KIMI GUGLANI
DirectorMarketing & Communications,
TrendAI
Evolving Marketing Strategy for the AI Era
Traditionally, a marketer’s role started the moment a prospect entered our funnel. That funnel barely exists anymore. Gartner's 2026 sales research found that B2B buyers are increasingly using a mix of digital channels, AI and human interactions throughout the purchase process, with a majority now preferring a low-friction, self-directed buying experience.
By the time someone reaches out to us, an AI search result, an agent, or a peer conversation may already have shaped their view of our brand, and we were never in the room for it.
So, the strategy question has changed from "how do we reach more people" to "how do we earn trust in places we do not control." We are investing less in broadcast and more in being findable, credible and complete wherever evaluation happens, whether online or offline.
Growth increasingly comes from depth that survives contact with an algorithm as much as a human. In cybersecurity specifically, where trust is the product before it's the pitch, that shift makes marketing a direct lever on the business, not a support function to it.
Brand Positioning in Competitive Market
Three years ago, differentiation meant a sharper campaign. Now it means being structurally ready for how AI decides what gets surfaced and trusted. I think about AI less as a productivity shortcut and more as a reason to rebuild how we market. The two mindsets lead to very different priority lists, and that gap is where real differentiation lives this year.
First, outcomes over output. We are moving budget conversations away from impressions and toward more measurable impact such as pipeline influenced, deals accelerated, retention protected.
These are the numbers a CFO recognizes. Second, category authority. When anyone can generate content quickly, a distinct, research-backed point of view is what still earns attention, so our research stays central to what we publish, not a side asset.
Third, as agentic commerce takes hold, we are preparing for buyers who aren't human at all. Brands need to be legible to the AI agents doing the comparing, not just to the people reading the comparison. Underneath all of it, the judgment stays human. AI can execute faster than we ever could but it still cannot decide what's worth saying
