📈 Event Recap: How AI is Reshaping Growth & Scaling Strategies—Insights from ex-Zara, Salesforce, GoFundMe, 500 Global & More

AI is fundamentally reshaping growth strategies, blurring the lines between sales-led and product-led models, and revolutionizing customer engagement through automation, personalization, and predictive intelligence.

At our recent event, executives from Spotlize (ex-Zara), Salesforce, GoFundMe, 500 Global, and top AI startup founders shared how AI is reshaping go-to-market (GTM) strategies, driving smarter decision-making, and unlocking massive efficiencies in scaling businesses.

🎤 Featured Speakers

• ​​David Pastrana, CEO / Co-founder of Spotlize Inc (AI-powered short video marketing SaaS platform), ex-CEO of Zara US and Canada

• ​Aditya Murari, Vice President, Product Led Growth at Salesforce; ex- SVP Marketing & Self-Serve Revenue at SaaS Labs

• ​Arnie Katz, Chief Product and Technology Officer at GoFundMe

• ​Ally Liu, Founder & CEO Influcio, AI influencer marketing platform

• ​Honglei Liu, Co-Founder & CTO at Tofu (Autopilot for B2B marketing teams)

• ​Kathryn Wu, Co-founder of Openmart, YC-backed AI SMB platform for local businesses

• ​Iris Sun, Global Investment Team at 500 Global.

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🛠️ Keynote Highlights With David Pastrana: The Future of AI-Driven Commerce and Sales

David shared his 25+ years of experience scaling global brands and how AI is transforming brand marketing. Drawing from his experience as CEO of top consumer brands like Zara, Topshop, and Jenny Craig, he walked us through the shift from traditional retail to AI-powered content creation.

The Digital Evolution: From Shopping Bags to AI-Generated Content

David contrasted the early days of e-commerce with today’s AI-driven landscape:

"In 2012, Zara’s e-commerce strategy was as simple as handing customers shopping bags that said ‘zara.com.’ Today, if your brand isn’t on short-form video, you’re invisible."

What started with in-store promotions evolved into celebrity endorsements, then paid digital ads. Now, AI is reshaping how brands create, distribute, and personalize content at scale.

The Power of AI-Driven Content

With TikTok users spending 1.5 hours per day on the platform, brands must adapt.
"Short video isn’t just a trend—it’s where consumer attention lives."
AI now automates content creation, testing thousands of variations and analyzing engagement in real time.
"Creative directors once made branding decisions. Now, AI predicts what resonates best—color, texture, trends—at a scale no human could match."

How Brands Can Win in the AI Era

✅ Data is Power – The best brands combine AI insights with proprietary data for smarter marketing.
✅ More Content = More Learning – AI enables rapid iteration and personalization at scale.
✅ Execution Over Ideas – Testing, adapting, and delivering results matter more than creativity alone.

David’s Advice for Founders

🔹 Keep it clear & simple – "Define a focused strategy and communicate it often—team, clients, Board, investors."
🔹 Execute relentlessly – "Results matter. Start with test pilots, set clear goals, and simplify execution.”
🔹 Expand your perspective – "Engage beyond your usual circle—how do others see you and your company?"
🔹 Stay passionate – "Challenges are inevitable. Loving your mission keeps you going."
🔹 Persevere – "Push forward despite setbacks—resilience is key."

📌 Please find his presentation deck attached for further insights.

🔥 Key Takeaways from the Fireside Chat with Aditya Murali

The fireside chat with Aditya, offered a deep dive into PLG (Product-Led Growth), AI’s role in scaling businesses, and the transition between different go-to-market strategies. Here are the key takeaways:

🚀 Salesforce’s Shift to PLG: A Strategic Bet

Salesforce, a pioneer in Sales-Led Growth (SLG), is actively embracing PLG to capture new markets. Murali emphasized that PLG is essential for meeting the expectations of modern buyers, particularly millennials and Gen Zs who expect seamless, self-serve experiences.

"If Salesforce were to be founded in 2025, what would be the go-to-market strategy? PLG would be a significant lever."

🔄 Challenges in Transitioning from SLG to PLG

Switching from a traditional SLG model to PLG is challenging, especially in organizations with strong sales teams. Murali highlighted three key factors for success:
1️⃣ Leadership buy-in – The transition requires a long-term vision despite initial challenges.
2️⃣ Sales alignment – Sales teams must see PLG as an enabler, not a competitor.
3️⃣ Product involvement – Product managers should recognize that go-to-market strategies are as crucial as innovation.

"Sales often sees PLG like Uber drivers see autonomous cars—thinking it will replace them. But PLG is here to enhance, not eliminate."

