--- title: "HubSpot UNBOUND 2026: Context, AEO, and Staying Human With AI" description: "Creativate founder Michelle Miller recaps HubSpot UNBOUND 2026: what's new in the CRM, why context matters, and what it means for AI search." image: https://www.growwithcreativate.com/hubfs/UNBOUND%20Recap%20Blog%20Feat%201.jpg --- [![Creativate Logo 2025\_72 dpi](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Creativate%20Logo%202025_72%20dpi.png?width=150&height=97&name=Creativate%20Logo%202025_72%20dpi.png "Creativate Logo 2025_72 dpi")](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/) - [Who We Are](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/who-we-are) - [What We Do](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/what-we-do) - [News & Insights](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog) - [Resource Library](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/resource-library) - [Let’s Connect](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/lets-connect) #### 4 min # HubSpot UNBOUND 2026: Context, AEO, and Staying Human With AI on October 14, 2026 By [Michelle Miller](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/author/michelle-miller) - [HubSpot](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/hubspot) - [thought leadership](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/thought-leadership) - [AI](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/ai) I recently returned from HubSpot's UNBOUND conference, and what a week it was. I jokingly said we should take a shot every time someone said 'Agentic.' Turns out the word we heard most was context, and it shaped the whole week. That says a lot about where we are. In her opening keynote, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan talked about "maxxing," a catchphrase she picked up from her 17-year-old son. When AI arrived, a lot of us went into maxxing mode: automate everything, put it all on AI, right now. Unfortunately, this is just not realistic and efficient; it creates a lot of ai junk quickly. As someone who cares deeply about human connection, I've felt pulled between that rush and a simple question: what about the humans? UNBOUND reinforced my answer. The responsible way to do this is slowly, deliberately, and intentionally, with the right context behind every tool. Here's what stood out to me, and what it means for your business. # Your AI Is Only as Smart as What You Tell It Something I see over and over: companies want AI to "do more," but their CRM is full of half-logged calls and outdated contacts. So it made complete sense to me that HubSpot built almost every announcement around something it calls *growth context*. Context is everything your business knows about its customers, its brand, and its team. A logged call is data. The reason someone actually decided to buy is context. AI needs both. HubSpot is tackling this in two ways. The Smart CRM now updates itself, capturing calls, emails, and meetings automatically. (If you've ever begged a sales team to log their notes, you know what a gift of sanity that is.) And a new Context Home shows what HubSpot's AI knows about your business, so your team can confirm it, correct it, and fill in the gaps. Clean data has always mattered. Now it matters twice. If your CRM is messy, your AI will be too. That's also why AEO was such a big part of the conversation. AI tools and answer engines can only recommend you if they have the right context about who you are and what you know.   # Why AEO Was One of the Biggest Takeaways Think about how you look things up now. More and more of us ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity, and your buyers are doing the same. Those answers shape the shortlist before anyone *ever* visits your website. HubSpot is clearly paying attention. [HubSpot's AEO](https://www.hubspot.com/products/aeo) tool (currently in beta) shows how often your brand appears in AI answers, how you stack up against competitors, and what to publish or update next. HubSpot's new Content Agent now drafts with AEO in mind, and a new ChatGPT Ads integration turns AI search into a channel you can measure alongside everything else. If you're curious where you stand today, HubSpot's free [AI Search Grader](https://www.hubspot.com/ai-search-grader) is a great place to start. Here's what I tell clients: answer engines reward companies that clearly answer their buyers' questions. I see so many "excessively humble" brands sitting on a goldmine of expertise. They just haven't written it down yet. That's the work, and the companies that start now will be the ones AI recommends later.   # Your Marketing Team Gets an AI Workspace I regularly speak with people in marketing... and they all have one thing in common: they are TIRED. They're expected to plan, create, publish, and nurture all at once, usually with fewer people than they need. HubSpot's answer is Marketing Studio, the new home for what used to be Campaigns. Inside it, three agents work together. One helps plan a campaign from a business goal, one drafts content in your brand voice, and one personalizes emails for each contact. A rebuilt Breeze Assistant ties it all together, pulling from your CRM so the work reflects your actual customers. That's a lot of horsepower, and it's exactly where "AI maxxing" can get a team into trouble. Crawl, walk, run. Pick one campaign, let the agents support it, and see what your team learns before you hand over the whole calendar. # Your Sales Team Can Focus on What Matters Ask any salesperson what slows them down, and you'll hear the same thing: admin. Updating records, writing follow-ups, pulling reports. HubSpot is aimed at all of it. HubSpot's recently updated AI assistant, Breeze, can now map out the buying committee on a deal, so your team knows who's involved and can prepare for each person. A new Deal Progression feature suggests next steps and drafts follow-ups based on