110: Scott Brinker - Brand, AI, and the Uncomfortable Future of Marketing

Jun 10, 2025

Scott Brinker, HubSpot's VP of Platform Ecosystems and "Godfather of MarTech," unpacks the chaos of marketing tools, why AI won’t replace human strategy, and how vertical solutions beat bloated platforms. He reveals why marketers must balance brand-building with data myopia and why usage-based pricing is the future.

Timestamps & Segments

00:03:36 – 00:07:00 | MarTech’s Explosion (And Why It’s Harder Than Ever)
Scott explains why marketing has never been more complex despite tech advancements, citing fragmented channels and operational overload.
00:10:16 – 00:13:00 | Attribution’s Illusion & Brand Marketing’s Comeback
Why “data-informed” beats “data-driven,” and why brand-building trumps funnel obsession.
00:18:43 – 00:22:00 | Platform Wars: HubSpot vs. Salesforce vs. AI
Debating centralized platforms vs. micro-tool constellations—and why vertical solutions will dominate.
00:34:21 – 00:38:00 | Pricing Shakeup: From Seats to Outcomes
Scott predicts the death of seat-based SaaS pricing and the rise of usage/outcome models.

Hot Takes
🔥 “AI is a sparring partner, not a CEO—if you let it make decisions, you’ve already lost.”
🔥 “Vertical market tools will eat horizontal platforms alive. Specialized domain expertise is the only moat left.”