We have one very important question after UNBOUND 2026: Was Tom Brady actually the biggest GOAT in the building?
We ask that because HubSpot’s CEO, Yamini Rangan, came out swinging in her keynote, making a strong case with the amount of new content, product updates, and AI announcements packed into this year’s conference.
We’re not here to start a GOAT debate, though. We’ll happily give the title to both.
After three days of sessions, demos, announcements, and a closing lineup that brought out Tom Brady, Aziz Ansari, and Cynthia Erivo, we came home with plenty to talk about. But once we started sorting through all the updates, we realized there was one clear theme running through UNBOUND: HubSpot is putting AI-powered marketing automation at the center of its ecosystem.
Table of contents
- Takeaway #1: Context is key
- Takeaway #2: The CRM is getting smarter
- Takeaway #3: AI agents, your way
- That’s a wrap
Takeaway #1: Context is key
While 90% of the companies HubSpot surveyed are using AI, only 6% are seeing transformational results, according to Rangan.
Why the gap?
The problem is that AI can only work with the information it was given. If you give an LLM a standard prompt, you're likely to receive a standard answer, which is how we end up with the AI sameness we're seeing everywhere.
The missing piece of the puzzle here is context.
HubSpot introduced growth context as the foundation of your CRM, giving Breeze a deeper understanding of your business so it can generate results that break free from standard AI responses. Information such as products, brand voice, and positioning gives it the context Breeze needs to produce better, more relevant outputs.
And this isn't just about getting better AI-generated outputs.
HubSpot has recently shared that when Breeze is powered by Growth Context, businesses can create 3.6x more MQLs, win 3.2x more deals, and close over 2x more tickets.
Takeaway #2: The CRM Is getting smarter
HubSpot wants to make your CRM smarter.
After spending three days in Boston, we feel qualified to ask: how smaht are we talking?
Your CRM is only as smart as the data and information flowing into it, whether it's through manual logging or data captured through automatic processes. So while it might be able to surface smart insights, it still relies on a steady stream of accurate, up-to-date information to do its job well.
What if instead of you updating the CRM, the CRM updated you?
That’s the idea behind HubSpot’s new Smart CRM and its self-updating capabilities. Rather than simply storing your information, HubSpot can keep your data clean, current, and useful.
That means:
- Calls, emails, meetings, and notes can be captured automatically.
- Contacts and deal stages can be updated without someone having to log every change manually.
- Next steps and key information are surfaced when your team needs them.
In other words, gone are the days of manually updating every little detail in your CRM.
Takeaway #3: AI agents, your way
If you’ve been holding back on using those AI credits in your portal, now may be a great time to start experimenting with them.
Before UNBOUND, HubSpot had already turned heads with pre-built agents in the marketplace, such as the Prospecting and Data agent, designed to take some of the manual work off your team's plate by qualifying potential prospects and enriching CRM records.
But have you ever thought, “Wow, I wish there was an agent for this?” Well, now there can be.
HubSpot’s new Agent Builder makes it easier and more accessible to build custom agents around your team's needs. Located in the Agent Hub and powered by Breeze, it can turn plain language instructions into action, meaning you don’t need to dust off your coding skills just to create an AI agent and put it to work for your company.
That’s a wrap
There's still a lot left to unpack from the event, but the biggest takeaway for us is that these new tools are meant to be put to work, not just admired from the keynote stage.
If you're ready to start putting them to work in your own HubSpot portal, here are three places to start:
- Put your context to work: Review the information in your HubSpot context settings and make sure it is up-to-date. Add relevant files, free-form text, and information about your business, customers, and process, so HubSpot has the context it needs to work efficiently.
- Get to know your Smart CRM: Take some time to understand what’s new. Review the “Building Your Business With HubSpot Smart CRM” free course in HubSpot Academy to explore new capabilities.
- Find your “I wish there was an agent for that task”: Start auditing your internal processes and look for one repetitive task your team spends too much time on. Then, see if it's something you can automate with an existing HubSpot agent or Custom Agent.
If you're still looking at your portal and thinking, “Okay, now what?” we can help.
As a HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partner, we can help you identify where these new tools could fit into your portal and make sure you are getting the most out of your HubSpot investment.
