SaaStr 846: 10 Things to Know Before You Deploy Your First AI SDR with SaaStr's CEO and CAIO

SaaStr 846: 10 Things to Know Before You Deploy Your First AI SDR with SaaStr's CEO and CAIO

Author: SaaStr March 18, 2026 Duration: 1:05:48

SaaStr 846: 10 Things to Know Before You Deploy Your First AI SDR with SaaStr's CEO and CAIO 

If you're about to roll out your first AI SDR, or you're on your second or third deployment and still not getting the results you want, this one's for you.

Amelia Lerutte, SaaStr Chief AI Officer, and Jason Lemkin, SaaStr CEO and Founder, walk through everything they've learned from running 20+ AI agents in production at SaaStr, including four AI SDRs spanning outbound, inbound, customer success, and sponsor engagement. After 10 months, 1.5 million inbound sessions, and over 200,000 outbound messages sent, they've made enough mistakes to save you a lot of time and money.

In this session they cover:

Why the tool doesn't matter as much as you think, and what actually does.

The single biggest mistake both early-stage startups and billion-dollar companies make when deploying their first AI SDR.

How to segment ruthlessly so your agent has the right context for every prospect instead of one big, generic brain.

Why consistency beats brilliance, and what "pretty good at scale" actually looks like in practice.

The minimum traffic and list size you need before an inbound or outbound AI SDR is worth deploying.

How many humans you actually need to run this well, and what happens when you don't have them.

What the first 30 days should look like, and why nothing is ever truly set and forget.

The real story behind Amelia AI, SaaStr's multimodal video agent, including what they'd do differently if starting over.

They also get into lookalike audiences as a list-building hack for early stage companies, when to build versus buy, and what it actually feels like when someone tries to prompt inject your agent at scale.

If you've been on the fence about deploying an AI SDR, or you've deployed one and it's underperforming, this is the most practical breakdown of what it takes to make one work.


Resources mentioned: SaaStr AI Agents directory: saastr.ai/agents SaaStr Annual 2026: May 12-14, SF Bay Area

 


Tune into The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors for direct conversations with the people building and funding the software-as-a-service industry. This isn't about abstract theory; it's the practical, often hard-won wisdom from prominent founders and seasoned investors who have navigated the path themselves. Each episode digs into the specific mechanics of scaling a SaaS business, focusing on the critical journey from zero to one hundred million dollars in annual recurring revenue. You'll hear founders break down what actually worked when it came to hiring key talent, entering new markets, and managing the immense pressure of hyper-growth. From the investor side, the discussions reveal how top venture capitalists evaluate potential, what metrics truly matter beyond the pitch deck, and their perspectives on sustainable company culture. Hosted by SaaStr, this podcast serves as an ongoing masterclass for operators and entrepreneurs who prefer learning through candid stories and detailed strategies rather than generic advice. The dialogue is always grounded in the fierce realities of the competitive tech landscape, making every interview a source of actionable insights you can apply to your own challenges.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors
Podcast Episodes
SaaStr 850: The Agents, Episode 1: Who Maintains All This? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:06
SaaStr 850: The Agents, Episode 1: Who Maintains All This? Welcome to The Agents, a new weekly series where Amelia Lerutte, Chief AI Officer at SaaStr, and Jason Lemkin, Founder and CEO of SaaStr, pull back the curtain o…