STARTUPS PULSE -B2B Marketing Future Predictions

Alexandr Wang Joins Meta as Scale AI CEO Role Passes to Jason Droege Olyzon Secures $5 Million Seed Funding to Revolutionize CTV Advertising with AI Solutions B2B Marketing Future Predictions #SpotifyStartup, #StartupsPulse, #B2BMarketing, #AI, #CTVAdvertising, #SeedFunding, #FuturePredictions

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Innovation Pulse, your quick no-nonsense update,

(00:07):
covering the latest in startups and entrepreneurship news.
Meta has invested $14.3 billion in Doher's Scale AI.
Alizon raised $5 million for AI-driven connected TV solutions,
and AI is transforming B2B marketing landscapes.
After this, we'll dive deep into the rise of AI-driven content formats

(00:29):
and marketing strategies.
Scale AI and AI startup is receiving a major investment from Meta,
which is acquiring a 49% stake in the company for $14,300 million.
Despite this significant stake, Meta will not have any voting power within Scale AI.

(00:51):
Alexander Wang, Scale AI's founder, is leaving the company to join Meta,
where he will work on Meta's superintelligence efforts.
Jason Drogue, formerly the Chief Strategy Officer at Scale AI,
will step in as the new CEO.
Scale AI specializes in producing data for AI models,
serving major tech companies including Google, Microsoft, and Open AI,

(01:16):
which are Meta's rivals.
Meta's investment aligns with its strategic goal to enhance its AI capabilities,
as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritizes AI to stay competitive against firms like Open AI and Alphabet.
Despite the investment, Meta will not have access to Scale AI's customer data

(01:37):
or business information, ensuring that the startup continues to operate independently
while maintaining its client relationships.
Alizon, a French AI startup, recently secured $5 million in additional
seed funding backed by Cassius Capital, Ventech, and Eurazio, along with notable ad tech investors.

(02:01):
Co-founded by Jules Minville, Alizon tackles two primary challenges in the connected TV,
CTV advertising sector.
Transparency and the declining effectiveness of traditional video ads.
The startup offers innovative ad formats, such as home screen and content squeeze back,

(02:21):
enhanced with interactive features.
Alizon leverages AI models powered by Open AI and Google's Gemini to analyze TV content
and develop contextually relevant audience segments.
Their internal chatbot, Shakur, can generate campaign briefs using minimal inputs.
Despite AI integration, human oversight remains crucial for creative development

(02:46):
and campaign management.
Alizon's clients, including L'Oreal and Red Bull, report impressive results like a 97%
view through rate and 32% ad recall.
The company is expanding its US presence, moving its CEO to New York, while maintaining
data teams in Paris.
Alizon's unique approach and technology make it a valuable player in the evolving CTV ad landscape.

(03:13):
And now, pivot our discussion towards the main entrepreneurship topic.
Today, we're going to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of B2B marketing and how
artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how businesses compete, market their

(03:34):
products, and build audiences.
We'll dive deep into the emerging divide between traditional legacy companies and AI
native startups, examine how content creation and audience building are becoming the new
battlegrounds, and discuss what marketers need to focus on to stay relevant in this
transformative period.

(03:54):
We'll also look at the rise of AI-powered marketing operations, the golden age of B2B
video content, and the broader economic implications of this technological revolution.
Thanks for that comprehensive introduction, Donna.
This is such a critical time for anyone working in B2B marketing,
and I'm excited to break down these trends with you.

(04:15):
The pace of change we're seeing is unlike anything I've witnessed in my nine years as a
marketer.
Why don't you kick us off with your first question?
Let's start with what seems to be a fundamental shift happening right now.
You've observed a clear division emerging between two types of businesses.
Can you explain this split and why it matters?

(04:35):
Absolutely, we're seeing this massive divide between legacy businesses and AI native businesses.
Legacy businesses are traditional companies built in a pre-AI world,
still catching up to basic digital marketing with projects like,
We Need to Open an Instagram Account.
They're essentially adapting to the digital age of marketing.

(04:57):
AI native businesses are built from the ground up on social media platforms,
serving specific audiences with targeted problems.
They ship incredibly fast, have direct feedback loops with users,
and AI is integral to their operations.
The speed difference is staggering.
We're talking about businesses that move 100 times faster because they were designed for this

(05:21):
AI world from day one.
What do you think this means for the competitive landscape going forward?
This could mirror the disruption we saw with Uber and the taxi industry.
The key question is, will legacy businesses catch up by acquiring AI companies?
Or will AI native businesses completely overtake them?

(05:42):
There's a clear before and after moment with AI,
and businesses built in the pre-AI world are now starting from behind.
They're competing against founders who build features based on community polls and implement
them rapidly.
I'm curious to see who ends up buying whom in the next five years,

(06:03):
because that will tell us which approach ultimately wins.
Speaking of building things quickly,
you've mentioned that creating products has become almost trivially easy.
How is this affecting the marketing landscape?
The new flex in entrepreneurship is,
I made this app in 24 hours.
Building the actual product is no longer the bottleneck.

(06:25):
A friend raised millions to build an HR marketplace in 2014.
Now that could be built in one week using vibe coding tools.
But if it's easy for you, it's easy for everyone else too.
The real challenge has shifted to building an audience of engaged people,
creating a community of early adopters, and finding those first 1,000 users.