emails, calls, and meetings. The meeting notetaker captures conversations, in person or virtual, and ties them back to the CRM. And reports? Your team can simply ask Breeze for them. What I love about this is the alignment. When sales and marketing work from the same clean data, top-line growth gets a lot easier to see and to plan for. And your salespeople get more time for what they do best: building relationships. # Plan First, *Then* Build The announcement that made me smile the most was the simplest: a plan and build mode that puts planning ahead of building. I've been saying it for years. You cannot automate what you have not documented. That matters even more now that anyone can build their own agents with HubSpot's Agent Builder and track them all in one place with Agent Hub. These are powerful tools. Used well, they give your team hours back. Used in a rush, they automate a process nobody fully understands. So take a breath, map it out, then build. If you want the full list of announcements, HubSpot has everything at [HubSpot.com/spotlight](https://www.hubspot.com/spotlight). # Even HubSpot's CEO Feels Behind If you feel behind right now, you're in good company. Even HubSpot's CEO said she does. We all do, because we're constantly seeing new use cases and people doing things better. But feeling behind isn't a reason to rush. In my presentation on [*Retaining Humanity in an AI Transition*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhR5XzqVbvE), I shared real headlines from past technology shifts. One Boston newspaper warned that electricity was going to kill us. Then came the internet. Then Y2K. Every big shift came with fear, and we adapted every time. We'll adapt now, too. # How We're Putting This to Work We're in quite a few HubSpot betas, testing new features before they roll out to the whole HubSpot ecosystem. We also work directly with HubSpot's product managers, so our clients get tools we've already vetted and are a voice in the feedback before features launch. Our goal is to use the best of the technology while keeping our culture and showing up as who we are, for our team and for our clients. More updates are coming from our team soon. If you're curious how we use HubSpot to help our clients grow, [we'd love to show you](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/hubspot#section-4). There's a lot of change right now, and that's exciting. But at the end of the day, we're still human. Let's lead with that. Thank you to our clients and partners for letting us learn alongside you. We don't take it lightly. - - - [mailto:info@example.com?&subject=HubSpot%20UNBOUND%202026:%20Context,%20AEO,%20and%20Staying%20Human%20With%20AI&cc=&bcc=&body=](mailto:info@example.com?&subject=HubSpot%20UNBOUND%202026:%20Context,%20AEO,%20and%20Staying%20Human%20With%20AI&cc=&bcc=&body=) - - ## Related posts - [thought leadership](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/thought-leadership) ##### [Building Sustainable Strategies with Targeted Account Marketing](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/targeted-account-marketing) March 5, 2026 1 min 3 Pillars of a Human-Centered TAM Strategy To stand out, your strategy must be authentic. We focus on three foundational shifts that move the needle for growing organizations: [Explore the Insights](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/targeted-account-marketing) - [thought leadership](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/thought-leadership) ##### [Human-Centered Marketing in an AI-Powered World](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/human-centered-marketing-in-an-ai-powered-world) December 16, 2025 2 min I have the privilege of working closely with organizations across many industries. I see where technology is helping teams gain momentum, and I also see where it creates pressure. Many teams feel stretched thin by the expectation to constantly publish, automate, respond, and scale. It’s exhausting. And, as a result, communication often be... [Explore the Insights](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/human-centered-marketing-in-an-ai-powered-world) - [HubSpot](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/tag/hubspot) ##### [Why Your Auction Business Needs a CRM: Unlocking Efficiency and Growth](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/why-your-auction-business-needs-a-crm-unlocking-efficiency-and-growth) September 17, 2025 2 min What Is a CRM and How Does It Simplify Your Operations? A CRM is a software solution that consolidates all customer interactions, sales processes, and marketing efforts into a single platform. For auction businesses, this means: [Explore the Insights](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog/why-your-auction-business-needs-a-crm-unlocking-efficiency-and-growth) ## Subscribe for Updates [![Creativate White Logo 2025\_72 dpi](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Creativate%20White%20Logo%202025_72%20dpi.png?width=150&height=97&name=Creativate%20White%20Logo%202025_72%20dpi.png "Creativate White Logo 2025_72 dpi")](https://growwithcreativate.com/) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/growwithcreativate/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Growwithcreativate) [Who We Are](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/who-we-are) [What We Do](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/what-we-do) [News & Insights](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-blog) [Resource Library](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/creativate-downloadable-resource-library) [Let’s Connect](https://www.growwithcreativate.com/lets-connect) [Michelle Speaks](https://www.michelle-speaks.com/) Contact Us [(330) 439-0942](tel:(330)%20439-0942) [info@growwithcreativate.com](mailto:info@growwithcreativate.com) Copyright © 2026 Creativate. 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