How AI will change how your sales team is structured

AI is not just changing how sales teams sell. It is changing how they are built.

A US SaaS vendor, Postal, already made a structural shift in 2024 that shows where things are heading. The change was not cosmetic. It fundamentally altered how work flows between SDRs and AEs.

From classic AE–SDR teams to commercial pods

Postal moved away from the traditional AE–SDR–Customer Success structure.

Instead, they introduced a one-to-one commercial pod model. Four Account Executives supported by one SDR.

On paper, this does not sound revolutionary. In practice, the next step was.


Removing outbound SDRs entirely

Postal removed all outbound SDRs from the company.

They kept a single inbound-focused SDR function. All outbound activity was handled through AI-driven channels.

This meant:

  • No human outbound prospecting

  • No cold calling teams

  • No outbound SDR quotas

AI handled the outreach. Humans handled qualification.


Human qualification did not disappear

Every lead was still qualified by a human inbound SDR.

That part stayed intentionally manual.

Once qualified, leads were passed directly to AEs. The result was simple but powerful. AEs only worked real SQLs. No dead leads. No half-qualified opportunities.


The result: A massive revenue impact

According to Postal, this setup led to a 5000% increase in revenue in 2024.

They are now carrying this model forward into 2025.

Whether that exact number scales everywhere is not the point. The structural shift is.


What this signals for SaaS sales teams

This is not an isolated case.

With better AI tooling and conversational technology, the traditional sales funnel is being rebalanced. Tasks once handled by junior outbound roles are increasingly automated.

What remains human is:

  • Qualification

  • Context

  • Judgment

  • Closing

The implication is clear. Sales orgs will need fewer outbound roles and more focused, higher-leverage humans.

The takeaway

Do not expect the classic sales org chart to survive unchanged.

AI is already replacing parts of outbound execution. Companies that redesign their teams around this reality will move faster and more efficiently than those trying to bolt AI onto outdated structures.

If you lead a sales team, now is the time to question assumptions, not defend them.