B2BVault's summary of:

Why marketing must reclaim GTM design in the age of AI

Published by:
Martech
Author:
Loren Shumate

Introduction

Marketing must guide AI-powered GTM systems or risk short-term wins at the cost of lasting customer trust. Learn why and how.

What’s the problem it solves?

AI tools push marketing aside and flood prospects with generic outreach. This risks harming your brand and loses customer trust over time.

Quick Summary

As AI makes it easy to send thousands of automated messages, sales teams focus on quick deals and ignore long-term brand building. Marketing’s job of shaping the customer journey and building trust can get lost. Poorly targeted emails and messages can leave buyers feeling ignored or annoyed, and they may never come back.

To fix this, marketing needs to own the design of how AI is used in go-to-market plans. That means setting rules for who to contact, when, and with what message so outreach feels personal and helpful. Marketers must map the full buyer journey-from first awareness through decision-and use AI to support that path rather than just blast out volume.

Finally, marketing leaders must teach sales and operations teams why demand creation matters. They should guard against short-term tricks and guide cross-team efforts so every message fits the brand’s promise. When marketing leads GTM design, AI can boost precision outreach and protect long-term growth.

Key Takeaways

  • AI outreach without strategy can burn accounts and damage your brand.
  • Marketing must own the full customer journey, not just hand off leads to sales.
  • A GTM engineer role needs marketing oversight to balance volume with value.
  • Demand creation-nurturing buyers before they’re ready-is as vital as demand capture.
  • AI works best when it follows marketing’s plan for timing, targeting, and tone.
  • Teaching revenue teams about long-term brand value prevents short-term bias.
  • Unified GTM design across marketing, sales, and operations builds trust and growth.

What to do

  • Map every stage of your buyer’s journey and define clear messages for each step.
  • Set AI outreach rules on who to contact, how often, and with which tailored message.
  • Train sales and RevOps on why brand building and demand creation matter.
  • Appoint marketing as the lead for GTM system design and AI governance.
  • Run small AI-driven tests and gather feedback to refine message timing and tone.
  • Review results regularly to balance quick wins with long-term relationship building.

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