GTM Innovators: Why AI Is Making Average Marketing Easier and Great Marketing Rarer

Posted on January 12, 2026January 11, 2026 by Kyle James

AI has made it easier than ever to produce content, launch campaigns, and optimize performance at scale. But has it actually made marketing better? In this episode of GTM Innovators, Kyle James sits down with Joey Lai, B2B Marketing Director at Mastercard, for a candid and deeply thoughtful conversation about what’s being lost as AI tools become embedded in everyday marketing work. Drawing on her experience across fast-growing startups and large enterprise organizations, Joey argues that while AI accelerates output, it often erodes the critical thinking, creativity, and human insight that separate average marketing from great marketing. Together, they explore why optimization has become easier, originality has become rarer, and why the next generation of marketers faces a very real risk of outsourcing their thinking along with their tasks. This conversation goes beyond AI hype to examine: […]

Video: Are Vendors Losing by Overloading on AI Features?

Posted on December 4, 2025December 4, 2025 by Nicholas Biron

In this video, Nicholas Biron discusses a growing trend in vendor presentations: overloading audiences with AI features instead of focusing on solving real business problems. He shares observations from virtual analyst updates and emphasizes that line-of-business executives often lack advanced AI sophistication. Vendors are urged to differentiate by addressing customer challenges and practical outcomes rather than feature dumps.

Efficiency, Precision, and Discovery: Lessons from Vanillasoft’s Marketing Leaders

Posted on December 4, 2025December 3, 2025 by Kyle James

As part of our ongoing Go-to-Market (GTM) Research, I recently sat down with Jeannie Zaemes, Senior Vice President of Marketing, and James Bishop, Vice President of Marketing at Vanillasoft, for an open conversation about how marketing and GTM strategies and programs are evolving. Vanillasoft is a leader in sales engagement and lead management, giving marketing and sales teams a structured and consistent way to reach prospects, respond quickly, and convert more opportunities. The platform helps organizations streamline outreach, focus on the right accounts, and run GTM programs that are both efficient and precise. By unifying workflows and surfacing actionable signals, Vanillasoft enables customers to turn data into real discovery and momentum in their pipeline. What unfolded was a candid discussion about the state of modern marketing and how efficiency, data precision, and […]

Research Agenda: 2026 Go-to-Market B2B

Posted on November 18, 2025November 20, 2025 by Kyle James

Introduction Building on the insights and conversations from the 2025 GTM Research Agenda, this year’s focus deepens our understanding of how efficiency, authenticity, and AI collaboration are shaping modern go-to-market strategies. Through discussions with industry leaders and operators, we’ve identified emerging intersections between human creativity, data-driven precision, and automation. The 2026 agenda continues this exploration, emphasizing community-driven learning and practical application across the GTM ecosystem. These topics remain working hypotheses but have matured through initial discovery and community conversations. They are shared here to invite continued exploration and deeper dialogue with practitioners, vendors, and operators. Rather than presenting final positions, our intent is to surface the most relevant and timely GTM questions for 2026. We will continue to solicit input, opinions, and insights from practitioners […]

Small Gestures, Big Impact: Elevating Customer Experience in HR Technology

Posted on November 18, 2025November 17, 2025 by Dylan Teggart

In our calls with multiple HR tech end-users in 2025, Nick Biron and I repeatedly came across a similar theme: when vendors appear similar on paper, service and genuine human relationships often become the real differentiators. This ties into a video Nick recently shared with me that touches on the concept of creating ‘moments that matter’ in sales and customer service. It’s those moments where a vendor goes just a little bit further than they need to to make you feel special or like your specific needs are being heard. According to the presenter, a 10% improvement across seven such moments can “double” revenue with that customer. I’m not sure the math is that simple, but anecdotally, it tracks with what we hear in HR […]

Video: Nicholas Biron on Software Demos – Why Sales Engagement Beats Features

Posted on October 27, 2025October 27, 2025 by Nicholas Biron

In this video, Nick Biron from 3Sixty Insights shares a key insight from working with software buyers: features and functionality are no longer the primary differentiator, they have become table stakes. What really wins deals is how sales teams engage, listen, and respond during the buying process. Nick highlights a common pitfall: the “show up and throw up” demo, where vendors rush through features without interacting with the customer. Instead, he recommends interactive, consultative demos that start with understanding the customer’s needs, pause to gather feedback, and highlight what truly differentiates the platform. The takeaway: superior software alone is not enough. Sales teams that prioritize engagement and responsiveness are the ones that win.