(06:50):
As building products becomes increasingly easy with AI,
audience building becomes exponentially more competitive.
That's where the real battle is happening now.
That audience building challenge sounds like it's creating opportunities.
What are you seeing in terms of how businesses are solving this?
B2B creators are really starting to shine here.

(07:10):
Since audience building is becoming so competitive,
B2B businesses are grabbing customer attention through creators who already have
established audiences.
I'm seeing three main paths.
Creators launching their own businesses based on audience needs,
getting substantial equity in individual startups,

(07:30):
or taking smaller equity shares in multiple startups.
This is already happening.
I receive around five sponsorship requests from AI startups every week.
Building an audience in a specific B2B niche is becoming incredibly valuable,
and I expect we'll see creators joining startup boards
and bringing that audience first mindset to strategic decisions.

(07:54):
Are you seeing any patterns emerge in what actually works for B2B marketing today?
Yes, and it's elegantly simple.
The new formula is high quality content at scale plus intent gathering,
plus warm outbound.
Talk about what you do, see who's interested, then go talk to them directly.

(08:14):
It's like speaking on stage to 10 people.
You present your expertise, identify interested audience members,
then approach them afterward.
The challenge is scaling this when your market is five million potential users scattered online.
You need to master grabbing attention in a noisy world,
knowing who's interested in your product, and executing warm outbound effectively.

(08:39):
Companies that crack this formula will be the big winners.
How is AI affecting the marketing profession itself?
We're moving toward vibe marketing, talking to AI in your own language to build campaigns,
write copy, and design visuals.
This will take multiple forms.
AI agents you hire, SaaS platforms producing marketing assets,

(09:03):
and agencies managing your AI agents.
This shifts us from T-shaped marketers to full stack AI marketers.
T-shaped marketers know various skills but specialize in one area.
Full stack AI marketers externalize practical skills to AI,
focusing more on strategy and managing tools.
Companies will hire full stack AI marketers who can effectively do the job of five people.

(09:28):
You've mentioned marketing operations specifically.
How does AI automation help there?
Marketing ops automation makes businesses win twice.
First, they automate boring tasks and increase output.
Second, they free up time for human to human tasks and strategy.
Businesses running AI marketing ops handle mundane work efficiently

(09:51):
while creating space for high value activities like attending conferences,
organizing prospect meetings, or hosting client podcasts.
It's about leveraging AI to become more human, not less.
What shifts are you seeing in content formats?
B2B video marketing is entering its golden age.

(10:12):
The SEO world faces challenges because people click links less,
reading AI summaries instead, or going directly to chat GPT for information.
People are moving from blogs to social networks, communities, and video platforms.
We'll see more video podcasts, short videos, and 10-minute expert YouTube videos.

(10:35):
The strategy is using 10-minute videos for expertise and shorts for discoverability,
with investment shifting from blogs to video production.
For marketers trying to navigate these changes, what should they focus on learning?
Many people have AI anxiety about the growing AI influence in their jobs.
They think they need to learn AI automation and creation tools,

(10:58):
but keeping up feels like a full-time job.
Here's my contrarian take. Much of this technical learning will become obsolete within
6-24 months. We'll soon talk to AI agents to run complex operations.
Instead, I'm betting on skills that remain uniquely human.

(11:18):
Marketing strategy, management, psychology, creativity, video production, and sales.
Learning automation might not be the safest bet, since you'll likely vibe code those solutions soon.
You mentioned talking to AI agents. What might that look like?
I'm confident we'll soon hire an AI agent that centralizes and manages our entire tool stack.

(11:42):
Instead of logging into 5 platforms to set up a campaign,
you'd tell your AI agent, launch a campaign targeting SaaS founders about our new integration,
and it would handle execution across all your tools.
This represents the ultimate evolution of marketing operations automation.
Looking at the bigger picture, how will this AI transformation affect the broader business

(12:04):
landscape? The disruption started when OpenAI released chat GPT in late 2022,
fundamentally changing our world. What's happened in 3 years is insane.
We're seeing jobs replaced while new ones are created,
entire businesses becoming obsolete, huge competition from new AI tools,
and the destruction of traditional entrepreneurship barriers.

(12:28):
I believe this will create a quaternary sector, beyond primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
This new sector will focus on human creativity, strategy, and AI management,
requiring people who can amplify human capabilities rather than replace them.
As we wrap up, what's your biggest advice for staying ahead of these changes?

(12:50):
Focus on skills that make you more human, not more machine-like.
Build genuine relationships, create compelling content, and guide AI tools effectively rather
than competing with AI on technical execution. Start building an audience now, even if small.
Having people who trust your insights will be incredibly valuable as competition increases.

(13:15):
Don't learn every new AI tool. Focus on strategic implications and uniquely human skills that
remain valuable, regardless of technology, evolution. Winners will combine human creativity with AI
capabilities, not become human AI systems. We've explored Meta's substantial investment in scale

(13:40):
AI and the dynamic shifts AI is bringing to B2B marketing, highlighting the need for creativity
and strategic focus. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with your friends and
colleagues so they can also stay updated on the latest news and gain powerful insights.

(14:00):
Stay tuned for more updates.