The Speed of Change Has Never Been Higher

AI has come in hot. We’ve seen big technology shifts before – from cloud to mobile to social – but what makes this moment different is the speed of change.

From the launch of ChatGPT to Bard, LLaMa, and a wave of generative AI tools, more has happened in the last few months in our industry than some sectors experience in nearly a decade.

Technology is changing. The way customers buy is changing. Which means the way we connect with customers must change too. This isn’t just an AI story – it’s a story about change.

Confession: I’m an AI Geek

Here’s a small confession: I’m an AI geek. While many people unwind with feel-good shows like Ted Lasso, I genuinely enjoy watching YouTube videos about neural networks and deep learning.

The rapid rise of generative AI this year has been fascinating – and yes, a bit daunting. So it’s worth pausing to clarify a simple question:

What exactly is AI, and why has it taken the world by storm now?

AI Isn’t New – But Generative AI Is a Different Kind of Power

AI has actually been around for decades. Predictive AI – the kind that analyzes past data to forecast future behavior – is already everywhere.

It’s the intelligence that helps your streaming platform recommend the next show you’ll binge. It’s how your favorite clothing brand “knows” that while you already own the sweater in black, the orange one will really pop with those new white jeans.

That kind of AI is not new. So what changed?

A new category emerged: generative AI. In simple terms, instead of just analyzing old data, generative AI can create something new.

• New content
• New code
• New insights
• Even new music and creative work

Generative AI can draft everything from blog posts to biographies, generate reports, write code, produce marketing assets, and more. For the first time, AI can deeply impact both knowledge work and creative work.

That is a profound shift.

From the Age of Information to the Age of Intelligence

The internet gave us access to information that used to live only in books, articles, and encyclopedias – all at our fingertips. It changed how we live, work, and buy.

Now, generative AI is giving us access to intelligence. Once again, how we live, work, and buy is changing.

To understand what’s really happening, set aside the word “artificial” for a moment and focus on the key word: intelligence.

At its core, that’s the shift:

• We’re moving from acquiring information
• To acting on intelligence

If you’re in marketing, sales, or customer service, the question becomes: What is the smartest way to use this intelligence?

The answer is surprisingly simple: The most intelligent way to use intelligence is to drive customer connection.

How Intelligence Becomes Connection: A Personal Story

Let’s bring this to life with a story.

My home is lively, to put it mildly: two teenagers, two couriers, two cats. It’s chaos – and we love it. In the middle of the pandemic, we decided to take on a kitchen renovation. Bold move, I know.

When I first met the contractor and design firm, I braced for a tedious Q&A: What layout do you want? What tile color? Which type of wood?

But that’s not what happened.

Instead of jumping straight into specs, they watched how we used the space. They observed our chaos. They asked thoughtful questions about how we gather as a family. They weren’t just gathering information – they were building intelligence about our lives.

Because of that, they didn’t just help us renovate a kitchen. They helped us create a home.

And as a customer, what did I do? I became their brand champion. I told everyone about them. I sang their praises nonstop.

That’s the power of acting on intelligence to connect deeply with your customer.

Now imagine scaling that kind of connection to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of customers – by observing patterns, anticipating needs, and delivering relevant insights. That’s what AI makes possible.

Does Customer Connection Really Matter for Growth?

It’s easy to treat “connection” as a soft, emotional concept. But it’s not just a feel-good idea. It’s a growth strategy.

At HubSpot, we took a step back and analyzed the customers who were growing the most. We looked at how they connect with their own customers, and we focused specifically on a metric everyone cares about: deals won.

We found two powerful insights:

1. Companies that focus on customer connection see 5x more growth than the average company.
2. Companies that connect consistently at every stage of the customer journey see 19% more growth.

No matter your segment or industry, the pattern is clear: the more meaningfully you engage with your customers, the more you grow.

The takeaway is simple:

• Customer connection drives growth.
• AI can drive that connection at scale.

The Customer Journey Is Changing – Fast

To understand how to adapt, you need to understand how the customer journey itself is changing. We went straight to our customers and asked: How is the journey evolving in the age of AI?

Their responses were remarkably consistent:

• Customer behavior has shifted in just the last year or two.
• People want better, faster, cheaper, and more personal experiences.
• Buying processes have become more complex.
• Online information quality has declined in many areas.
• Customers expect brands to be everywhere they are – all at once.
• They don’t want generic sales pitches; they want valuable, actionable interactions.
• Generative AI creates an opportunity for deeper personalization and richer connection.

When you put all of that together across the journey – from discovery to purchase to usage – one conclusion is obvious: customer expectations are changing in every stage.

Discovery: From Search to Social

In the past, customers discovered new products by searching the web and scrolling through links.

Today, that’s flipped. Discovery has shifted from search to social.

Many business buyers now say their primary source of discovering new products is social media. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are on the rise because they serve engaging, relevant content before customers even think to search.

The message is clear: customers don’t want to search; they want to get social.

Consideration: From Clicks to Conversations

When customers wanted more information about your offering, they used to browse your website, click filters, sort through long lists, and piece together what they needed.

In a world where ChatGPT can answer a complex question in one chat window, that “click around until you find it” approach feels slow and frustrating.

Now, when customers want more information, they still visit your website— but what they really want is a helpful, one-on-one conversation. They want to chat, not chase.

Customers don’t want to just convert on your website. They want to converse on your website.

