AI SDR Glossary
Every term you'll encounter when evaluating AI SDRs — defined plainly, with related products and further reading.
25 defined terms
A go-to-market strategy that targets a defined list of high-value accounts with coordinated marketing and sales.
An AI SDR is a software agent that performs sales development tasks — prospecting, outreach, qualification and meeting booking — with minimal human input.
Software that pursues goals across multiple steps with minimal human intervention.
A BDR is a sales role focused on generating qualified pipeline through outbound prospecting.
Unsolicited outbound email to a prospect who has not previously engaged with your brand.
Engaging website visitors and inbound leads in real-time dialogue via chat, video or messaging.
Adding firmographic, technographic and contact data to leads and accounts from third-party sources.
Email deliverability is the probability that a sent email lands in the primary inbox rather than spam or Promotions.
A workflow pattern where a human reviews or approves specific AI actions before they execute.
The ICP is the tightly defined profile of accounts most likely to buy, expand and stay.
Intent data captures signals that a company is actively researching a solution — content downloads, review-site visits, keyword surges.
Lead scoring assigns a numeric priority to leads based on fit and behavior.
The practice of gradually ramping outbound volume from a new mailbox to establish sender reputation.
Converting a positive reply or inbound signal into a scheduled meeting.
A lead marketing considers ready for sales outreach, based on fit and engagement.
Engaging multiple stakeholders inside a target account simultaneously.
Tailoring outreach content to the specific prospect and account context.
Automatically classifying and responding to inbound replies to outbound messages.
A SEP orchestrates outbound cadences across email, phone and social — Outreach, Salesloft and Reply.io are the leaders.
A sequence (or cadence) is a scheduled series of outreach touches — email, LinkedIn, calls — across multiple days.
Signal-based selling triggers outreach on real-world events — hires, funding, product launches, tech-stack changes — rather than static ICP lists.
The elapsed time between a lead expressing interest and the first meaningful response from your team.
Three DNS-based standards that authenticate who is allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
A lead sales has accepted as worth active pursuit.
De-anonymization identifies the company (and sometimes person) behind an anonymous website visit.