Big shifts, bigger learnings: INBOUND 2025's key takeaways

Earlier this month, two of our team Nathan Jessup (Head of Business Development) and Achan Bedi (Chief Growth Officer) headed to the USA for HubSpot’s annual  INBOUND Conference. This year it was hosted in San Francisco, and while the city itself delivered plenty of energy, the real highlight was hearing from world-class speakers and soaking up the latest thinking in marketing, sales, and AI.

Inbound is always a highlight on our calendar, but this year felt especially significant. With AI reshaping how businesses grow, Inbound 2025 was packed with insights and monumental shifts that we’re excited to bring back to our clients here in New Zealand.

What we learnt

1. American coffee doesn’t come close to Kiwi coffee.
2. That tech is literally everywhere in San Francisco – think self-driving cars all over the place, software ads at every turn, and some incredible office spaces too!
3. American companies are far more mature and advanced in their adoption of technology, especially AI, and there’s a lot we can learn from this.

More importantly, were the conference takeaways.  The sheer scale of Inbound can be overwhelming with hundreds of sessions, keynotes, and product announcements, but as a team we came away energised and aligned on the big opportunities ahead. Three key themes stood out for us:

1. AI is moving from curiosity to action. Businesses aren’t just asking what AI is anymore, they’re asking how to use it.
2. Agents and Assistants are redefining automation. The tools are becoming more flexible, programmable, and practical.
3. Data is king (again). With the rebrand of Ops Hub to Data Hub, HubSpot is doubling down on making external data easier to connect, clean, and use within HubSpot.

As Yamini Rangan (HubSpot’s CEO) explained, marketing is moving from being answer-based to action-based. Traditional inbound has focused on providing answers — helping prospects find the right information at the right time. Now, with AI and the Loop, the emphasis is on action: guiding buyers to take the next step seamlessly. That means fewer barriers, higher conversion rates, and more confident adoption of marketing technology.

So, what does this all mean here in little ol’ NZ?

Here are a few of the insights we think will make the biggest impact for local businesses:

• • Express: defining and articulating your brand’s unique voice,
  • Tailor: adapting messages and content for specific audiences,
  • Amplify: distributing content across the right mix of human-led and AI-powered channels,
  • Evolve: continuously refining based on performance insights and data.

• AEO (AI Engine Optimisation) is an opportunity. Search is changing, with AI-powered conversational platforms driving results far beyond traditional SEO. 
  
  For Concentrate clients, embracing AEO means adapting to the evolving digital landscape where AI plays a pivotal role in information discovery. By optimising content for AI engines, businesses can ensure their brand is prominently featured in AI responses, leading to greater exposure and engagement. This approach complements traditional SEO efforts and is essential for maintaining a competitive edge in an AI-driven market.
  
  
• Agents are the new “doers”. HubSpot highlighted the difference between AI Assistants, which help with day-to-day tasks, and AI Agents, which are programmable tools that can take action on your behalf. The new Agents can handle tasks like prospecting, cleaning up data, or drafting outreach emails. There is also a new HubSpot marketplace where businesses can share and adopt Agent builds.
  
  For Concentrate clients, this means there are opportunities to automate repetitive sales and marketing processes. By using Agents, our clients can save time, reduce errors, and allow their teams to focus on strategic priorities and building stronger customer relationships.
  
  
• Data Hub is a game-changer. With most businesses struggling with incomplete data, the new Data Hub makes it easier to bring together structured, unstructured, and external data; improves data quality (deduplication, consistency, cleaning etc).
  
  For Concentrate clients, this means having a single source of truth for all customer interactions. With cleaner, integrated data, clients can make smarter decisions, create more personalised campaigns, and improve efficiency across teams without wasting time reconciling incomplete or inconsistent information.
  
  
• Selling in the “anti-social buyer” era. HubSpot emphasised that many B2B buyers prefer to research and trial solutions on their own rather than interact with sales teams early in the process. Their guidance is to let prospects engage directly with content, tools, or product experiences rather than relying on forms or gated content.
  
  For Concentrate clients, this translates into creating more open and interactive buyer journeys. By reducing friction and enabling prospects to experience value early, clients can build trust faster and increase the likelihood of a positive engagement with their brand.

And, of course, it wasn’t all work, Nathan and Achan also loved exploring San Francisco, catching up with other HubSpot partners, and being part of the global HubSpot community that makes INBOUND such a unique experience.

Recapping post Inbound, we’re more convinced than ever that AI, data, and smarter automation are the levers businesses need to pull to keep growing. As a team, we’re excited to translate these learnings into practical strategies for our clients helping Kiwi companies get ahead in an AI-first world.