We’re often asked for our Sales and Marketing viewpoint on this: ‘we’ve got investments in systems, data, and processes, where do we start with AI organizational adoption?’

This is a B2B Fusion structured, strategic, and recommendation-driven approach for companies ready to invest in AI, providing specific use cases, tools, costs, and a phased adoption strategy.

 

Best Use Cases to Start With

 

When starting your AI journey, it’s important to focus on use cases that provide immediate value while building toward more transformational applications:

1. Content creation and messaging appears to be the most widely adopted starting point. According to the 2025 State of Marketing AI report, 78% of marketers are using AI for content production, making it essentially a best practice now.
2. Sales enablement and personalization is another high-value area. One of our clients shared how they created a custom GPT to help SDRs personalize outbound messages, which improved open and response rates.
3. Call/meeting analysis can provide immediate value. Tools like Fathom can automatically capture key points from sales calls, create summaries based on your sales methodology, and sync to your CRM.  There are a number of tools out there.

Regarding the trade-off between broad vs. specialized use cases, we suggest start with the non-selling activities that consume most of your team’s time. The data shows sales reps spend about 2/3 of their time on non-selling activities – focus on automating these first for quick wins.

 

First Tools to Adopt

 

Beyond ChatGPT, here are some tools that marketing leaders are adopting early:

1. Fathom ($15-40/month per user) – For call recording, transcription, and analysis that integrates with your CRM.
2. HubSpot’s AI features (included in existing subscriptions) – Many companies are starting by leveraging AI capabilities already built into their existing platforms.
3. Custom GPTs ($20/month for ChatGPT Plus) – Several marketing leaders mentioned creating custom GPTs for specific use cases like sales messaging or content creation.
4. Gong (typically $100-200/month per user) – For conversation intelligence and sales call analysis.
5. Qualified’s AI SDR chat tool – Being tested by companies for inbound lead management.

 

Full Stack vs. Specialized Solutions

 

This is a nuanced decision that depends on your specific needs:

1. Integration is key – According to the 2025 State of Marketing AI report, B2B companies are finding better success with AI integration than B2C companies. Focus on solutions that integrate well with your existing stack.
2. Consider a phased approach – Start by leveraging AI capabilities in your existing platforms (like Salesforce or HubSpot), then add specialized tools for high-value use cases, and finally consider more comprehensive solutions as your needs evolve.
3. Data foundation matters – The 2025 Martech report shows that 65% of companies have integrated cloud data warehouses into their martech stack (Scott Brinker state of MarTech 2025 (05/07/2025). Having a solid data foundation makes AI implementation more effective.
4. AI roadmap is critical – The 2025 State of Marketing AI report found that 75% of companies don’t have an AI roadmap, but those that do are twice as likely to have other necessary AI infrastructure in place.

 

One interesting insight from the research is that companies with AI roadmaps are more likely to successfully implement AI across their organization. Consider developing a roadmap that prioritizes use cases based on:

1.  Immediate relief (making existing processes more efficient)
2. Transformational use cases (doing things previously impossible)
3.  Long-term strategic advantage

 

As you plan your budget, remember that AI tools are relatively inexpensive compared to hiring additional staff. As a colleague noted, “With AI, it’s 20 bucks a month, you can now unleash that skill set”.