Forrester B2B Summit North America 2026: The GTM Reset Is No Longer Theoretical

B2B Summit North America positioned 2026 as a turning point for B2B go-to-market models. The selected LinkedIn posts show a clear shift from funnel optimization to AI-enabled buyer intelligence, preference creation, measurable impact, and human-plus-AI execution.

Date

May 7, 2026

Special - Marketing

Methodology: Every two weeks we collect most relevant posts on LinkedIn for selected topics and create an overall summary only based on these posts. If you´re interested in the single posts behind, you can find them here: https://linktr.ee/thomasallgeyer. Have a great read!

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If you prefer listening, check out our podcast summarizing the most relevant insights from Forrester B2B Summit 2026:

GTM Singularity

Forrester positioned the current B2B environment as a structural reset rather than a normal marketing cycle
AI pressure was described as exposing old GTM weaknesses, especially siloed teams, activity-based reporting, fragmented data, and overreliance on visible buyer signals
ARC GTM emerged as the proposed response, built around augmented, resilient, and collaborative GTM models
The practical implication is clear: annual planning, static funnels, and isolated brand or demand teams are no longer sufficient for AI-enabled buyers

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AI-Mediated Buying

Buyer research is shifting into LLMs, copilots, communities, dark social, and agentic workflows, reducing the visibility of traditional web, email, and form-based signals
Buyers are forming preferences and shortlists before vendors formally enter the process
Answer Engine Optimization and AI discoverability became central priorities, with brands needing content that can be found, trusted, and surfaced by machines
The new battleground is not only traffic or ranking, but presence in AI-generated answers and agent-driven evaluation flows

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Brand And Demand

The summit reframed brand and demand as a unified growth system, not as separate budget lines or organizational functions
Preference marketing became a defining theme, with buyers often starting with a favored vendor before the formal buying process begins
Brand now carries direct revenue relevance because it influences consideration before intent is measurable
Demand teams must move earlier in the journey, using proof, credibility, and relevance to shape belief before pipeline signals appear

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Measurement And Accountability

MQLs were challenged as an insufficient proxy for revenue confidence, even where teams still report them
Stronger measures included opportunities created, opportunities accepted by sales, stage progression, pipeline value, account quality, and business outcome alignment
Return on Objectives was positioned as a better accountability model for environments shaped by GenAI, zero-click behavior, and invisible buyer journeys
The broader message was that marketing measurement must move from activity reporting to business impact, buyer conviction, and cross-functional trust

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Human-Plus-AI

AI was consistently presented as an execution accelerator, but not as a substitute for human creativity, trust, empathy, and judgment
The clearest operating principle was to automate predictable work so teams can focus on moments requiring strategy, relationships, and differentiation
Human connection remained a major summit theme, with dinners, panels, hallway conversations, and community experiences positioned as high-value complements to AI
The strongest AI adoption lessons focused on starting with real pain points, building team confidence, and avoiding automation for its own sake

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Product And Partnership Highlights

Forrester launched its AI Agent for Copilot, available through the Microsoft Marketplace and positioned as part of its “Where You Work” strategy
Forrester AI Access was described as a certified agent in the Microsoft 365 Copilot environment, extending Forrester insight into client workflows
Actively AI announced a $45M Series B and launched Intelligence-Led Revenue, centered on persistent AI agents for every account
Storylane showcased Demo Suite and RepX Conversations, combining interactive product demos with an AI sales agent for buyer engagement
Hyperbound demonstrated Hyperbound Perform and highlighted AI roleplay as a way to prepare spokespeople for analyst and media interactions
Optimizely’s Opal was highlighted for creating hyper-personalized landing pages at scale for ABM use cases
Claude Design and Claude Code were positioned as workflow accelerators for generating production-ready, brand-aligned components from screenshots
Mighty & True showcased automated Open Graph image generation through a serverless function, reducing manual design work across static and CMS-driven pages

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Customer And Case Highlights

Cloudflare’s use of Demandbase was presented as a strong example of AI moving from signals to seller action, with AI summaries, targeting support, and account plans improving commercial execution
Docusign’s use of Canva was highlighted as a GTM visual content transformation, supporting a global rebrand with significant speed and ROI benefits
Cvent and Capital Group showed event marketing impact through higher event scale, stronger engagement, and lower average cost
Adobe and ServiceNow reinforced a pragmatic content model: people create the story, AI automates content, and the brand impression remains consistent
SAS was referenced as a company adapting marketing strategy around AI visibility, reputation content, ungated assets, and credibility in AI search

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Awards And Recognition

Nasdaq was recognized with Forrester’s B2B Program of the Year for portfolio marketing and product work linked to AI-driven B2B marketing leadership
Verizon Business won Forrester’s Program of the Year for CXI by breaking silos across sales, service, and marketing
AppFolio won B2B Program of the Year by aligning Revenue Ops and Marketing Ops around shared metrics
The ASU Go-To-Market Challenge highlighted younger buyer expectations and the need to bridge traditional selling with newer engagement patterns

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Field Marketing And Community

The summit was not only a content platform, but also a field marketing environment for demos, partner events, hosted dinners, analyst meetings, and brand activations
Channel99, LinkedIn, and Audyence co-hosted a GTM event focused on modern marketing conversations
Bombora emphasized data strategy conversations and a Reddit partnership event
NetLine highlighted its Planetarium Party with Informa TechTarget as a strong brand experience alongside demos and meetings
Salesforce appeared as a welcome reception sponsor, while Visa used the summit for analyst engagement, team learning, and internal recap content

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