GTM Innovators: The GEO Playbook – How Partner Marketing Fuels AI Discoverability with Michael Cole

Posted on October 27, 2025October 27, 2025 by Kyle James

In this episode of GTM Innovators, host Kyle James sits down with Michael Cole, SVP of Marketing at Everflow, to explore how Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is redefining the rules of search and discoverability. As AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini become the new front doors to information, long-tail SEO is giving way to a world driven by citations, partnerships, and authentic content. Michael shares how leading brands are adapting—building relationships with publishers, rethinking affiliate strategies, and creating human-led content that fuels visibility across AI-powered ecosystems. If you’ve ever wondered what replaces SEO in the age of AI, this conversation is your new playbook. Subscript to GMT Innovators Series on the following platforms: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/research-859405782 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsoV6fwX4cpGR2Hg98rc1e1k2-cOqCbhb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1gvDzcl0jxpPIfu9WYu6U4 iHeartReadio: https://iheart.com/podcast/258127960/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/gtm-innovators/PC:1001097038 iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gtm-innovators/id1790738579 Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1b000615-31cc-49dd-a5d8-f80d5098bf2d/gtm-innovators […]

theHRDIRECTOR: Lessons from HR Tech 2025 – How vendors can stand out in a crowded market

Posted on October 14, 2025October 14, 2025 by 3Sixty Insights Editorial Team and Nicholas Biron

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend HR Tech 2025 . After years of observing this industry as a customer and analyst, I came away both amazed and thoughtful about the state of HR technology and the way vendors communicate their innovations. The State of HR Technology Today The advancements in HR software over the past few years are nothing short of revolutionary. From AI-driven solutions to streamlined workforce management tools, the software on display at HR Tech 2025 has the potential to accelerate organizations’ capabilities by years—if deployed effectively. For end users, the key takeaway is clear: if you haven’t explored HR technology in the last few years, now is the time. The innovations showcased at this year’s event could fundamentally improve how HR […]

theHRDIRECTOR: Is HR Tech in its “It’s Toasted” Era?

Posted on October 10, 2025October 10, 2025 by 3Sixty Insights Editorial Team and Dylan Teggart

One thing’s for sure in HR tech: everything is agentic AI. Or better yet, just “agentic.” In the frigid back conference halls of the Mandalay Bay convention center, past the food court, and up the escalator banks, the word “agentic” bounced across the walls and danced through the air. It’s the hot new thing. Everyone’s talking about it. And maybe that’s the problem. Over the course of the two and a half days at the 3Sixty Insights table, I was briefed, debriefed, and briefed again with vendors from across the HR tech industry. I met and spoke with many witty, intelligent, and forward-thinking people, all telling – or being told to tell – the same story. As an analyst, the result was often walking away […]

Anatomy of a Decision: Right-Sized ABM – How Cohere Health Chose the Perfect Platform for Their Team

Posted on October 10, 2025March 31, 2026 by Kyle James

B2B marketing is undergoing a recalibration. The days of chasing MQLs as the north star are giving way to strategies rooted in precision, orchestration, and meaningful engagement across entire accounts. For Brianna Miller, Director of Demand Generation at Cohere Health, this evolution isn’t theoretical. It’s personal, practical, and rooted in years of frontline experience leading ABM initiatives in healthcare technology. As account-based marketing (ABM) continues to gain traction, many GTM leaders face the same challenge: how do you operationalize ABM at scale without overloading your team or overspending on tools? Amid tightening budgets and growing pressure to prove marketing’s revenue impact, ABM must walk a fine line between sophistication and simplicity. When Brianna joined Cohere Health, the company was already exploring account-based marketing platforms. Several […]

