GTM Club Newsletter

🚀 GTM Club Newsletter #20: Crystal Balling 2026

We reflect on 2025 and dare to forecast on sales-led trends of 2026. Read this one to learn how to win big in the year to come.

Ilkka Vertanen - GTM Club Founder

28 Dec 2025 — 7 min read

Welcome to GTM Club Newsletter #20. We hope you had a truly merry Christmas! In the spirit of the new year, here’s today’s blast from the past and look to the future.

How our success factors for the year fared against the twists and turns of 2025.
A look back at 2025 at the GTM Club (spoiler warning: we are happy!)
What do you need to know to make it in 2026?

Reflecting on Our Success Factors for Sales-Led GTM in 2025

In January, we listed three success factors for winning with sales-led GTM: AI changes the game, disciplined execution wins that game, and speeding up the GTM motion is required to checkmate. These success factors played out quite nicely.

AI Did It

Well, this was a relatively easy prediction, at least at a high, abstract level.

Of course, AI would change things. However, this is also the most significant gap between reality and what was written back then. The January text suggested continuing to test and look for new ways to utilise AI. The new normal is way beyond that.

While there are certainly AI-native forerunners and various segments of AI-laggers, the expected level has risen considerably over the year. Now, AI should be in use and scaled to other use cases. One could say that AI has become a critical part of the plumbing that powers GTM motions.

A GTM leader looking towards his next adventure.

Sales-Led GTM Trends in 2026

We have identified five trends that reshape sales-led GTM in 2026. Given ongoing economic conditions and the massive impact AI has on GTM teams, we believe CROs must learn data management, that AI will both hinder and help sales reps, and that NRR will triumph over new logo acquisition.

A GTM leader encounters his evil doppelgänger.

A Trust Crisis Is About to Hit GTM Organisations

A trust crisis is emerging at the intersection of AI, content saturation, and shifting buyer behaviour. As AI-generated messages flood every channel, buyers struggle to tell what’s real, slowing deals and forcing GTM teams to prove authenticity at every step.

A sales leader kicking off 2026 with a bang!

Start 2026 with an Impactful Sales Kick-Off

Sales kick-offs are more than tradition. They align your team on strategy, develop critical skills, and build the momentum needed to achieve ambitious goals. Learn how to execute an SKO that drives results.

🚀 GTM Club Newsletter #19: Frictionless GTM in 2026

Friction in the revenue engine can kill your growth. In this newsletter, we discuss how friction can manifest in the GTM motion and how to spot and remove it. In addition, we highlight some recent resources to help you hit the ground running in January.