Is AI replacing sales pros? Due to the prevalence of sales automation, your job will evolve — if it hasn’t already! The same is true for marketers and marketing automation. So AI won’t replace you. You’ll just get beaten by someone using it.

Thanks to massive leaps in automation and AI development, they can actually help you work smarter. Join our hosts, Tony and Gabe, as they unpack the topic, ‘Sack your sales team. Invest in automation.’

⛏️Tech Toolkit

HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/
ChatSpot: https://chatspot.ai/ 
ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/auth/login 

👉 Under the Hood lifts the lid on the power of digital platforms. Subscribe to learn of sales and martech trends as they happen: https://www.saltedstone.com/under-the-hood 
👉 Follow the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmifOyYOHF9ALWweotZ4G0g

Special thanks to the Bella Vista Hotel for hosting Under the Hood, Season 2!

Sack your sales & marketing teams! Automate, instead

The sales and marketing show that goes under the hood of the latest tech, tools and trends to help you work smarter. Welcome to Series 4.

Join Tony Eades, co-founder, business re-thinker, and Chief Strategy Officer at Salted Stone, as he goes Under The Hood with Nicholas Holland, Head of AI and SVP, Product at HubSpot.

In this episode, we explore how the fear of AI is giving way to confidence, with nearly half of marketing leaders already investing in AI tools—and adoption in sales has nearly doubled in just one year. We’re seeing a clear shift from cautious experimentation to strategic integration. But while some businesses are racing ahead, others are still stuck on the starting blocks.

We discuss how AI is transforming customer experiences, boosting ROI, and streamlining everything from sales prospecting to content creation. We unpack real-world examples of AI use cases, powered by HubSpot and deep dive into how smart tools like Content Hub and Marketing Hub work to deliver results. Plus, Nicholas shares examples where AI agents drove real impact—and what’s next in the evolving relationship between AI, avatars, and your bottom line.

Driving Powerful Growth with AI in 2025: AI Agents & Avatars

Join Tony Eades, co-founder, business re-thinker, and Chief Strategy Officer at Salted Stone, as he goes Under The Hood with Mel Phelps Cevik, Regional Director, APAC and live from North America, Brandon Jones, Executive Director NA from Salted Stone.

Last month HubSpot launched 200+ platform updates for teams in marketing, sales and service. So which ones are worth knowing about? Salted Stone was first to hear the news directly from HubSpot leaders at Spotlight Live in NYC, and is here to breakdown the must-know update

In this episode, we explore how HubSpot has always supported teams to automate and execute at scale, except now they recognise ‘fast sometimes isn’t fast enough’. These new releases manage the modern complexities of omnichannel marketing, personalised selling and on-demand service.

From 200+ releases we discuss the 9 you really need to care about. From Marketing Hub Enterprise enhancements like Multi-Account Management and Journey Automation to AI-Powered Breeze Agents to AI-Powered Workspaces.


AI to ROI: Must-know HubSpot Releases from Spring Spotlight

Join Tony Eades, co-founder, business re-thinker, and Chief Strategy Officer at Salted Stone, as he goes Under The Hood with Mel Phelps Cevik, Regional Director, APAC and  Fabio Pancaldi, Senior Director of Partnerships and Alliances, JAPAC at HubSpot.

Welcome to today’s episode, where we tackle a hard truth: growth is getting tougher. Businesses everywhere feel the squeeze to boost revenue while cutting costs, all within markets packed with competition. Meanwhile, customers expect seamless, personalised experiences across marketing, sales, and service — and they won’t settle for less.

Some companies stumble under this pressure, seeing flat or even declining growth. Others, however, manage to grow up to three times faster. What separates the winners from the rest? The data is clear: failing to meet customer expectations doesn’t just slow growth — it costs you dearly, from losing customers at over twice the rate to leaving huge revenue on the table.

In this episode, we’ll break down the three biggest growth leaks that hold businesses back — Visibility, Adoption, and Speed — and explore how closing these gaps can unlock powerful, sustainable growth. 

We'll also unpack the 7 SHIFTS MARKETING AND SALES PROFESSIONALS CAN’T IGNORE from AI-Native Marketing to the rise of ethical, purpose-driven brands.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

👉  How to achieve a return on investment quickly by making fast configuration changes, and having data unified in a single platform
👉  How to beat the average CRM adoption rate of only 50% by unifying your data, connecting your tools and building trust across your team
👉  From AI agents managing campaigns to generative content at scale, embed AI across the buyer journey — not just for productivity, but for creativity and real-time optimisation.

