The channel has a new problem that’s come on so fast that few companies have even registered it, let alone responded: your partner recommends you, and the customer responds by asking AI about your firm. Two key figures from our revenue consultancy and marketing firm will address this and other common challenges this week in Houston.
AI: The Hidden Buyer in the Room
This is a big deal for the channel. Historically, some channel firms have invested minimally in their online presence and relied on partners for pipeline by virtue of their positions as trusted advisors. With AI becoming the new trusted advisor, that dynamic is changing fast. According to Forrester, 95 percent of B2B decision-makers are using AI to vet vendors. It’s a one-question query to ChatGPT, Claude or whatever AI they’re using.
For tech firms, this means your partner-led pipeline will only stay open if you get your online game together, with a serious focus on AI reputation. Lose that deal, and you lose the partner, too. And every future deal they would have sent you.
Khali Henderson, Senior Partner at BuzzTheory, is presenting on this new reality at the Channel Marketing Association (CMA) Marketing Summit 2026 in Houston this week. She’s running a Power Circle session, “How AI Is Changing the B2B Tech Buyer Journey — and What to Do About It,” Wednesday morning, 10:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. in Consort Ballroom I.
She’s also presenting the general session: “Marketing to AI Assistants & Agentic B2B Buyers and Partners: Winning Business in an AI-Mediated World,” Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. It’s the sharpest framing of this shift you’ll find in the channel conversation.
Channel Marketing’s Automation Problem
The second problem frustrates channel teams to no end. They invest in campaign assets, PRM functionality and co-marketing programs, but most partners simply don’t use them. In other words, the channel’s automation problem is an adoption and activation problem.
Dylan Crawford, Strategic Accounts Director at BuzzTheory, is running a Power Circle session on exactly this: “Marketing Automation in the Channel: How to Make It Work for You,” Wednesday morning, 10:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. If you’ve got partner engagement numbers that aren’t moving, that’s the room to be in.
If your team is in Houston this week, find Khali Henderson and Dylan Crawford at BuzzTheory. Or reach out through buzztheory.com. We’re always up for talking shop.
