History has always been shaped by revolutions — technological, industrial, and digital. Each one unsettles existing industries, displaces whole professions, and then, almost paradoxically, creates bigger, more dynamic opportunities than ever before.
Think back to Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace in the 19th century, laying the foundations of modern computing with their vision of the Analytical Engine. Or Alan Turing, whose code-breaking during World War II not only shifted the outcome of the war but gave us the conceptual DNA of today’s AI. Fast forward to the 1980s: typesetters — once skilled craftsmen with decades of training — were suddenly swept aside by the rise of Apple’s Macintosh and Adobe’s software. What was once a highly specialised, professional skill set became something anyone with a desktop computer could master.
That’s the pattern. Each revolution destroys, destabilises, and democratises — and then creates new industries, often larger than what came before. The Industrial Revolution put weavers out of business but gave rise to global manufacturing. Digital photography killed the darkroom but created a whole new culture of visual content.
We’re now at the centre of another revolution, this time driven by artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs). And if INBOUND 25 in San Francisco showed us anything, it’s that this wave is not theoretical. It’s here, it’s real, and it’s already reshaping the world of marketing.
I’ve been to many INBOUND conferences before, but this one felt sharper, more urgent, and more “edgy.” That’s partly because the technology is so tangible now. Even outside the conference, San Francisco felt like a testing ground for the future. I hailed self-driving taxis from Waymo and Zoox — the latter is where my son works as a software engineer. Sitting in the back seat of a car with no driver, watching the wheel turn itself, I couldn’t help but think: this is exactly the metaphor for what’s happening in marketing. We’re passengers in a vehicle that’s moving fast, reshaping how we think about trust, work, and creativity.
Here are my five big takeaways from INBOUND 25
One of the most striking messages came from Arvind Srinivas, founder of Perplexity. He argued that the future of work won’t be about who has the best answers — it’ll be about who asks the best questions.
That’s a profound reframe. For decades, value at work has been measured by the answers we produce: reports, campaigns, insights, strategies. But when LLMs can generate “good enough” answers instantly, the differentiator becomes the quality of the question.
The skill of tomorrow will be curiosity, framing, and critical thinking. In practice, it’s knowing not just what to ask, but how to ask it — adding context, perspective, and intent. I’ve seen this in my own use of ChatGPT: vague prompts get vague results; rich, specific prompts spark something genuinely useful.
So perhaps the future belongs less to the answer-givers and more to the question-framers — the people who know where to look, what to probe, and how to challenge. That’s not just a productivity skill; it’s a leadership one.
For 20 years, digital marketing has revolved around one mantra: SEO. Get your brand onto page one of Google. Climb higher in the rankings. Outwit the algorithm.
But Google’s iconic “ten blue links” are fading. Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity don’t send you to a list of results — they deliver a fluent, conversational answer on the spot.
That’s a seismic change. Instead of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), we’re entering the age of Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO). The question is no longer “How do I get my site to rank?” but “How do I make sure AI cites, trusts, and includes my brand in its answers?”
This raises thorny new questions:
- How do brands build authority when people no longer see their websites, but only the AI’s digest?
- How do you measure trust in a machine-generated world?
- What happens to discovery when the journey ends with one answer instead of ten options?
Marketers need to pivot their mindset now. Old SEO playbooks are running out of road.
One of the most interesting debates at INBOUND 25 was about whether websites themselves would disappear as a sales channel. For B2C, the shift feels more plausible: if an LLM recommends a pair of trainers or headphones, you might buy them instantly through a connected marketplace without ever clicking through a website.
But B2B is different. As Suzanne Kounkel, CMO of Deloitte, pointed out, high-value, complex B2B purchases will always demand due diligence. Clients will still want to dig deeper into a brand’s website, its case studies, and its technical specifications before committing to a six-figure deal or multi-year contract.
What this means is that B2B brands can’t afford to lag behind B2C in sophistication. Their websites must be more than digital brochures — they need to be integrated with CRMs, marketing automation, and deep content ecosystems. They must answer the complex questions that validate a purchase long after an LLM has made the initial introduction.
INBOUND reminded me of an uncomfortable truth: every technological revolution destroys jobs. The Industrial Revolution displaced artisans. The printing revolution displaced scribes. Digital design ended typesetting.
And yet, every one of these revolutions created something larger. Photography didn’t die with the fall of Kodak; it exploded with Instagram and smartphones. Publishing didn’t collapse with desktop tools; it grew global.
AI will be no different. Yes, some marketing roles will vanish. Routine SEO work, simple content drafting, repetitive analysis — these will be handled by machines. But new roles will appear: AI conductors, fact-checkers, brand editors, strategists who know how to push LLMs to deliver brand-right, human-resonant work.
History shows that disruption isn’t the end — it’s the start of something new. The winners will be those who adapt fastest.
4. The Human Brand with More of Everything
A recurring theme at INBOUND was how brands can avoid becoming homogenised in an AI-driven landscape. If everyone has access to the same content engines, how do you stand out?
The answer: by leaning into the things AI can’t do. Being human. Being physical. Being experiential.
But here’s the paradox: brands will also have to do more of everything — across more platforms, with greater frequency, and at higher quality.
That means posting across a wider number of social platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, and more — not just for human readers, but also for the LLMs scraping content for authority signals. It means producing webinars, podcasts, live events, videos, collaborating with influencers, building up citations, and maintaining credibility across channels. In short: the baseline has been raised.
I loved the throwback example of Sony’s Bravia campaign — releasing thousands of coloured balls down the hills of San Francisco to dramatise the superiority of their TV colour. It was visceral, real, unforgettable. And it wasn’t just an ad: it generated one of the earliest waves of user-generated content, as bystanders filmed the spectacle and shared it themselves.
As digital output becomes increasingly commoditised, brands will need to double down on experiences that can’t be faked: live events, authentic storytelling, bold creative risks. The future of marketing may, ironically, look more “offline” — grounded in moments that are lived, not streamed.
Finally, a sobering but clear takeaway: the traditional agency model is creaking. Clients want more for less — more services, faster delivery, deeper partnerships, at lower cost.
Agencies that cling to the old structures — layers of overhead, inflated fees, slow timelines — will be left behind. The winners will embrace AI, not to replace creativity, but to amplify it. They’ll use tools to strip out waste, speed up production, and get closer to clients.
Just as Apple and Adobe reshaped publishing, AI will reshape marketing services. Agencies can either lean into that shift or watch their relevance slip away.
Final Thought
INBOUND 25 felt like more than just another conference. It felt like a marker in time. The energy was sharper, the debates more urgent, the tech more visible. Riding through San Francisco in a driverless taxi only underscored the point: the future isn’t coming. It’s here, humming quietly under the surface, steering the wheel even when you’re not touching it.
AI and LLMs are this generation’s revolution. They will destabilise, democratise, and then create. For marketers, the challenge is not to resist but to adapt: to ask better questions, rethink discovery, humanise brands, and reinvent how agencies work.
History has always been kind to those who move with revolutions, not against them. INBOUND 25 was a reminder that the revolution is already rolling — and the smartest thing we can do is jump in, fasten the seatbelt, and help steer.