How to market your AI solution when buyers may not be ready to adopt
by Gayle Kalvert
“Those who don’t adopt AI will be replaced by those who do.”
It’s a bold claim, but for Heidi Malden, Head of Americas Marketing at Pigment, it’s the baseline for survival in modern B2B tech. But here’s the rub: while we’re all rushing to automate, the market is getting noisier, buyers are getting more hesitant, and the old playbooks for pipeline generation are crumbling.
In this episode of Marketing in Progress, Gayle Kalvert sits down with Heidi to reveal the reality of marketing a company whose offering is AI to a world of buyers who are not all ready to adopt. They dive deep into the shift from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to AEO (Answer Engine Optimization and GEO (optimizing your content so it shows up inside AI-generated answers),, and why marketing as a growth engine now requires you to be a technologist first.
1. The maturity curve: Navigating AI hesitancy
Marketing an AI-driven platform like Pigment presents a unique paradox: how do you sell the future to a buyer who is still worried about “hallucinations?”
Heidi explains that a successful B2B demand generation strategy isn't one-size-fits-all. It’s about meeting the buyer where they are on the AI adoption maturity curve:
The west coast play: It’s an AI arms race. Every billboard on the 101 is shouting about AI. Here, you lead with your AI roots.
The "wait and see" regions: In the East and Central US, or within highly regulated sectors (Fed/Finance), leading with "AI" can actually create friction.
The pivot: Don’t hide your AI, but don’t make it the lead singer. Focus on the business outcome—revenue growth strategy B2B—by highlighting speed, accuracy, and performance. AI becomes the silent engine, not the distracting hood ornament.
2. From SEO to GEO: The new search reality
If your integrated marketing strategy B2B is still 100% focused on Google keywords, you’re missing the shift. Heidi points out that buyers are increasingly bypassing search engines and going straight to AI chat interfaces.
We are moving from Search Engine Optimization to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
The data: Prospects coming from chat interfaces stay longer and bounce less. They are coming for authentic, direct answers.
The strategy: Your full-funnel marketing strategy must now prioritize how your brand shows up in LLM responses. If ChatGPT doesn't know you’re a leader in your category, you don’t exist to the modern technical buyer.
3. Training the machine: AI as a teammate, not a tool
We spend months onboarding BDRs but expect AI to deliver 10/10 results on day one. Heidi argues that marketing leadership strategy now requires us to treat AI like a new hire.
Case study: Pigment’s growth team built an internal app that pulls 10K reports and press data directly into Salesforce. What used to cost $5,000 and two weeks per account now takes minutes and costs nothing.
The result: This isn't just about saving money; it’s about pipeline acceleration. AEs can now have "CFO-level" conversations instantly because the data layer is already built.
4. The human element: Building for the unsellable
Despite the rise of the revenue engine marketing model, Heidi and Gayle agree on one timeless truth: People buy from people they trust.
In a world where an AI SDR can craft a perfectly personalized "one-to-one" email in seconds, the bar for human connection has actually moved higher. To improve marketing ROI, you must use the time AI saves you to double down on strategic marketing partnerships and real-world relationships. AI handles the "drudge work" so you can handle the strategy.
Marketers are technologists
Heidi’s advice for the first 90 days in your marketing job? Get obsessed with the digital side. Whether it's CTV, content syndication, or GEO, you cannot build a scalable marketing program if you don't understand the plumbing.
The bottom line: The era of "nice-to-have" AI is dead. We are in the "need-to-have" era of revenue-focused GTM. Stop building wrappers and start building the data layer that gives you the right to be in the conversation.
Ready to ditch the noise? Join the conversation in the Marketing in Progress community and learn how your peers are navigating the shift to modern B2B marketing strategy.
