sales team if you implement the right tech stack.
This makes you attractive to VCs for two big reasons:
- Profitability: You can say “we’re generating X ARR with a tiny team”
- Diversified risk: You’ve got your fingers in multiple pies with tentacles in different directions, which spreads the load
If one channel stops working, you’re not completely screwed because you’ve built a resilient, multi-channel motion.
The AI-powered Account Executive
These are deep domain experienced account executives who are amazing at what they do AND have good AI knowledge.
These people still do the high-value work like the cold calls and manual emails, but they’re being fed opportunities from different directions. They’re working smarter, not just harder.
Instead of calling a hundred people a day hoping someone picks up, they’re calling ten people who are way more likely to buy. People who are engaged, showing buyer intent, potentially in market based on research. You can bin off the ninety other calls and focus on ten high-value ones. That naturally means better meetings, better conversions, increased ARR at lower cost.
Creating demand, not just capturing it
This is where the GTM engineering role becomes really powerful. Marketing can create all this great content, right? But traditionally, that content just sits there waiting for people to find it.
With a GTM engineer, we can get that content in front of a much bigger audience. We’re warming up the market. We’re creating demand. And then when the account exec speaks to someone on the phone and says “it’s Matthew from XYZ company,” that person is much more likely to take the call.
That’s the difference between demand creation and demand capture. SDRs are great at demand capture. But if you’re selling something new, you need demand creation. Warm people up, educate them, and position yourself as the solution before you pick up the phone.
What This Means for Your Hiring Strategy
If you’re a founder reading this, here’s what I’d recommend:
Stop hiring more SDRs
Unless you’ve got a really high ACV and a specific use case where the SDR model makes sense, stop defaulting to “we need more pipeline, let’s hire more SDRs.” That’s the old playbook, and it doesn’t work in this market.
Invest in fewer, better salespeople
Hire three killer account executives instead of six mediocre ones. Pay them well. Give them the tools and support they need. These should be people with deep domain experience who can sell change, not just capture demand.
Bring in a GTM Engineer
This is a new role, and to be fair, it’s basically being pioneered right now. But it’s such a great way to build a small team that’s profitable and doing big numbers. This person touches customer success, partnerships, marketing, and sales. They build the workflows, set up the automations, and create the infrastructure that lets your tiny team operate like a much bigger one.
Build multi-channel motions
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If you’re only doing cold calling and that stops working, you’re finished. Build tentacles in different areas. Get your content out there. Use intent data. Leverage partnerships. Create a resilient GTM motion that can weather changes in the market.
Don’t get left behind
We’re basically in an era now where it makes way more sense to think about profitability, even for SaaS companies. That’s what VCs are looking for. They want to see you can do crazy numbers with a tiny team.
The companies that win will embrace this shift. Declining SDR roles, increasing AI-powered account executives, all powered by a GTM engineer building infrastructure for efficient, scalable growth.
This isn’t just about technology for technology’s sake. It’s about being smart with how you build your team and go to market. The old playbook doesn’t work anymore. Five years ago, this GTM engineer role didn’t exist. Now it’s essential.
Don’t get left behind.
Author Bio: Matthew Codd
Matthew has 15 years of commercial leadership experience, helping VC-backed B2B technology companies scale revenue and transition from founder-led sales.
He now uses his experience to help early-stage start-ups with GTM expertise, sales best practice, and hiring insights.
Matthew co-founded Cosmic Partners in 2022, a SaaS sales recruitment specialists for VC backed B2B tech companies.
