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Over the last few posts, we’ve reintroduced the bigger mission: helping 100,000 businesses run on the GTM Operating System™ to build more profitable, durable companies.
In today's post, I am adding in what is really happening in the GTM world.
This week gave us three headlines that caught my attention and they all tell the same story.
2X just raised $400M to build what they're calling "the first GTM human-agentic services company." Translation: a GTM Operating System.
Rackspace just cut 750 people — 15% of their workforce — to "pivot to AI."
And Harvard Business Review published research showing 83% of B2B leaders say GTM strategy is critical. But only 38% say they can actually execute it.
Three headlines. One BIG problem.
The Real Issue
Everyone is chasing AI. But AI layered on a broken GTM motion just makes the broken motion move faster.
Rackspace isn't struggling because they don't have enough AI. They're struggling because they're deploying AI on top of a GTM system that was already broken. Cutting 750 people won't fix that. It'll just make the problem cheaper to run.
The execution gap HBR identified isn't new. What's new is that AI is widening it. Compressing timelines. Creating new channels. Moving faster than most GTM teams can keep up with.
And when you can't keep up, you don't need a pivot. You need a diagnosis.
The Market Is Waking Up
That's why 2X just raised $400M to build a GTM execution layer.
That's why PE firms are hiring fractional GTM leaders instead of full-time CMOs.
That's why 5 CEOs asked me for fractional GTM help last week alone.
The companies winning right now aren't the ones with the most AI tools. They're the ones who got their GTM Operating System right first — then layered AI on top.
That's the edge. Not the tools. The system.
Is your GTM misaligned like this one? Have your leadership team take the assessment below!
Our blunt advice to CEOs and GTM teams right now:
Don’t use AI to think for you.
Think how to use AI to build for you.
The Bottom Line
If your AI investments aren't paying off, don't buy another tool.
Audit your GTM foundation first. Figure out where the system is broken. Fix that. Then let AI accelerate what's already working.
The edge isn't AI. It's knowing what to do — and in what order.
Want help diagnosing your GTM like 3000+ other B2B companies that are running on GTM OS?
Take the GTM Assessment → Fix your GTM.
love,
sangram
p.s. 100,000+ GTM leaders read our content every day. If you want more strategies like this, follow along at runongtmos.com — and let's get moving.