Last week, I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days in sunny Northern California with Big Valley’s Founder & CEO, Tim Marklein, at the SaaStr Annual AI Summit. I’ve been working in SaaS since 2010…and the urgency and genuine excitement of this conference have me energized and curious about the future of our industry.
We all know that AI is shifting everything – but this week, I gained clarity on the extent of this tectonic shift. I have so many thoughts to share, but here are the core themes I heard multiple times this week:
- AI is not just new tech—it’s a cultural shift in our lives, similar to how the internet changed our world.
- Content strategy needs to shift – it’s not about volume anymore, but context so that AI can leverage it. Are companies producing the right content that is relevant and personal to create connections with customers?
- Search, as we know it, is shifting. We are in a transitional space where we are shifting from searches and clicks to conversations with AI agents, which is why the quality of content matters (See #2).
- AI is shifting jobs and careers, and the two most important characteristics noted over and over by founders, CEOs, and CROs? Curiosity and a growth mindset to navigate this shift. “If you are not a kid in a candy store right now, you’re in the wrong business.” – Jason Lemkin, Trusted Advisor, SaaStr.
- How you serve your customers—with AI and humans—will differentiate companies. Figuring out the hybrid model and how to maximize human and AI talent will accelerate companies.
- Marketing matters today, more than ever. “Trust, transparency, and brand are critical in a world of AI slop. AI isn’t the product – but the enabler for new things.” – Dara Ladjevardian, Founder and CEO of Delphi
- The old marketing + sales playbook is dead – if you aren’t rethinking your strategy on how to incorporate AI into the process to make your team more effective, you’re already behind.
- The key to adopting AI into your workflows? It starts from the top. Yamini Rangan, CEO at Hubspot, sends a 5-minute weekly wrap-up video on Fridays to the whole company, sharing how she used AI that week and how they are building it into their product.
- We are beyond the phase of “adding AI” to parts and up-charging it as an add-on. Lemkin challenged the audience that if you could re-found your company today, what would that look like? Companies need to be AI-first, and it should be embedded into the product and the pricing.
- AI will be so good in the future that it will expose average employees. There’s an opportunity to get better with AI or a risk of being surpassed by it. It’s a choice.
As marketers, we have two options: to be terrified for our futures or to embrace change, be a kid in a candy store, and get curious.
I personally am feeling energized by all the possibilities, and the potential we all have to effect change in our businesses, and how to help our clients.
One thing that will never change? The core of purpose marketing: understanding your audience and communicating a meaningful message that explains how you solve their problems. If anything, branding, marketing, and communications are even more important in an increasingly noisy world.
Teaching, inspiring, and helping your customers will always be at the heart of a successful technology company. But, how we do those things – that’s where AI is rewriting the playbook.
