The AI messaging pivot happening across SaaS
Why “AI-powered” no longer differentiates, A/B test examples by DoWhatWorks, and an AI-messaging differentiation framework
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In 2023, we saw a surge of SaaS brands adding anything “AI-powered” or “AI-driven” into their website headlines. A quick use of Wayback Machine for the top 100 SaaS brands will show you just how pervasive it was.
The optics were that if AI wasn’t integral to your roadmap and marketing, you were losing relevance.
Many venture capital firms shifted their investments almost entirely into AI startups.
As this flood of AI messaging hit, a lot of people quickly became numb to it.
Now in 2025, AI promises have simply become baseline expectations. Describing your product as “AI-powered” is like saying it’s internet-connected in 2005. It’s expected, not a value add.
With this expectation, we’re now seeing companies ditching AI messaging in their website headers.
Companies are testing, and the results are showing. We see brands, such as Notion, testing the impact of:
AI in the hero headline
AI in the hero headline and hero sub-header
AI just in the hero sub-header
In the test example below, AI messaging in the sub-header won out over having it in the header.
They kept the focus on the core value proposition of helping teams write, plan and collaborate to create better workspaces, while still having the AI inclusion.
This trend of AI reinforcing and amplifying the core UVP (unique value proposition) is gaining momentum.
We see this shift towards having no AI in the hero header (but including it in the sub-header) across dozens of top SaaS brands: Klaviyo, Monday, Freshworks, MongoDB, Snowflake, Braze, Cloudflare, GitLab, ActiveCampaign and countless others.
For example, here is how Freshworks positions it:
3-step AI messaging differentiation framework
In a market where almost every product claims to have AI, differentiation can’t come from the tech itself. It has to come from the outcome, the problem you solve, and the clarity of your message.
If you're building or marketing an AI product, use this simple 3-step framework to test and refine your positioning:
1. Start with the pain (what’s broken?)
Don’t lead with tech. Lead with the real problem your buyer is facing. Make it visceral, specific, and urgent.
For example: “Sellers spend 40% of their time manually triaging email.”
2. Move to the outcome (what improves?)
Next, show what your product actually helps people achieve.
For example: “Our users reclaim 4+ hours per week and use it to close deals.”
3. Then show how AI enables the outcome
Now that the user cares, you can explain how AI helps make that happen. But avoid buzzwords, make it visual and concrete.
Bad: “We use AI to streamline sales workflows.”
Better: “Our AI automatically categorizes, prioritizes, and drafts replies – so reps can focus on revenue.”
A quick cheatsheet for better AI messaging:
Replace “AI-powered” with outcomes - what does it enable?
Use your customer’s language - not your internal jargon.
Get specific - “launch campaigns 2x faster” beats “transform workflows.”
Anchor with proof - even directional data builds credibility.
Show, don’t tell - demos and workflows > buzzwords.
Leading with “AI-powered” used to signal innovation. Now, it risks blending you into the noise. Companies are putting product value back at the center and letting AI show up only when it adds clarity to that story.
Tag GTMnow so we can see your takeaways and help amplify them.
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👂 More for your eardrums
Episode guest Marcy Campbell is the CRO at AppFolio, where she leads sales and client services with a focus on delivering unified, end-to-end customer experiences. With 30+ years of experience scaling revenue teams across FinTech, SaaS, cloud computing, and communications, Marcy has held executive roles at Boomi and PayPal—where she led an 800+ person global team. Her deep expertise in aligning sales, customer success, and operations makes her a standout leader in the GTM space.
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🚀 Startup to watch
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The former CPO of iconic companies Typeform and Calendly speaks to how AI is rewriting product and GTM playbooks. AI is transforming the process of building products.
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🗓️ GTM industry events
Upcoming go-to-market events you won’t want to miss:
GTM 25 Roadshow NYC: May 14, 2025 (NYC, NY)
SaaStock USA: May 13-14, 2025 (Austin, TX)
SaaStr Annual: May 13-15 (San Francisco, CA)
Catalyst: May 13-15 (Seattle, WA)
Web Summit: May 27-30, 2025 (Vancouver, CAN)
GTM 25 Roadshow Boston: June 3, 2025 (Boston, MA)
Pavilion CRO Summit: June 3, 2025 (Denver, CO)
GTMfund AGM: June 5-6, 2025 (NYC, NY)
GTMfund Dinner: June 11, 2025 (London, UK)
GTM 25 Roadshow San Francisco: June 12, 2025 (San Franciso, CA)
GTM 25 Roadshow London: June 19, 2025 (London, UK)
Pavilion GTM Summit: September 23-25, 2025 (Washington, DC)
This newsletter was written and edited by Sophie Buonassisi, Max Altschuler, Paul Irving and the GTMnow team (not AI!).
 | A guest post by
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Great collaboration, and I love to see more brands switching to value-centric messaging. Just today, I saw Zendesk moved from a generic "AI-powered support" to saying, "AI agents, available 24/7 to solve customer issues.”. Tying it to a specific outcome that customers care about. That is how you use AI in a way that improves conversions.
super interesting!