Analyst Insight: HR Techonomics & The Napster Effect

Posted on October 2, 2025October 2, 2025 by Dylan Teggart

Agentic AI is becoming table stakes, but the pricing model is broken for HR tech vendors. Given that platforms like ChatGPT are free for most HR tech users—or built into the existing fee structures for HR tech platforms—I fear that tying it to a zero-cost model may inadvertently propel HR tech AI into a fate similar to that of recorded music after Napster and the rise of music streaming. Napster proved to the world that music can be free, and the music industry never recovered from it. Record stores closed, artists suffered, and the music market was flooded with even more music, all of which was still available for free. Even decades later, when services like Apple Music and Spotify began to pop up, charging […]

Council Guest Post: AI Is Not Always the Answer

Posted on September 26, 2025September 26, 2025 by Alan Gold

That’s Cool! What is it? (The AI Feature Trap That Can Kill Early-Stage Companies) One of my favorite places to go is the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Walk into one of the buildings on the expansive grounds and you’ll find yourself staring at a collection of mysterious farm implements. Interesting, well-crafted tools that clearly served important purposes—but nobody alive remembers what those purposes were. Curators can guess based on the materials and construction, but the actual utility? Lost to time. While there’s a pretty long leap from the bucolic scenery of rural Vermont to artificial intelligence, the notion of unclear use is exactly how many early-stage companies are approaching AI features today. “We need AI in our product to stay competitive,” they announce, like archaeologists […]

Video: What HR Tech Vendors Are Missing – Lessons from HR Tech 2025

Posted on September 24, 2025September 24, 2025 by 3Sixty Insights Editorial Team and Nicholas Biron

3Sixty Insights Nicholas Biron in this video shares his key takeaways from HR Tech 2025, offering a deep dive into the state of HR technology and the evolving landscape for both end users and vendors. Over the course of the event, it became clear that HR tech vendors are making revolutionary investments where solutions today are light years ahead of where they were just five years ago. For practitioners who haven’t evaluated new software recently, these innovations can be transformative, enabling organizations to solve complex workforce challenges, improve efficiency, and drive meaningful business outcomes. At the same time, Nick highlights a critical challenge: while the innovations are groundbreaking, much of the messaging coming from vendors is strikingly similar. Buzzwords like “agentic AI” and “human-in-the-loop” dominate […]

Lessons from HR Tech 2025: How Vendors Can Stand Out in a Crowded Market

Posted on September 23, 2025September 23, 2025 by Nicholas Biron

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend HR Tech 2025 with the 3Sixty Insights team. After years of observing this industry as a customer and analyst, I came away both amazed and thoughtful about the state of HR technology and the way vendors communicate their innovations. The State of HR Technology Today The advancements in HR software over the past few years are nothing short of revolutionary. From AI-driven solutions to streamlined workforce management tools, the software on display at HR Tech 2025 has the potential to accelerate organizations’ capabilities by years—if deployed effectively. For end users, the key takeaway is clear: if you haven’t explored HR technology in the last few years, now is the time. The innovations showcased at this year’s event […]

Is HR Tech in its “It’s Toasted” Era?

