Forrester’s 2027 B2B go-to-market predictions reveal that business buyers will increasingly use AI agents to manage tasks throughout the buying process, including supplier discovery, information gathering, and contract-renewal analysis.
Although fully autonomous buying will remain limited to high-volume, low-risk, and repeatable purchases, the widespread use of AI agents will require providers to ensure their systems and sellers respond quickly, accurately, and consistently.
“In 2027, the defining challenge for B2B go-to-market leaders will be to make deliberate choices about what to automate and where human judgment still matters,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “As AI becomes ubiquitous across the buying process, B2B leaders that pair AI-driven speed and convenience with transparency, control, and trust will extract the most value from AI.”
B2B go-to-market predictions
Key highlights from the 2027 B2B go-to-market predictions include:
- Buyers will double their human interactions to validate AI-generated recommendations. As AI becomes the primary interface for researching products and providers, buyers will encounter more AI-generated recommendations, synthetic content, automated outreach, and agent-mediated interactions. To confirm and validate buying decisions, buyers will seek conversations with provider teams and trusted third parties, such as analysts, customer references, and partners, since AI cannot fully assess provider fit, feasibility, trust, or accountability.
- Two-thirds of providers will lose deals because buyers cannot verify their claims. Buyers already use AI-assisted search and analysis tools to gather information, synthesise provider claims, and fact-check. As reliance on these tools grows, go-to-market teams must quickly restructure content discovery for AI, providing credible and consistent proof points that AI tools can index and validate.
- Most CMOs will cut programs or accept reduced capacity after overestimating AI gains. As pressure mounts to reduce personnel costs, marketing leaders may eliminate up to 25% of roles, expecting productivity gains that may not materialise. They will then need to choose between cutting program budgets to restore capacity through rehiring, contractors, or agency support, or accepting reduced execution with a smaller team. In either case, lower campaign investment and weaker execution will diminish marketing’s overall value contribution.
