MarTech Podcast: Scott Brinker’s 2026 Martech Predictions Unpacked

Date: January 5, 2026
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Scott Brinker (Founder of ChiefMartec.com, “Godfather of Martech”)

Episode Overview

Benjamin Shapiro and Scott Brinker dive into the rapidly evolving Martech landscape with a focus on 2026 predictions. Their discussion analyzes the profound impact AI—and specifically agentic, generative AI—has had on marketing technology, shifting foundational practices like SEO, content marketing, and automation. They further explore practical outcomes, emerging market needs, and the future relationship between marketer and consumer as AI becomes a tool not just for marketers, but for buyers themselves.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 2025 Martech Landscape: Explosion, Not Consolidation

• Proliferation of Martech tools:
  In 2025, Martech vendors increased 9%, while an 8.6% churn rate saw over 1,200 disappear—a net expansion counter to predictions of industry consolidation ([01:15]).
• AI's Role:
  Instead of streamlining stacks, AI catalyzed more tools and "messier" stacks, with nearly every vendor now incorporating AI.

“AI didn’t shrink martech, it blew it apart. Now every vendor claims AI, stacks are getting messier and the problem isn’t too many tools, it’s that the rules for marketing and technology are changing underneath us.”
— Benjamin Shapiro [01:15]

2. AI Adoption: From Experimentation to Operationalization

• Experimentation Phase:
  Most marketers started experimenting with AI agents in 2025, but only in limited, tightly-scoped production scenarios ([02:52]).
• Successful Use Cases:
  • Content Production: AI speeds up brainstorming, content atomization for channels, and engagement analysis. Humans still lead each step, but the process is much faster ([04:34]).
  • Chatbots:
    Notably improved due to LLMs and smarter data integrations, with some companies seeing 60–70% resolution rates for customer queries ([04:34]).

“We are seeing a fair number of content production use cases where the human still has to be the one driving each step of that. But the timeframe in which they can get those things accomplished has shrunk considerably."<br>— Scott Brinker [04:34]

3. The Human Experience vs. AI Efficiency

• Customer Frustration:
  While AI chatbots resolve queries efficiently, the experience may be impersonal or frustrating. The challenge for 2026 is improving bot quality without eroding the brand-consumer relationship ([06:51]).

“It might be more profitable. I’m not sure how good it is for the long term relationship.”
— Benjamin Shapiro [06:51]

4. Data Quality & Analysis: The Back Office Opportunity

• AI for Data Analysis:
  Despite LLM capabilities, organizations struggle to leverage AI for analytics due to poor data hygiene and insufficient data connectivity—a perennial Martech challenge ([08:28]).

5. Deterministic vs. Generative AI: New Workflows

• Transition in Automation:
  Marketers are moving from deterministic (if-this-then-that) automations to hybrid workflows, blending structure with LLM-driven, non-deterministic steps—enabling adaptability for formerly rigid processes ([09:34]).

“These LLMs are better at adapting. You can throw things at them… and the LLM can adapt to it... We're starting to combine the two.”
— Scott Brinker [09:34]

6. SEO Is Dead—Long Live AEO?

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization):
  • AI-powered search is ascendant, but SEO is not obsolete.
  • Foundational SEO practices (creating credible content, being referenced by others) remain critical; AEO builds atop them, optimizing for AI systems querying real-time data ([12:29]).
  • New optimization tactics: Rather than backlinks, LLMs prioritize references and mentions in natural language, structured data (e.g., FAQs), and even direct content formatting for AI browsers ([14:45]).

“SEO is not dead. …These AI answer engines… your ability to actually, like, show up in these AI answers…part of your AEO strategy actually needs to be like, oh, yeah, a lot of stuff we did for SEO that’s still relevant.”
— Scott Brinker [12:29]

7. Content Marketing Remains Relevant—But Measurement Shifts

• Content’s Role:
  • Still crucial for both humans and AIs.
  • The visibility into top-of-funnel performance has diminished, as AI intermediates more of the user journey, obscuring how/when content impacts final conversions ([17:57]).
• Measurement Challenge:
  • Marketers must reset expectations and find new metrics for a world where interactions aren’t always trackable ([17:57]).

8. The Rise of Context Engineering

• Context Over Prompts:
  • 2026 trends move from prompt engineering to context engineering—bundling instructions, relevant data, and tool access for AI agents ([20:04]).
  • Successful context engineering avoids information overload and finds a “Goldilocks” balance: not too little or too much input for the AI ([24:12]).

