The Future of B2B: Why AI Agents Will Replace Your Go-to-Market Playbook
What I learned from my conversation with Santosh Sharan, co-founder of Zeer.ai
In this latest episode of Tech Marketing Rewired, I sat down with my good friend and longtime industry peer, Santosh Sharan — co-founder of ZeerAI and one of the sharpest thinkers I know on the future of go-to-market.
Santosh has been on the front lines of B2B evolution for decades. From the early days of data-driven targeting to the current chaos of channel saturation, he’s seen every wave of GTM transformation up close. Now, he’s building toward what he believes is the next seismic shift: the rise of AI-powered buyer and seller agents that will change everything about how we generate demand, build trust, and close deals.
Our conversation ranged from the collapse of traditional marketing channels to why brand trust will become the ultimate differentiator when product parity is everywhere. We talked about the economics of CAC, the platformization of software, and how “agent-to-agent” selling could cut through the noise in ways humans simply can’t at scale.
Here are my biggest takeaways from our discussion.
The Collapse of Channels
Santosh believes the noise problem in B2B isn’t just generational, it’s structural. The accessibility of cheap data and automation has led to a flood of low-quality outreach that’s destroying once-viable channels.
“We got greedy with data and automation… it’s become so easy and accessible that with one click, every signal provider is providing funding signals. And every automation is integrated with funding signal outreach. That’s such a lousy playbook now.”
My Take: We’ve burned our own house down. Marketers took the tools that gave us superpowers and ran them into the ground. Now every channel that once worked is choking on junk. The new playbook is increasingly about creating such sharp, relevant, and personal outreach that it feels like a cheat code in a world of noise.
Product Parity and the End of Differentiation
With AI lowering development costs, the number of competing vendors in every category will explode — and feature advantages won’t last.
“The cost of building tools is going to just go near zero… even if you’re different, somebody can copy you in two weeks. So then there will always be parity.”
My Take: If you’re still betting your GTM on “we have the better product,” you’re already on borrowed time. In the AI era, your feature roadmap is just open source inspiration for your competitors. The only moat left is the relationship your buyers want to have with you, and you can’t fake that.
Trust as the Primary Differentiator
If product features can be cloned instantly, Santosh argues, trust and credibility become the last defensible moat.
“Trust and credibility cannot be copied that easily. Your sense that this company will stand by me when difficult times come — that cannot be copied.”
My Take: Trust is the new tech stack. If you can’t prove you’ll show up when it matters most, no number of integrations or AI features will save you. The companies that win will act like partners, not vendors — and their buyers will treat them that way.
The Rise of Platform Ecosystems
Santosh sees a near future where stand-alone “endpoint” SaaS companies can’t sustain their CAC and are forced to become part of integrated platforms or disappear.
“Every software [will become] a platform. Either they build a platform of their own or they join a platform… Without that, they won’t be able to sustain the high cost of CAC.”
My Take: Your GTM strategy now has to answer one question: Whose ecosystem do you want to live in? Because going solo will be a death sentence for most endpoint products. Platforms aren’t just distribution partners anymore, they’re lifeboats in a market where CAC is drowning vendors.
Agent-to-Agent Go-to-Market
The most disruptive idea Santosh shared is that soon, buyer agents will talk to seller agents before a human ever gets involved — and that will redefine the funnel.
“The race will shift to how do I impress the agent… I think that will be the new market.”
My Take: Forget optimizing for click-through rates, you’ll soon be optimizing for “agent pass rates.” That’s the AI equivalent of getting past the bouncer. If your content and offers can’t make it past an algorithm trained to filter for relevance, your buyers will never even know you exist.
Scaling Authenticity
Santosh sees an opportunity for brands to “scale” trust without losing authenticity by focusing on solving real buyer problems, not just pushing features.
“If buyers can be encouraged to share their problems every day… and agencies and vendors could respond just to those problems… that generates trust and credibility in ways that otherwise you can’t.”
My Take: The brands that figure this out will look less like marketing machines and more like always-on advisory boards. Scaling authenticity will be about embedding yourself so deeply in your buyers’ problem-solving process that you’re the default first call.
Summary
This conversation with Santosh reinforced that we’re in the middle of a structural reset in B2B marketing. Channels that once worked are collapsing under the weight of automation abuse. Product differentiation is fleeting. The economics of CAC are brutal.
But the same forces creating this chaos — AI, automation, and platforms — are also opening up massive new opportunities for those willing to rethink GTM from the ground up. Trust will be the currency. Agents will be the gatekeepers. Platforms will be the new distribution channels. And the brands that can connect all three will own the next decade.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you preparing for the agent-driven GTM era, or still playing by the old rules?
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Santosh Sharan on Tech Marketing Rewired.
And if you are looking for help navigating the changing tech marketing landscape, check us out at Mighty & True.