As someone who’s spent a dozen years in tech marketing, Gabe Larsen, CMO at Kustomer, has witnessed firsthand how quickly the B2B landscape can shift. As he shared on our Best Story Wins podcast, the last few years have seen another seismic shift that is changing everything from the way brands are approaching customer service to the way marketing teams are structured and operated.

What do you need to know to navigate this new AI era? We cover Gabe’s best tips and the biggest trends influencing today’s CMO playbook.

1) GTM engineering is replacing traditional marketing teams.

The rigid separation between marketing and sales development is breaking down. Now, Gabe sees these functions merging into GTM engineering, a more agile, technology-driven approach to generating demand.

Traditional demand generation models tend to be heavy on headcount and light on technology integration, but smart marketing organizations will invert that model. Smaller teams that can take advantage of AI and automation tools can create more sophisticated and effective strategies with way better results. 

Tip: Restructure your marketing organization to create cross-functional pods that include marketing, sales development, and technical talent rather than maintaining traditional departmental silos. (This is something we’ve been experimenting with at Column Five, and it has notably improved both our communication and results.) 

2) Signal-based marketing is replacing blunt-force campaigns.

Traditional marketing campaigns cast wide nets in hopes of catching potential customers. This new approach is much more targeted and responsive, using real-time signals to identify opportunities. When signals indicate potential buying activity, that’s when marketing and sales efforts kick into high gear—not before.

For example, Gabe says, if you have a target audience list, a signal might be when someone changes jobs, or there’s a funding announcement, or they’re hiring a role that’s interesting to you.

These buying signals mean you don’t have to rely only on first-party data or website visits. Smart companies are building sophisticated monitoring systems that track dozens of potential triggers across their target accounts.

Tip: Build a signal detection system by creating a list of the 10-15 most reliable indicators that an account is ready to buy, then set up monitoring tools to track these across your target accounts. This could include things like job changes on LinkedIn, technology stack changes, funding rounds, or new executive hires.

3) AI agents are replacing and augmenting manual outreach.

One of the most significant shifts Gabe sees is the replacement of many manual marketing and sales activities with AI-powered automation. Whether it’s an email sequence, phone calls, or LinkedIn interactions, Gabe says AI agents will monitor buyer signals and deploy tailored outreach. 

This doesn’t mean humans will be eliminated from the process. It just means one person (or a smaller group) can orchestrate and oversee campaigns executed largely by AI. The benefit? Dramatically increased efficiency and the ability to execute personalized outreach at a scale that would be impossible with an all-human team.

Tip: Start small with AI automation by identifying one specific outreach sequence (like follow-ups after content downloads) to automate with AI. Perfect this process before expanding to more complex scenarios.

4) SaaS companies need to rethink their positioning.

In the past, SaaS companies positioned themselves as platforms: comprehensive solutions for a particular business function. But Gabe sees a shift away from this positioning and toward a new concept: tech platforms as digital assistants.

This reflects a broader shift in how businesses think about technology, not as tools to be used by humans but as autonomous workers that handle specific tasks with minimal human oversight.

Tip: When positioning your B2B company, consider framing it in terms of the specific work it replaces or augments rather than as a generic “platform.” For example, instead of a “content management platform,” you might position yourself as a “digital content production assistant.”

5) B2B influencer marketing is replacing traditional thought leadership.

Another major shift Gabe predicts is the rise of influencer marketing in B2B, a practice that’s been standard in B2C for years but is only now taking hold in business markets.

This means platforms like LinkedIn will become even more important as the primary channels for B2B influencer marketing. It also points to a more personality-driven approach to B2B content, moving away from corporate blogs toward content created by and associated with specific individuals.

Tip: Identify subject matter experts within your organization who could develop personal brands as thought leaders on LinkedIn. Provide them with resources and support to create regular content, and track the engagement their personal content receives compared to your corporate channels.

6) Companies will need to consider customer service earlier. 

Customer service starts at hello, not help. That is the core story that Gabe has been pushing at Kustomer, and it’s something more B2B brands need to lead with. As Gabe points out, when a customer reaches out because they have a problem, and you have to go back to the basics (name, order number, etc.), you’ve already lost your rapport.

Kustomer is an AI customer service platform that gathers data at the point of order, enabling proactive conversations and a completely new level of service. If you want to build a better brand experience, companies will need to reimagine their customer service from the jump.

Tip: Audit your current customer service touchpoints to identify where you’re asking customers to repeat information you should already know. Then implement data collection systems that capture essential information at first contact, enabling your team to focus on solving problems rather than gathering basic details.

7) Brand is still the biggest key to success. 

Although we’re facing a time of major transition in B2B, there’s one thing that remains consistent: the power of a strong brand. 

As Gabe puts it, “Brand is the legacy we leave in every conversation we’re not in.” With marketing increasingly driven by automation and AI, having a distinctive brand that resonates emotionally is the single most important differentiator to make you stand out. 

That means you need hyper clarity on your brand values, the stories you tell, and what makes you unique. Without those key ingredients, no automated outreach or influencer marketing will help you build a better relationship with your audience.

Tip: Use our brand strategy toolkit to identify your storytelling North Star and align your team accordingly.

How to Navigate a New Era

These shifts can be overwhelming to any CMO, but the key to success is embracing these changes rather than resisting them.

• Pay attention to your team dynamics and how you may restructure to work more effectively.
• Experiment with your messaging and storytelling to see what resonates.
• Use AI to optimize your workflows.
• Maintain a strong brand presence at every touchpoint.

Most importantly, stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices. For more on building a better CMO playbook, tune into our full conversation with Gabe on iTunes or YouTube. It’s a great chat to motivate you to make big moves (and get even bigger results).