INBOUND Blog

If you’re building the next great AI company, it’s time to let the world know. Introducing The Next Big AIdea, HubSpot for Startups and HubSpot Media’s pitch competition for early-stage AI startups building solutions that help customers grow better. Whether you're creating AI tools that personalize customer experiences, enhancing human-AI collaboration, or solving friction points in how companies operate, this is your moment to spotlight how your solution is part of the next generation of business tools. And yes, there’s a prize. But this isn’t just about the money (though $50,000 in cash doesn’t hurt). It’s about visibility, community, and momentum. Finalists will pitch live on September 4, 2025, in San Francisco during INBOUND 2025, facing off in front of a panel of expert judges and a packed room of founders, investors, and future fans. The winner takes home the cash, but every finalist walks away with powerful exposure, premium tools, and a platform to scale their story.

No matter what industry or role you’re in, AI is changing how we work but not everyone’s starting from the same place. Whether you’re just dipping your toe into new tools or building full-scale automations across your business, knowing where you stand is the first step to making progress. In less than two minutes, find out how your current AI usage stacks up and see where INBOUND can take you.

AI is everywhere. But that doesn’t mean we all agree on what it’s doing or what it’s actually good at. From sales teams to support communities, inboxes to dashboards, there’s a lot of confusion around how to use AI well. So we asked some of the top minds speaking at INBOUND to debunk the biggest myths they’re seeing on the AI frontlines and explain what the real opportunity looks like.

For growth leaders, events aren’t about filling rooms anymore; they’re about fueling pipeline, deepening relationships, and creating moments that move the needle. But with AI changing how we plan, market, and measure, it’s time to ask a better question: What does a high-ROI event actually look like now? At our recent panel, four industry pros shared how they’re rethinking the event playbook by blending AI and emotional intelligence to drive better outcomes with less waste.

Venture capital veterans Joel Cutler (co-founder and managing director, General Catalyst) and Paul English (co-founder, KAYAK and Boston Venture Studio) took the INBOUND 2024 stage to break down what AI really means for startups and businesses today: companies that hesitate to adapt are setting themselves up to fail. With Harvard Business School professor Youngme Moon steering the conversation, they encouraged business leaders to rethink their approach before it's too late.

The way we work is changing. Fast. And if AI agents weren’t on your radar yet, at this past INBOUND, Dharmesh Shah made sure they are now. HubSpot’s CTO delivered a perspective-shifting vision of how AI agents are fundamentally reshaping how businesses run (and gave a peek into his recent work with agent.ai). What does this shift mean for you? Let’s dive in.

The rise of accessible design tools as transformed the way people everywhere bring their ideas to life and tell their brand stories. At INBOUND 2024, Canva's CPO, Cameron Adams, joined Debbie Millman to explore this creative evolution. Together they dove into the journey behind one of tech's most innovative companies and shared an exciting look into an AI-powered creative future.

When it comes to AI and marketing, Atlassian’s CMO Zeynep Inanoglu Ozdemir brings a perspective that's truly one-of-a-kind. As both a Ph.D. in speech processing and a marketing leader, Ozdemir know show to connect the dots between AI's technical capabilities and its practical marketing applications. At INBOUND 2024, she sat down with The Next Wave podcast hosts Matt Wolfe and Nathan Lands, to share how marketing teams who are struggling with AI can effectively integrate it into their workflows.

AI and video are having a moment. Individually, they're powerful. But together? They're reshaping the way we connect, market, and grow businesses. At INBOUND 2024, Joshua Xu, co-founder of HeyGen joined HubSpot’s Kipp Bodnar (CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing) to explore how AI is changing business communication. "We live in video... there were a billion hours of video being watched on YouTube everyday and the average person watched seventeen hours of video every week," Xu noted, setting the stage for a discussion that would reveal just how dramatically AI is transforming video creation.

INBOUND 2024 dove deep into the center of what’s shaping the future of marketing, sales, and AI. If you missed out on the sessions and insights (or are still sorting through your notes), we’ve got you covered. We crowdsourced top #INBOUND24 takeaways shared on LinkedIn. Here's what you need to know to stay ahead of the curve, straight from some of our attendees.

There’s no doubt that AI is changing the game in every industry. The evolving landscape of the emerging technology and its impact on our world is still being uncovered and explored as more individuals and companies move to adopt it into their work.