Buying: From Personalized to Truly Personal

Think about what happens when a customer finally reaches a sales rep. Too often, the conversation starts with: “Tell me what you’re looking for” or “Describe your pain again.”

By that point, the customer may feel like: “The real pain is explaining this for the fourth time.”

They’ve already filled out forms, chatted with bots, clicked emails, and shared information on multiple channels. When that context doesn’t carry through, the experience feels disjointed.

Customers now expect you to use the intelligence you have: to synthesize the signals and come to the conversation with clear, specific insights.

In other words:

• Personalized is templated – “Hello, first name” is no longer enough.
• Personal is tailored – it’s about insight that’s specific to them.

Usage: From Reactive Support to Proactive Assistance

After buying, customers enter the “use” stage – and this is where expectations have risen sharply.

Traditional support often looks like:

• Submitting a ticket
• Sitting on hold listening to elevator music
• Following up by email
• Still not getting a clear answer

No wonder the vast majority of customers find service interactions frustrating.

Meanwhile, customers know you have data. They know you have AI. They know you have the ability to anticipate their needs.

What they want is not reactive troubleshooting. They want proactive assistance.

The most memorable service experiences are the “delight” moments – when you feel seen, understood, and supported before you even have to ask. That’s what customers want more of.

Standing Still Is Not an Option

When you zoom out and look across the entire journey – discover, consider, buy, and use – it’s clear: everything is changing.

AI is reshaping the technology landscape. But more importantly, it’s reshaping what your customers expect from you. In that environment, standing still is not an option.

You need to evolve how you connect with your customers.

So where do you start?

The best advice is practical:

• Start small.
• Iterate fast.
• Experiment responsibly.

That’s the mindset we’ve adopted at HubSpot. Our motto for AI is: “Do, don’t deliberate.”

Four Practical Ways to Evolve Your Go-To-Market for the Age of AI

1. Get Going with Bots

Start with a chatbot on your website. Remember, customers don’t want to endlessly click and filter. They just want to ask and get answers.

A good AI-powered chat experience should be able to answer questions about your product, pricing, case studies, and more – quickly and accurately.

At HubSpot, we added a generative AI-powered chatbot earlier this year, and it’s been highly effective: a large majority of customer questions are fully answered by the bot, with strong customer satisfaction scores.

Once you have a marketing chatbot in place, add a support bot. Let it handle the repetitive, frequently asked questions so your human team can focus on complex issues and high-value conversations.

2. Refresh Your Content Strategy with AI

Content is changing too. To adapt, ask two important questions:

1. What content am I creating?
2. In which communities am I sharing it?

For generative AI, depth and context matter more than ever. Keywords still play a role, but the relationships between concepts and the overall structure of your content are even more important.

Go beyond surface-level articles. Create in-depth, thoughtful content that answers real questions, maps to real user intent, and provides insight – not just information.

Then, think about distribution. Your customers don’t live in one channel, and neither should your content. Share and adapt your content across multiple communities and platforms.

Here, AI can help you:

• Repurpose one core piece of content into formats tailored to each channel
• Draft variations for different audiences
• Schedule posts at optimal times based on engagement data

Ideation, creation, and distribution are all ripe for AI-powered transformation.

3. Flip the Sales Formula

The traditional sales formula was: hire lots of reps, give them lots of tools, push lots of activities, and hope that more equals more.

That approach no longer works.

Reps are overloaded. Customers are overwhelmed.

There’s a new formula:

• Efficient reps who are assisted by AI
• Connected tools that share data and context
• Insight-driven activities instead of volume-based “busy work”

You already have customer data. AI can turn that data into insights. Those insights can guide your reps to the right accounts, the right timing, and the right messaging.

That frees your humans to do what they do best: build real, meaningful relationships.

4. Be Proactive with Service

The biggest challenge for many companies today isn’t getting customers to buy. It’s getting them to use the product fully, engage consistently, and get value.

This is where you need to be proactive, not reactive.

AI can help you:

• Identify which high-value feature a customer should use next
• See what similar customers are doing successfully
• Spot risk signals before churn happens

More insights lead to more value. When you bring intelligent, tailored recommendations into every service interaction, you turn support conversations into growth conversations.

Putting It All Together

If you’re wondering how to evolve your go-to-market strategy for the age of AI, a practical starting point looks like this:

• Get going with bots.
• Refresh your content strategy with AI.
• Flip the sales formula using insights, not volume.
• Be proactive with service to drive real value.

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be in go-to-market. We now have the intelligence and the tools to drive deeper customer connection at scale.

The Future: AI-Powered Customer Platforms

Back in 2014, HubSpot launched its CRM with a simple belief: millions of organizations could grow better with a great CRM that’s both easy to use and powerful.

Today, we believe every organization deserves an AI-powered customer platform.

That’s why we’re building AI into every engagement hub and across the entire platform – so you can leverage the power of intelligence in all your customer interactions.

AI Is Changing How We Work and Live

This transformation isn’t just professional; it’s personal. Generative AI has reshaped how many of us approach work and life.

From starting the day with AI tools to review pipeline and prepare for calls, to using AI to outline talks, brainstorm ideas, or even discover new recipes for hungry teenagers – AI has become a daily partner.

It’s changing how we think, plan, and create. And for many, it’s energizing.

You’re invited into that change. Not to replace the human element, but to enhance it.

This could be the most profound shift we’ve seen in marketing, sales, and service – one that helps us connect better as humans while we build smarter systems around us.