What INBOUND 2025 Taught Us About AI, Search & the New B2B Buyer

HubSpot’s flagship annual event, INBOUND 2025, was a wake-up call for B2B marketers. 

Each year, Weidert Group team members head to the conference with one goal: bring back insights that empower our clients in complex industries to grow better. While the 2025 location was an exception to the norm (San Francisco vs. Boston), the energy and urgency to evolve were just as present as ever. Actually, even more so.

In our latest episode of The ChangeOver Podcast, our team — joined by some special guests (see the bonus content!) — breaks down the biggest takeaways and what it all means for your 2026 marketing and sales strategy. From AI-powered personalization to the new Loop Marketing model HubSpot debuted, there’s a lot to take in.

Watch or listen below to hear our unfiltered reactions, favorite sessions, and next steps for B2B marketers. Or, read our summary to follow.

Watch episode 29 of The ChangeOver, then subscribe on Apple, YouTube, Spotify, Weidert.com, or your favorite podcast app.

HubSpot AI Leadership Leap: A Product Update Tsunami

"There’s been a bunch of mad scientists working in their labs." — Greg Linnemanstons

This year, HubSpot delivered more than 200 product updates, a volume that might normally feel overwhelming. But this year, the updates felt intuitive, strategic, and actionable.

Standout Enhancements:

• Integrated AI agents (Prospecting, Customer Concierge, Data Agent)
• Hyper-personalization tools powered by unstructured CRM data
• Breeze Studio for custom AI assistant and agent creation, where you can build or borrow from the marketplace
• Useful improvements across marketing, sales, service, data, and commerce hubs

This wasn’t just an upgrade; it was a reinvention.

AI Is Changing Buyer Behavior (and Everything Else)

Buyers are relying on AI to learn before they ever visit your website. That means search behavior, content strategy, and even lead qualification are fundamentally shifting. Where we once optimized for blue links on Google, we must now optimize for generative engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

"You have to adapt your content to be discoverable by generative search engines.” – Chelsea Drusch

Real-World Impact:

• Website traffic is dropping, but lead quality is improving
• Leads are arriving highly informed
• Buyers are prompting AI tools with context and converting faster

B2B marketers must adapt or risk losing visibility entirely.

Inbound Marketing Evolves: Enter the Loop Framework

"Attract, engage, delight is out. Express, tailor, amplify, evolve is in." — Nicole Mertes

HubSpot introduced a new operating model for marketers: Loop Marketing. Structured as an infinity loop, this model better reflects today’s real-time marketing dynamics.

The Four Phases of Loop Marketing:

1. Express: Define your brand voice and identity.
2. Tailor: Use structured and unstructured data to personalize experiences.
3. Amplify: Share content across fragmented channels.
4. Evolve: Optimize in real time, not quarterly.

HubSpot’s tools now support each step with built-in AI and automation capabilities, making it possible to move faster without compromising quality.

The Age of the AI + Human Hybrid Team

If it wasn’t already apparent, INBOUND 2025 made it crystal clear: the future of marketing isn’t AI or humans. It’s humans plus AI. Or, as HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah put it in his keynote talk: 

"You to the power of AI." — Dharmesh Shah

For overwhelmed marketing teams, the message was both reassuring and empowering: You don’t have to master every new tool individually. HubSpot is centralizing the AI stack, letting marketers stay focused on strategy, creativity, and performance.

Key Benefits of the Hybrid Model:

• AI handles scaling and speed
• Humans lead strategy and creativity
• Together, they enable always-on iteration

When I talked with Candice Meyers, Marketing Manager at managed IT provider and Weidert Group client, Elevity about her biggest takeaways from INBOUND, she explained how her mindset puts this into practice:

“I treat AI like my work bestie. It won’t always get it right, but the better you prompt, the better the outcome.” — Candice Meyers, Elevity

Hear more from Candice in this bonus content from The ChangeOver podcast → Stop Chasing Clicks. Start Building Trust. INBOUND25 Insights with Candice Meyer

Tactical Takeaways for 2026 Planning

Whether you lead a marketing team, work in sales, or support operations, here are three immediate actions to take to take:

1. Run a Search Visibility Audit

AI-driven discovery platforms prioritize different formats and sources than traditional search engines. A Search Visibility Audit helps you:

• Benchmark your visibility today — audit performance across traditional search, generative AI tools, social platforms, and industry directories.
• Uncover audience behavior signals — analyze clickstream and voice-of-customer data to see how real buyers search and decide.
• Spot gaps and missed opportunities — identify competitor advantages, off-site mentions, and high-intent queries where you’re absent.
• Prioritize actions for ROI — size opportunities and recommend the updates, optimizations, and new content most likely to drive visibility gains

2. Build Your Hybrid Marketing Team

Empower your team to:

• Use Breeze Studio inside HubSpot to build custom assistants and agents
• Query unstructured CRM data for insights you can use to hyper-personalize every interaction with prospects and customers, at scale
• Embrace experimentation with new tools

Becca Hubert, Content Strategist at another Weidert Group client, Falcon Structures, has found a symbiotic relationship with AI after attending INBOUND:

“AI is not the enemy. It’s just a teammate who needs really clear instructions.” — Becca Hubert

3. Learn & Apply the Loop Framework

This is your new marketing playbook. Learn how to:

• Express your unique brand identity and use AI to quickly create content
• Tailor every touchpoint with contextual personalization
• Amplify across the channels your buyers actually use
• Evolve your campaigns in real time, not quarterly

"If you're not evolving in real time, you're already behind." — Nicole Mertes

Final Thought: Don't Wait to Start

INBOUND 2025 wasn't just informative. It was a call to action. There’s no better time than right now to start learning. 

Build your hybrid team. Embrace Loop Marketing. Optimize for AI answer engines. Take the steps to position yourself for this new reality. If you don’t, you risk being left behind.

Listen to the full INBOUND 2025 recap series on The ChangeOver Podcast for more tactical insights from the Weidert team and our clients, who are in the trenches using HubSpot tools for their B2B marketing campaigns every day.