For years, we relied on inbound SDRs to turn interest into pipeline. If someone attended an event, booked a demo, or filled out a contact form, it was their job to follow up. Sometimes it worked. Other times… not so much.

We started noticing patterns. Great leads were falling through the cracks. Follow-up lagged. SDRs were stretched too thin. 

And as buyer expectations shifted, the old system started to feel like we were playing catch-up instead of leading the charge.

The old funnel was breaking.

For decades, B2B marketing followed the same playbook:

• Drive leads through top-of-funnel content
• Qualify them as MQLs
• Hand them to SDRs
• Hope for pipeline

But that model wasn’t built for today’s buyer, so we made a change.

Implementing Piper the AI SDR at Qualified and what we saw

Today’s buyer doesn’t want to wait 48 hours for a follow-up email. They don’t want three back-and-forths to schedule a meeting. They want answers now, or they move on.

When we took a hard look at our funnel, meetings weren’t happening fast enough to match buyer urgency, and it was time for a new approach.

At Qualified, we introduced our AI SDR agent internally. 

She engages inbound leads instantly, 24/7. She can answer questions, qualify buyers, book meetings, and route conversations to the right AE all in real time, with no lag, no PTO, no missed handoffs.

In this new model:

• AI SDRs like Piper initiate conversations when buyers show intent.
• They guide those buyers through qualification and booking.
• They escalate to AEs or humans when necessary.

It’s always-on pipeline generation built around buyer behavior, not our internal handoff structure.

This new agentic funnel doesn’t just react. It acts.

Here’s what changed when we rolled out our AI SDR internally:

✅ Our speed to lead is now instant. No wait times, no black hole inboxes

✅ Our pipeline became more predictable (and grew fast)

✅ Our team stopped spending time chasing leads and started spending time closing them

✅ We created a better buyer experience because buyers never felt ignored

This change didn’t happen overnight. We rolled it out in phases, tested it, measured it, and kept humans in the loop. But the shift was undeniable: the way we generate pipeline will never be the same.

Final thoughts

This entire strategy was about removing friction at every angle.

Buyers were moving faster than our funnel could keep up, and we needed a way to meet that urgency without compromising the experience. 

Implementing Piper internally gave us the responsiveness and consistency we were missing, without adding complexity, cost, or headcount and resources.

The result was plain and simple: a more seamless process for our team, and a better journey for every inbound lead.

It didn’t happen overnight, but looking back, it’s clear:

This was the most impactful change we’ve made to our go-to-market strategy.

Learn more in my book, Welcome to the Agentic Marketing Era.