MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth Unique Challenges in Building a Martech Company in 2026
Jan 9, 2026
Scott Brinker, a marketing technology expert and VP at HubSpot, dives into the shifting landscape of MarTech in 2026. He reveals a staggering 8.6% annual churn rate among vendors, spurred by the rise of AI. Scott discusses the evolution from prompt engineering to context engineering and the emergence of AI-empowered customers who are reshaping their buying journeys. He also explores how AI democratizes software creation, highlights the need for orchestration software, and identifies high-risk MarTech categories as LLMs disrupt traditional tools.
AI Snips
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Transcript
Episode notes
AI Enables Custom, Personal Software
- AI tools make it dramatically easier for companies and amateurs to build custom software quickly.
- That shift shrinks the market for general commercial MarTech that can't beat tailored in-house solutions.
Vibe Coding A Podcast Production System
- Benjamin described building a podcast production system with vibe coding to automate end-to-end processes.
- He used that personal software to match his company's specific needs and considered productizing it for others.
Orchestration Is The Missing Layer
- The big unmet need is orchestration and guardrails for decentralized AI usage across companies.
- Without orchestration, empowering many employees to build automations becomes unstable and risky.