Posted on September 23, 2025September 22, 2025 by Dylan Teggart

Anatomy of a Decision: How ZRG Partners Turned to Sprout Social to Power Brand Amplification from Within

Posted on August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 by Kyle James and Desiree Goldey

Overview As ZRG Partners expanded from a boutique search firm to a global talent advisory powerhouse with 600+ employees, its rapid growth outpaced brand recognition. Private equity backers challenged leadership with a clear question: What are you doing for marketing? The answer was a complete go-to-market transformation—anchored by employee advocacy through Sprout Social. By empowering its people to tell the ZRG story, the firm turned marketing into a true growth catalyst, driving measurable gains in website traffic, employee engagement, and brand awareness. Key Takeaways From Sales-Driven to Brand-Driven: Transitioned from a purely sales-led growth model to a coordinated GTM engine. People, Process, Platform: Hired strategic marketing leaders, implemented new tech (Salesforce Marketing Cloud, BrightEdge, Jasper AI), and embedded advocacy into culture. Sprout Social Advantage: Chosen […]

GTM Innovators: Building GTM Trust Through Analyst Relations with Chris Manfredi

Posted on August 11, 2025August 12, 2025 by Kyle James

In this episode of GTM Innovators, Kyle James sits down with Chris Manfredi, Global Director of Analyst Relations at Sprout Social, to explore the power of analyst relations as a trust-building force in go-to-market strategy. With over a decade of experience navigating firms like Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, Chris shares how AR serves as a strategic connective tissue across product, marketing, sales, and the C-suite. From managing 1,500+ analyst touchpoints a year to synthesizing insights for executive decisions, Chris offers a behind-the-scenes look at what makes AR truly impactful, especially in today’s AI-driven, insight-saturated landscape. Whether you’re new to AR or looking to take your program to the next level, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom, human-centric perspective, and bold ideas for the future. […]

Council Guest Post: 10 Ways to Improve the Way You Market Your HR-Talent Acquisition-Learning Technology

Posted on August 6, 2025August 29, 2025 by Todd Raphael

I’m working with AI tech startups (e.g. interview technology, AI screening, etc.); top four job boards; two of the top employer-branding agencies; a top-ranked ATS; a top-ranked global RPO, and am otherwise looking at dozens of other talent-technology companies’ marketing weekly. Some quick thoughts on what I’m seeing and what can improve. Use scenarios, not just metrics. Yes, you reduce the time it takes to fill a job 847% and the speed of hire by a factor of 7, and that’s good. But the ads that are popping up on our personal social-media feeds tend to lay out scenarios (a bit different from case studies): Your daughter got home and she no longer wanted the multi-colored popsicle she has every Monday. Your dog is waking […]

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Solution Spotlight: How SalesScreen Makes Sales Competitions Effortless, Inclusive, and Strategic

Posted on August 5, 2025August 5, 2025 by Kyle James

Reimagine Sales Competitions with Automation, Gamification, and AI-Driven Insights Sales competitions have long been a core motivator in GTM teams—but traditional approaches are often manual, repetitive, and limited in impact. In this Solution Spotlight, we explore how SalesScreen is modernizing the sales competition playbook, offering a powerful platform that turns one of the oldest tactics in sales into one of the smartest. From real-time CRM integration and dynamic competition formats to the launch of Scout, their AI assistant, SalesScreen is helping GTM teams motivate more reps, more often—with less effort. What You’ll Learn: Why traditional contests leave most reps behind—and how to fix it How SalesScreen simplifies competition setup with automation and pre-built templates Ways teams are using gamification to build culture, drive behavior, and […]

OneSource Article: Driving AI Readiness with Unstructured Data – A Look into CalibrAIte’s Impact

Posted on July 29, 2025July 29, 2025 by 3Sixty Insights Editorial Team and Kyle James

As organizations race to operationalize AI, a key barrier remains: unstructured data. Emails, chats, voice recordings, and social media are rich in insights—yet difficult to mine without the right tools. That’s where CalibrAIte, a solution by OneSource, enters the equation. 3Sixty Insights recently explored how CalibrAIte empowers organizations to transform this data into structured, actionable intelligence. Our report sheds light on how businesses are using the platform to uncover customer sentiment, reduce manual workflows, and accelerate their journey to AI readiness—without having to overhaul their entire tech stack. OneSource’s approach prioritizes business outcomes first, starting with high-impact use cases that quickly demonstrate value. It’s a strategy that aligns with what we at 3Sixty Insights have identified as a hallmark of successful digital transformation. Read the […]

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