Google I/O 2026 made one thing clear: AI is moving from answering prompts to taking action. Sundar Pichai framed the next wave of Gemini around agents, with Search, Docs, Maps, YouTube, and the Gemini app becoming more conversational, more personal, and more useful in the flow of work.

What stands out to me is not just the product launches, but the bigger shift this signals for how people will interact with software. Search is no longer just about individual queries; it is becoming an ongoing conversation, while Gemini Spark and information agents point to a future where AI works in the background and helps complete tasks, not just surface answers.

For brands, this changes the bar for visibility. It is no longer enough to show up in search results or feed content into a model — products now need to be legible to AI systems that are increasingly deciding what to surface, summarize, and execute on a user’s behalf.

Read the full announcement here: Google I/O 2026 announcement

This week, I want to highlight what I think they’re doing especially well from a brand and GTM perspective.

In a world where every company is racing to automate content and scale distribution, Tabs is leaning into something much harder to fake: authenticity.

Their CEO and CTO are actively part of the narrative. Not in a polished, overly produced way, but in a way that feels human and relatable to the people they’re trying to reach.

From documenting the subway ads they placed in NYC to sharing moments of the CTO jumping in to solve bugs like the early startup days, they’re building trust in public. You’re not just seeing a product. You’re seeing the people behind the company still deeply involved in building it.

That matters.

Especially in B2B and fintech, buyers are looking for signal. They want to know who they’re trusting, who’s building the product, and whether the team actually understands the problem.

Humanizing the executive team creates familiarity. Familiarity builds trust. And trust shortens the distance between attention and conversion.

In increasingly noisy markets, the brands that win won’t just have the best ads. They’ll have the most believable stories.

AI is no longer just a trend reserved for large corporations. According to Constant Contact’s 2026 Small Business Now report, AI adoption among small businesses is accelerating at an incredible pace, with more than 80% of SMBs expected to use AI marketing tools by the end of 2026.

What’s driving this shift? Simplicity, accessibility, and efficiency.

Today’s AI tools allow small businesses to analyze customer trends, generate content, create visuals, and optimize campaigns — capabilities that once required entire marketing departments and expensive enterprise software. In fact, 45% of SMBs already use AI for trend analysis, while 44% use it to create content and 40% use it for visual design.

But adoption alone isn’t enough.

As AI-generated content floods social media and inboxes, businesses face a growing challenge: standing out. The brands that will thrive are not the ones producing the most content, but the ones delivering authentic value, personality, and expertise alongside AI-powered efficiency.

For years, marketing professionals have been buried under dashboards, ad platforms, analytics tools, and endless optimization tasks. But according to marketing strategist Lisa Sharapata, AI may finally be changing that dynamic through what she calls “vibe marketing.”

Inspired by the rise of “vibe coding” in software development (where developers describe outcomes instead of manually writing every line of code), vibe marketing shifts marketers away from technical execution and back toward strategy, creativity, and customer understanding.

Instead of manually building campaigns across multiple platforms, marketers can increasingly rely on AI-powered systems to execute tasks such as audience targeting, content creation, campaign deployment, and optimization in real time. The marketer’s role becomes less about operating tools and more about directing outcomes.

This shift could be transformative to manage complex martech stacks. AI is making sophisticated marketing execution more accessible, allowing teams to focus on messaging, storytelling, and brand differentiation.

However, the article also highlights an important caution: automation without authenticity can damage trust. Consumers are becoming more skeptical of AI-generated content, and businesses still need human oversight to maintain brand voice, creativity, and meaningful customer connection.

Spent some time at the Plug and Play Silicon Valley Summit this week and, as expected, it was AI, AI, AI everywhere.

From fintech to construction, nearly every conversation centered around how AI is reshaping workflows, operations, and decision-making across industries.

What stood out most, though, was seeing founders focused on solving very real problems, from fraud prevention to technologies that can literally help save lives in the construction field. It’s refreshing to see so many up-and-coming companies building with clear purpose and urgency.

One thing feels very clear right now: building has never been this fast or this accessible. The barriers to creating products continue to shrink.

But I think the next challenge in tech won’t just be about building. It’ll be about positioning.

How do you stand out in an increasingly noisy market?
How do you communicate your story in a way that actually resonates with customers, investors, and buyers?
And ultimately, how do you turn attention into trust and trust into revenue?

The companies that win won’t just have strong technology. They’ll know how to clearly articulate why they matter. If this resonates with you, I would love to connect!

Thanks for reading. As AI continues to scale across marketing, meetings, and operations, the real opportunity is increasingly about building durable leverage across the business. My focus is on helping companies translate that shift into tangible growth and scalable systems.

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