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This is where we share our latest research, insights and benchmarks around all things ABM, AI and GTM.
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There is no shortage of “theory” around how to deploy AI in B2B right now…
So today we're starting a new series called The Operator's View on AI, where we’ll get specific about how Demand Gen & ABM leaders use AI in their day-to-day.
This month’s features Arianna Etemadieh, Marketing Lead, US & Canada @ Uber for Business.
She’s spent five years leading Demand Generation at Uber for Business:
Her team is a handful of marketers supporting roughly 200 sellers at one of the most recognizable brands on the planet and are "hitting millions of people a day with our marketing".
They're also currently AHEAD of their revenue pacing target for the quarter.
In this edition, we’ll break down what their AI deployment looks like in practice.
Propensity → is an AI-powered lifecycle marketing platform for personalized B2B orchestration.
Folloze → AI can draft your ABM campaign in an hour. Folloze deploys it live, per account.
Uber Deploys AI Where Our Benchmark Data Says the Value Is
Per our 2026 AI in ABM Benchmark Report, top performers apply AI across 3.7 channels vs. 2.4 for everyone else.
The largest percentage gaps between top performers and everyone else are across:
Personalized landing pages (+25pp)
In-person events (+18pp)
Direct mail (+16pp)
Here are a few of the top use cases where Arianna's team deploys AI, and how it maps back to our benchmark data:
Use Case #1: Research and Analysis
AI fills the role of a dedicated analytics function.
Her team feeds raw data exports directly into their tool, and lets AI do the pattern-mining a human would have traditionally needed days to accomplish.
"Taking all those massive Excel sheets and Salesforce reports, and putting them into AI to glean patterns, trends, half-over-half insights, year-over-year insights."
Use Case #2: Personalization at Scale
Her team prompts the AI features inside their website personalization tool to generate on-brand landing pages for their 1:1 and 1:few programs.
They intentionally ground everything in existing approved materials so nothing gets re-invented.
"Personalization, segmentation… these are the name of the game. If you're not doing that in 2026 with Demand Gen, you are behind."
Use Case #3: Selling Ideas Internally to Leadership
Given a hypothetical $1M to invest in the business, her team brainstormed on ideas in a room for three hours, then used AI to mock up future-state product visuals for the leadership pitch.
"They're able to conceptualize the idea because AI was able to visualize it in a very on-brand way."
"The initial outputs were not good. So you have to iterate and refine."
Three AI Operating Principles to Adopt
Source: ForgeX Research
Arianna said this line twice during our conversation, "AI is a tool, it is not a solution".
Here are three of the key AI principles that she lives by, and encourages her team to adopt:
1.) Human Oversight on AI Outputs = Still Needed
Arianna's stance is that nothing AI produces ships without a human reviewing it, full stop.
That maps to our Human + AI Operating Continuum™️, where oversight is present but the level of human involvement can change across use cases.
"We always have to maintain a level of human oversight over the output… I always like to make sure to ask it to cite its sources, to make sure that it's referencing true and accurate information."
2.) Deliberately Fight the Agreeableness of AI
AI's default mode is telling you that you're right, so she builds the skepticism directly into her prompts.
"I actually put in the prompt:
'Don't disagree with me. Don't give me confirmation bias. Pressure test my thinking.' Sometimes it will say, 'You're right, I'm sorry,' and then it will correct itself. Other times it will say, 'No, I am thinking about this in a different way, and here are some examples.'"
3.) Reframing AI Like a Calculator
Use AI for the math, but stay the person who knows how the math works, and make sure the next generation of marketers learns it too.
"I liken AI to a calculator… it's still good to know how to do the math with or without a calculator. I don't wanna rely on it too much where I forget myself how to create compelling arguments and narratives."
2026 AI in ABM Benchmark Report
In this report, you’ll learn:
What separates AI leaders from the rest of the market
Which AI use cases are delivering the greatest business impact
Where leading organizations are focusing their AI investments
Survey: How B2B marketers prioritize and target
We’re researching how GTM teams predict and prioritize where focus drives outcomes.
The findings will inform an upcoming ForgeX report on best practices, operational foundations, and where AI fits in.
Time: 5-7 minutes
Thank you: early access to the research report
Privacy: data is exclusive to ForgeX, never shared
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Have an awesome rest of the week all!
Davis
