Observed Signal · Jan 6, 2026 · Brand & Market Positioning · Source: https://chiefmartec.com/feed/ · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Jon Miller Predicts B2B GTM Shifts for 2026
Jon Miller, co-founder and original CMO of Marketo and now CEO of a stealth AI startup, published his 2026 predictions for B2B go-to-market on Chiefmartec. He forecasts marketers preparing to engage AI agents as part of buying committees, reasoning AI beginning to replace brittle rules-based automation, and early AI-driven journey orchestration ("playlists") delivering closer-to-1:1 personalization. Miller expects composable martech stacks to be mainstream by 2030 but adopted by fewer than 20% of teams in 2026, and he predicts “context engineering” will emerge as a formal GTM discipline to make AI operationally useful. He warns email will move from owned to earned media as AI inbox gatekeepers triage messages, public intent signals will commoditize while proprietary first-party signals create alpha, and AI-driven uncertainty will accelerate job and organizational shifts. The piece emphasizes hybrid, incremental adoption in 2026 rather than wholesale transformation.
Predictions from a prominent martech founder about AI-driven shifts in B2B go-to-market (agents, reasoning AI, composable stacks, context engineering) are strategically relevant to martech vendors and B2B marketers planning product and data strategy.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Jon Miller is co-founder and original CMO of Marketo and now co-founder and CEO of a stealth AI startup.
- Miller predicts marketers will begin marketing to AI agents (agents as part of buying committees) in 2026.
- He predicts fewer than 20% of B2B teams will run a fully composable martech architecture in 2026.
- Miller predicts reasoning AI will begin replacing rules-based automation across marketing and revenue operations in 2026.
- He predicts email marketing will shift from 'owned' media to 'earned' media as AI inbox gatekeepers triage messages in 2026.
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Jon Miller's Bold B2B Predictions for 2026 Unveiled
Jon Miller, co-founder and original CMO of Marketo and now co-founder and CEO of a stealth AI startup, publishes a set of predictions for B2B go-to-market in 2026. He forecasts AI agents joining buying committees, reasoning models beginning to replace brittle rules-based automation, early adoption of AI-driven journey orchestration (“playlists”) that prioritize the right action over unique content, and slow near-term transformation of legacy SaaS (hybrid AI + SaaS adoption in 2026). Miller also predicts increased emphasis on capturing operational context for AI, commoditization of public intent signals with advantage shifting to proprietary signals, and shifts in email marketing as AI inbox gatekeepers force relevance and trust. He highlights workforce and societal uncertainty from AI, cites industry studies and vendor moves, and recommends building signal foundations and human accountability.
Jon Miller Predicts AI-Driven B2B GTM Trends for 2026
Jon Miller, co‑founder and original CMO of Marketo and now CEO of a stealth AI startup, outlines his 2026 B2B go‑to‑market predictions. He argues 2026 will be a transition year in which AI begins to materially shape martech: marketers will need to serve AI agents as part of buying committees, reasoning AI will start replacing brittle rules-based automation, and journey orchestration will shift toward dynamic AI “playlists.” Composable, headless architectures and context engineering will gain traction but remain limited in 2026 (<20% adoption for fully composable stacks). Email will shift from owned to earned media as AI inbox gatekeepers filter volume. Miller warns that public intent signals will commoditize, making proprietary first‑party signals more valuable, and highlights broader economic and employment uncertainty driven by AI. He recommends investing in signal foundations, operational context, and quality human judgment.
2026 Update: Predictions Transforming Marketing and Martech Landscape
A co-author of the 2020 Martech 2030 report reviews five predictions at the midway point of the decade, assessing how martech has evolved through 2025–2026. Key observations: generative AI supercharged no-code citizen-creator capabilities (enabling rapid creation of apps, agents, and creative assets); platform ecosystems (including hyperscaler marketplaces and AI engines) have become central to martech strategy; the martech landscape expanded from ~8,000 solutions in 2020 to 15,384 by 2025, with a growing hypertail of custom apps; orchestration or “Big Ops” — managing thousands of apps, agents and automations — is an emerging platform battle; and human–machine harmonization (buyer-side AI, Agentic Commerce, AEO) has transitioned from theory to market reality. The author rates the original predictions and highlights governance, standards, and orchestration as ongoing challenges.
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