“It’s not just give the LLM everything. You actually have to find a balance. …We have a little bit of the Goldilocks problem.”
— Benjamin Shapiro [24:12]

9. Martech Product Landscape: Opportunities and Threats

• AI Customization & "Personal Software":
  DIY, highly personalized tooling is easier than ever—businesses now compete both with other vendors and with in-house, AI-augmented builds ([26:09]).
• Future Opportunity: Orchestration and Guardrails
  • As more employees build their own AI tools, orchestration software providing guardrails, governance, and integration becomes vital.
  • This is the emerging "gap" to be filled in Martech ([29:16]-[32:20]).
• Categories at Risk:
  • Tools for generic writing or research (e.g., competitive intelligence, basic content creation) are being subsumed by foundational LLMs ([32:31]).

10. Acceleration, Table Stakes, and the "Private Jet" Treadmill

• Time to Advantage:
  Tech that creates a competitive edge is now rapidly commoditized; today’s innovations are tomorrow’s baseline ([35:00]).

11. 2026 Prediction: AI for Buyers, Not Just Marketers

• Customer-Led Journey:
  The next AI revolution empowers buyers—using AI agents to conduct research, analyze pricing, and negotiate with vendors, altering the balance of power ([37:05]).
• Dissolving Playbooks:
  Traditional, marketer-controlled sales funnels may break apart as buyers direct their own journeys, forcing marketers to adapt with new playbooks.

“The AI revolution of 2026 is not going to be AI for marketers. It’s going to be AI for customers, for buyers.”
— Scott Brinker [37:05]

• Practical Example:
  AI agents can now analyze pricing pages, compile real-world discounting trends, and make cross-company price comparisons—effectively demystifying previously opaque sales processes ([39:35]-[41:22]).

12. Implications for Marketers & Businesses

• Brand, Product, Service Quality Matter:
  As information and AI level the playing field, true differentiation will be based on fundamentals ([42:21]).
• Volatility & Predictability:
  Marketers may lose some predictability/control but can still create demand in new ways; adaptability is key ([43:16]-[45:47]).

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “AI didn’t shrink martech, it blew it apart.”
  — Benjamin Shapiro [01:15]

• “We are seeing a fair number of content production use cases where the human still has to be the one driving each step of that. But the timeframe in which they can get those things accomplished has shrunk considerably.”
  — Scott Brinker [04:34]

• “SEO is not dead. … AEO is very much an augmentation, like a layer above and beyond core SEO.”
  — Scott Brinker [12:29]

• “It’s not just give the LLM everything. You actually have to find a balance.”
  — Benjamin Shapiro [24:12]

• “Where it used to be, these off the shelf, you know, platforms and then you had point solutions and now we have personalization.”
  — Benjamin Shapiro [28:17]

• “There is actually a big gap in the market right now and it’s around this concept of orchestration… We need software that is going to serve as the guardrails, as the orchestration engines.”
  — Scott Brinker [29:16]

• “The AI revolution of 2026 is not going to be AI for marketers. It’s going to be AI for customers, for buyers.”
  — Scott Brinker [37:05]

• “The information asymmetry starts to shift and it is actually that the buyers have more information than the sellers do. And that’s going to be pretty wild.”
  — Scott Brinker [41:22]

• “The things that don’t change when technology does is the importance of having a great product, the importance of having a great brand and being customer friendly.”
  — Benjamin Shapiro [45:47]

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Martech Explosion & AI’s Expansion: [01:15]–[02:56]
• AI Experimentation to Production: [02:52]–[04:34]
• AI Chatbots & Customer Experience: [04:34]–[07:54]
• AI for Data Analysis, Data Problems: [08:28]–[09:34]
• Hybrid Automation Workflows: [09:34]–[11:37]
• SEO vs. AEO Discussion: [12:29]–[17:33]
• Content Marketing & Changing Measurement: [17:57]–[19:25]
• Prompt vs. Context Engineering: [20:04]–[25:29]
• Market Opportunity: Orchestration Tools: [26:09]–[32:20]
• AI-Driven Commoditization of Martech: [32:31]–[35:00]
• 2026: AI Empowering Customers: [37:05]–[42:10]
• Future: Brand, Product & Adaptability as Differentiators: [42:21]–[46:09]

Closing Thoughts

The Martech landscape is in a period of rapid, AI-fueled transformation:

• Marketers must adapt to hybrid, context-rich, and buyer-controlled environments.
• Foundational skills and values—building great products, credibility, and brand—remain central.
• Innovation cycles are accelerating: Today's "competitive edge" quickly becomes the new standard.
• The future offers enormous opportunity for companies that empower users, orchestrate complexity, and remain relentlessly customer-centric.

For marketers, 2026 is about navigating change—not by clinging to the old playbooks, but by building new ones that put customers and agility first.