🌊 How AI agents turn buyer research into GTM execution | Clint Burgess (Founder at CharacterQuilt, ex-Bloomreach)

We’re trying something new on Startup Riders: short, tactical interviews with founders and investors building and investing in the next wave startups.

This week, I sat down with Clint Burgess, co-founder of CharacterQuilt and former PMM leader at Bloomreach (where we met!).

After running 500+ buyer interviews a year and watching insights die in decks, Clint built a GTM engine powered by AI agents trained on raw voice-of-customer data.

This isn’t a “copy faster” tool. It’s a full-stack marketing engine for founders — research, ICP match, messaging, campaign generation — all in minutes.

What you’ll learn

* Why most GTM research never makes it to the final campaign

* The difference between a copy bot and an infused buyer agent

* How a single marketer can now run full campaigns end-to-end

* Where “10x marketers” are already using this to win deals, prep fundraises, and revive warm leads

6 key takeaways

* Campaigns die in committee: Even with great research, insights often get diluted before anything ships.

* Founders should act as PMMs first: Talk to customers. Understand the buyer. Translate that into your narrative and GTM strategy.

* AI ≠ copy monkey: CharacterQuilt trains agents on real interviews, so campaigns are based on actual pain — not GPT guessing.

* From docs to campaign in 30 minutes: Upload positioning materials. CQ scores ICP fit, predicts pain points, and suggests campaign angles + leads.

* One person can run full GTM loops: Research, creative, segmentation, execution — without a 20-person team.

* Used beyond marketing: Clint uses CQ for fundraising, event prep, and reviving 500+ warm leads stuck in Gong/Notion.

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