Merkle, a dentsu company

AI Simulates Buyers but Lacks Personality

The article argues that AI-driven synthetic audiences often miss a key input: buyer personality. Drawing on seven years of research into the personalities of 10,000 buyers across 15 industries, the author introduces the "Two-Thirds Rule": within a given role and industry two personality types account for at least two-thirds of incumbents. The piece explains that common data sources (demographic, firmographic, behavioral, and professional signals) capture what buyers are but not how they decide, because professional signals reflect a "work persona" rather than underlying decision-making patterns. The author recommends three changes to improve synthetic audience accuracy: layer personality into persona generation, model personas at the role-and-industry level, and validate synthetic audiences against personality, not only demographics or firmographics. The article was published on 2026-07-31.

Hidden Forces Shaping B2B Buying Decisions

The article argues that B2B buying is not purely rational and is heavily shaped by organizational and personal forces often ignored by sales and marketing. It introduces the concept of the "hidden buyer journey" — the internal organizational path that determines outcomes — and lists influences such as politics, fear, timing, precedent, corporate culture and competing priorities. The piece stresses that buyers present a work persona distinct from their personal identity and highlights behavioral profiling (DISC profiling, now described as enhanced with AI) as a useful framework. Based on nearly a decade of cross‑industry research, the author recommends that go‑to‑market teams map the invisible organizational context and behavioral styles to improve decision velocity and win rates. The article was published on MarTech on 2026-07-06 and authored by Scott Gillum, Founder & CEO of Carbon Design.

AI Scales B2B Sales, But Humans Build Trust

The article argues that while AI and automation can scale three of four B2B selling relationship types, only human-to-human selling reliably builds trust and closes complex deals. It defines four selling relationship categories—machine-to-machine, machine-to-human, human-to-machine, and human-to-human—explaining the strengths and limits of each. Automated systems excel at efficient, transactional interactions (renewals, replenishment) and at shaping early impressions, but they cannot capture buyers' hidden motivations, personalities or personal risk. The author, Scott Gillum (Founder & CEO, Carbon Design), urges sales organizations to preserve and invest in human-to-human interactions as a sustainable competitive advantage in the age of AI. The piece is adapted from the upcoming book “The Hidden Buyer Journey.”