HubSpot just released ChatSpot, an AI tool that builds ChatGPT-like functionality right into your HubSpot CRM.
The tool, launched by HubSpot cofounder and CTO Dharmesh Shah, lets you ask questions of your HubSpot portal and provide instructions in natural language through a chat interface.
For example, you can use ChatSpot to do things like:
- Give you a summary of the data in your portal.
- Create custom reports (for instance, tell it to create a report of companies that were added last quarter summarized by country).
- Generate images for content.
HubSpot has also introduced a GPT-powered content assistant that assists in creating content right within the platform.
The move has big implications for HubSpot customers and partners.
In Episode 37 of the Marketing AI Show, Marketing AI Institute founder/CEO Paul Roetzer broke down for me why this matters to the HubSpot ecosystem. Paul should know: He founded HubSpot’s first-ever partner agency, so he’s been heavily involved with HubSpot since its earliest days.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. This is worth paying attention to.
The tool is currently in alpha and access is restricted by a waitlist. But the demo is impressive.
The use cases displayed are highly practical across key areas of marketing, sales, CRM, and reporting.
“You can’t, as a HubSpot customer or marketer, watch [the demo] and not realize the impact AI is going to have on you,” says Roetzer.
The tool also reflects well on HubSpot’s leadership.
“The companies that you want to bet on are the ones where the leaders are out there with a point of view on AI.”
HubSpot is one of those companies.
Today, too few SaaS executives have a strong understanding of and position on AI. Dharmesh, on the other hand, is both the face of this tool and active in building it.
2. But it’s going to create confusion in the market.
This isn’t HubSpot’s fault, but many early adopters of AI tools and applications in their tech stack will be left asking the question:
“Do we even need these anymore?”
With AI increasingly baked into HubSpot’s platform, some third-party tools you’ve already invested time and money into adopting may become obsolete.
Marketers already have a hard time understanding AI technology, says Roetzer. They’re going to have an even harder time determining what they need today versus what’s in the platforms they already use.
“There will be a greater need for education,” he says.
3. However, this will accelerate AI understanding and adoption overall.
On a very positive note, HubSpot jumping into AI in a bigger way helps accelerate understanding and adoption, given its large customer base (167,000+ customers) and leadership in the market as a $20+ billion company.
HubSpot had a few AI features before this, but none were very groundbreaking. (The company would probably be the first to admit this.) The new released AI capabilities will grab attention.
“I think that it’s going to wake a lot of people up to the fact that AI matters and it matters right now, and they better make some moves to figure it out,” says Roetzer.
4. Get ready for serious productivity gains.
The tool is still in alpha, but it’s going to have a major impact once it goes live to the entire customer base.
“I think productivity for HubSpot customers will almost immediately rise once you have access to the tools and it’s just going to keep going up,” says Roetzer.
You will soon be able to do things like draft emails, write blog posts, or pull reports just by typing or speaking. The impact on the day-to-day work of HubSpot customers will be monumental.
5. This is also going to be disruptive to the HubSpot ecosystem.
HubSpot is built through a massive ecosystem of partners, which include service providers like marketing agencies and technical providers.
Intended or not, ChatSpot and new AI functionality will have an impact on these partners, says Roetzer.
“It’s going to be very disruptive,” says Roetzer.
“If I’m an agency right now that gets paid to create content and pull reports and do the things he shows, I am really starting to wonder: ‘What is the future of our service model with HubSpot?’”
You want to be thinking about what ChatSpot can’t do. You have to start moving your service model to where a client isn't just going to be able to ask ChatSpot a question and get the answer or output.
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