🔥 AI’s Role in Lead Generation: A Double-Edged Sword

While AI has made lead generation easier and more scalable, it has also flooded inboxes with generic outreach. Murali stressed the need for personalization and human touch in outreach strategies: "AI is great, but over time, people will distinguish what’s real from what’s automated. The best outreach emails are still the ones with a personal touch."

🤖 AI Won’t Replace Human Touch—It Will Augment It

Despite the power of AI in customer engagement and retention, Murali emphasized that high-touch customer relationships—especially for enterprise clients—will always require human interaction. "Your biggest customers don’t want AI-generated nudges. They want real conversations, trust-building, and engagement beyond automation."

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🚀 Panel Discussion: Founders & Investors on AI’s Role in Growth Strategies

1. 0️⃣ The Zero-to-One Journey: Doing Things That Don’t Scale

For early-stage startups with few or no customers, the panelists unanimously agreed—initial traction often comes from personal networks and investor introductions. HongLei, shared how his team manually uploaded customer content into their systems before automation, highlighting the importance of hands-on learning.

“We literally spent two days copy-pasting every single piece of content into their system. That’s how we truly understood the workflow.”

​Kathryn, emphasized the power of founder-driven outreach:

"I started cold calling potential customers myself, even though most hung up on me. But it helped me identify the right segments."

2. 💼 Outbound Sales: The Art of Personalization

Cold outreach remains a challenge, but the panelists reinforced that quality trumps quantity. Arnie, advised against generic outreach:

"The ones I delete instantly are those that just say, ‘I see you work at GoFundMe.’ The emails that get my attention reference something specific I’ve said or done."

For those struggling with cold outreach, Aditya suggested an account-based approach:

"If you know a company is a great fit, find multiple stakeholders and warm up the conversation through their internal network."

3. 📈 Sales-Led vs. Product-Led Growth: When to Use Each

The panel debated SLG (Sales-Led Growth) versus PLG (Product-Led Growth) and how startups should decide between them. Aditya broke it down:

• SLG works best for high-value deals, complex enterprise sales, and regulated industries where trust is critical.

• PLG is ideal when a product can demonstrate value quickly, encourage team collaboration, and enable seamless expansion.

Arnie illustrated this with a compelling example:

"Slack is the perfect PLG case. One person starts using it, they invite their team, then their whole department, and suddenly the entire company is on board."

4. Retention is as Important as Acquisition

While early-stage companies must focus on acquiring new users, Iris, explained that startups must shift their focus as they scale:

"At the growth stage, retention compounds dramatically. Investors will ask: ‘If you acquire zero new customers next year, what will your growth look like?’"

To improve retention, Aditya recommended:

• Constantly reinforcing the product’s value.

• Demonstrating ROI in tangible terms (e.g., cost savings, efficiency gains).

• Embedding the product into customers' workflows to increase switching costs.

Arnie added that honesty builds retention:

"I once flew to a customer who was frustrated that we hadn’t built a feature we promised. Instead of making empty commitments, I explained why it wasn’t a priority. That transparency actually strengthened our relationship."

5. AI’s Transformative Role in Sales and Marketing

AI is revolutionizing sales and marketing, but not all implementations are effective. HongLei shared that AI-generated outreach can backfire if it's impersonal:

"People ignore AI-generated bulk emails. What works is AI-assisted personalization—leveraging signals from LinkedIn and other data sources."

For e-commerce and content-driven businesses, AI is playing an even bigger role. David highlighted AI’s ability to analyze trends in real-time:

"AI is changing everything—from inventory decisions to predicting which styles will be popular next season."

On the influencer marketing front, Ally explained how AI streamlines campaign execution:

"We help brands find the right influencers and generate personalized outreach at scale, cutting down manual work significantly."

6. The Future of AI: Autonomous Agents

Looking ahead, the panelists predicted that AI-driven automation will take center stage. Arnie envisioned a future where AI assistants take on more complex tasks:

"Right now, AI helps generate content and automate outreach. Soon, it will deploy autonomous agents that troubleshoot, strategize, and execute tasks with minimal human intervention."

👉 For more event photos and takeaways, catch the highlights here!

🎁 Bonus on AI GTM / Sales Tools

A couple of our speakers are founders of sales & marketing tools themselves - check them out when you're looking for AI GTM solutions!

Tofu by Honglei Liu for B2B Marketing
Spotlize by David Pastrana - One-stop AI short video marketing platform
Openmart by Kathryn Wu - GTM platform for reaching local businesses
Influcio by Ally Liu - AI Influencer Marketing Platform

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