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# AI and buying groups are making RDRs more essential, not obsolete
- URL: https://adjacent.media/signals/ai-and-buying-groups-are-making-rdrs-more-essential-not-obsolete/
- Published: 2026-05-15T16:14:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-15T16:14:44.000Z
- Description: Forrester is pushing back against the assumption that self-service buying eliminates entry-level sales roles. RDRs are repositioning as orchestrators who navigate fragmented buying committees and synthesize AI-enabled research rather than prospect-hunting gatekeepers.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #signal, theme-brand, sales strategy, go-to-market, talent/org

Source: [Featured Blogs - Forrester](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/rdrs-arent-going-away-theyre-becoming-the-center-of-revenue-execution-in-the-age-of-ai-and-buying-groups/?ref=adjacent.media)

Forrester is pushing back against the assumption that self-service buying eliminates entry-level sales roles. RDRs are repositioning as orchestrators who navigate fragmented buying committees and synthesize AI-enabled research rather than prospect-hunting gatekeepers. The shift reframes RDR value from volume (cold outreach) to intelligence work (mapping stakeholders, timing interventions, qualifying complex deals), which changes hiring, compensation, and training models for revenue organizations. Sales layoffs blamed on "automation" may actually be a reclassification problem—companies cutting RDR headcount to cut costs are likely losing the connective tissue that closes complex B2B deals faster than algorithms alone.