🔑 From the Toolkit:

Tony: HeyGen Avatar IV from https://www.heygen.com
Fabio: NotebookLM is an AI-powered research and writing assistant from Google | https://notebooklm.google
Mel: An AI-powered personal branding tool from https://taplio.com


Future-proofing: MarTech Trends You Can't Ignore

This episode unpacks how AI and the explosive growth of martech are transforming marketing and operations. Scott explains why AI adoption is at the same transformative scale as the arrival of the internet, and why businesses must embrace it now. As the creator of the Martech landscape graphic, which has grown from 150 tools in 2011 to over 15,000 today, we ask Scott how big will it grow - maybe the “Martech 500 Million” when custom-built AI tools are factored in?

We unpack how agile management principles are helping organisations adapt faster to rapid tech changes, with practical sprint-based approaches.
The shift from “suite vs. best-of-breed” to flexible platform ecosystems, enabling businesses to plug in the best tools as needs evolve. And how we
balance innovation with authenticity, from creating AI-powered customer agents to playful “AI twins” that enhance engagement without deceiving audiences.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

👉  Experiment Relentlessly, But With Guardrails – Encourage team curiosity and trials of new AI tools, while protecting sensitive data and keeping transparency with customers.
👉  Data Quality is Non-Negotiable – Clean, well-governed data is the foundation for successful AI integration and accurate, impactful results.
👉  Empowerment is the AI Advantage – The true power of AI lies in enabling individuals to create, iterate, and execute ideas faster than ever, supported by adaptable tech stacks.

How To Build Marketing Momentum with AI & Martech (ft. HubSpot VP Platform Ecosystem)

In this episode, hosts Mel Phelps Cevik and Glenn “Lenny” Purcell are joined by Salted Stone’s Tony Eades, live from the conference floor in San Francisco, to unpack the new tools, playbooks, and AI innovations reshaping how businesses grow.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

👉  Why “Unified” was the theme of the year — and what it means for your customer data.
👉  The launch of Loop Marketing, HubSpot’s answer to the broken funnel.
👉  Major updates across Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Data Hub, and the all-new Breeze AI suite.
👉  How these releases fit into Tony’s Infinity Track model to create smarter, connected buyer journeys.
👉  Insights from futurist Zack Kass on what’s next for AI 

Whether you’re a marketing leader, sales pro, or HubSpot curious, this episode gives you the inside track on the future of customer experience.


HubSpot INBOUND 2025: The Biggest Product Updates You Need to Know

In 2025, HubSpot is doubling down on ‘Unified’ - unified teams, unified data. Business leaders are making 100% of their decisions with only 20% of available data, according to our research. In this episode - recorded live from the INBOUND event in San Francisco, Tony is joined by Brandon Jones — Salted Stone's Executive Regional Director, North America and special guests, Diana Zalaquett — HubSpot's Principal Production Manager and
Justin Graci — HubSpot's Manager, Partner GTM & Enablement to unpack the product releases, AI learnings and a new model called Loop Marketing.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

👉  HubSpot’s “Unified” approach makes all customer data accessible and AI-ready, so teams can act on the complete customer story.
👉  How AI paired with human insight, unlocks faster go-to-market, richer personalisation, and lower acquisition costs.
👉  Why 60% of Google searches end with no clicks and AI/LLM tools are replacing SEO by answering buyer questions upfront.
👉  How Loop Marketing will replace linear funnels with a continuous cycle (Express → Tailor → Amplify → Evolve), powered by AI and rapid iteration.
👉  Personalisation at Scale as buyers expect brands to truly understand them, drawing on unified structured + unstructured data.
👉  Why marketers must out-test, out-learn, and out-pivot competitors using
AI enabled, real-time optimisation

Whether you’re a marketing leader, sales pro, or HubSpot curious, this episode gives you the latest insights direct from INBOUND 25. 


Loop Marketing: The Next Frontier of Growth | LIVE from Inbound 2025

End-to-end digital solutions and consulting for planet Earth's increasingly customer-centric business challenges.

Salted Stone is an award-winning, fully in-house team of passionate and endlessly curious experts, and we’re here to kick things up a notch.

Sack your sales & marketing teams! Automate, instead

Under The Hood

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