The B2B software program world is altering quick, and AI is on the heart of all of it. It’s reshaping how companies function, how software program is purchased and offered, and the way all of us get work carried out.
At G2, we’re seeing this firsthand with an explosion of AI classes, distributors, merchandise, and options in our market. In truth, we’ve added over 2,000 AI merchandise over the previous 12 months alone!
AI has disrupted the shopping for journey — beginning with analysis and discovery
However AI isn’t simply affecting innovation. It’s disrupting each stage of the software program shopping for journey, together with the way in which companies go to market to adapt to new shopping for behaviors and preferences. Findings from our G2’s 2025 Purchaser Habits Report, primarily based on survey responses from over 1,000 software program patrons globally, underscore this shift.
Take, for instance, how AI has modified the way in which patrons conduct analysis. As of April 2025, almost 8 in 10 respondents mentioned AI search has modified how they conduct analysis, with 29% noting they now begin analysis by means of giant language fashions (LLMs) extra typically than Google. I believe these percentages have grown since then and can proceed to rise.
Nonetheless, AI search isn’t solely related for the analysis part. We additionally see it taking part in an important position in influencing brief lists and buying choices. GenAI chatbots and peer evaluate websites are among the many most influential sources, rating above market analysis corporations and vendor web sites.
5 keys to profitable within the age of AI
So, what does it take to win on this AI-first world? Based mostly on what we’re observing out there and the way AI is quickly evolving, I see 5 key areas the place companies must focus.
Corporations prioritizing these 5 core areas will thrive within the age of AI.
1. Guarantee your product is discoverable for patrons through conventional website positioning and now GEO (AI-driven discovery)
As talked about earlier, patrons’ search strategies have modified. Along with exhibiting up with conventional website positioning ways, it’s vital to additionally optimize for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to point out up within the LLMs patrons are more and more beginning their searches on. We’re making this a precedence at G2, too – rating among the many prime 10 sources on each ChatGPT and Perplexity, based on a latest Profound research.
2. Allow purchaser self-service with AI assistants
We’ve lengthy seen the shift to the self-serve shopping for journey, the place patrons conduct analysis on their very own accord and arrive at a choice earlier than they’ve even engaged a salesman. Whereas distributors ought to already be enabling this by means of customer-voice-led content material on evaluate websites like G2, they’ll take it a step additional with AI. Automating elements of the shopper journey can foster a extra streamlined expertise, whereas creating efficiencies in your clients and your group.
3. Embed AI to streamline US and workflows throughout your product suites
Our analysis reveals that half of enterprise patrons switched to software program with higher AI. With the rise of AI-first startups, patrons have extra choices than ever and can churn for higher AI performance. This implies extra competitors and a larger threat of buyer churn for current distributors. It additionally means there’s a giant alternative to infuse AI into your options — enhancing current merchandise by making them quicker, extra real-time, and extra environment friendly.
4. Ship quicker ROI with AI help
AI isn’t only for innovating your merchandise, it can be leveraged for buyer onboarding, help, and success. By optimizing, and higher but, automating these vital processes, you’ll be able to speed up the worth clients get out of your software program. With rising competitors and the necessity to ship worth and ROI as shortly as doable, inserting AI into these buyer processes to remove friction is a no brainer.
5. Embrace utilization and outcome-based pricing for AI
Generative and agentic AI are reshaping pricing fashions, difficult the normal SaaS paradigm of seat and module-based annual subscriptions. As patrons count on AI to drive automation and brokers exchange human labor, clients need extra versatile fashions aligned with their ROI primarily based on their precise utilization and enterprise outcomes.
Based on our 2025 Purchaser Habits Report findings, multiple in three patrons now favor variable pricing fashions. Some pay primarily based on API calls, others are billed by agentic actions, and a rising phase opts to pay strictly for measurable outcomes.
How G2 is main the way in which
Because the world’s largest software program market, G2 goals to be probably the most trusted information supply within the age of AI for informing software program shopping for choices and go-to-market methods. Let’s discover a few of our AI-powered improvements serving to us understand this imaginative and prescient.
With the introduction of G2.ai, patrons can start their software program search with a pure language immediate and uncover the perfect match by means of an AI prompt-driven alternate. This method accelerates the usually tedious and sophisticated analysis course of, facilitating simple collaboration amongst colleagues.
Following our acquisition of unSurvey, we launched a brand new AI-powered conversational evaluate assortment methodology, making leaving a evaluate as simple as any voice-to-text expertise — with an AI moderator guiding customers alongside the way in which to share their genuine suggestions. For patrons, this implies entry to deeper, extra significant insights to tell buying choices. For sellers, this implies larger insights to enhance their product choices and expertise.
Additionally stemming from our unSurvey acquisition, AI-led customized market analysis will assist firms achieve actionable insights by means of conversational AI-led interviews tailor-made to their particular wants, business, purchaser persona, and extra. With this answer, firms can entry tailor-made, human-like insights in days—not months—with unique entry to respondent swimming pools of thousands and thousands of G2 customers and exterior panels.
Our new AI-assisted evaluate assortment through buyer calls and conferences allows distributors to show buyer dialog transcripts into high-quality, pre-filled G2 critiques which can be prepared for evaluate, approval, and publication. This functionality eliminates the necessity for handbook reviewer outreach whereas lowering the time required to submit a evaluate, all whereas sustaining evaluate high quality and enhancing submission charges and velocity.
As AI reshapes the B2B software program panorama, G2 is dedicated to empowering the complete expertise ecosystem with the information and information required to realize strategic success and sustainable progress. We’ll do that by providing a wealth of consumer insights and real-time information that not solely tackle the wants of right now’s patrons, sellers, traders, and consultants but in addition anticipate the calls for of tomorrow.
Embracing what’s subsequent
For my part, the long run is one the place we’ve shopping for brokers speaking to promoting brokers. Maybe in the future, even a posh course of like selecting the right enterprise software program for your enterprise, and shopping for it, may very well be carried out by brokers, virtually in actual time.
AI is really reshaping operational foundations, erasing deep-seated limits which have constrained progress and affect for tons of of years. The way forward for software program is right here, and it’s powered by AI.