B2B marketers planning for 2027 face a fundamental challenge: AI is changing so quickly that rigid, long-range plans may not feel especially reliable. Publishing has been through this kind of disruption before, and that experience offers a useful lesson to stay flexible while protecting the parts of the business that technology cannot easily replace.

The last comparable upheaval came roughly 20 years ago with the shift to digital media. Publications closed, employees were laid off and no one knew what the transition would ultimately mean for the industry. Two decades later, the organizations that adapted while holding onto what made them valuable are the ones that endured.

In A Media Operator's recent webinar, "The AI Reckoning: What Media Companies Are Really Doing With AI," Scott Cunningham, fractional chief product officer for Alliance for Audited Media, compared that earlier disruption with the changes AI is creating now. His observations offer a useful framework for marketers heading into 2027: understand what should remain constant and leave room for everything else to change.

What months of AI hype taught the industry

In the webinar, Cunningham explained that just a year and a half ago, there was a lot of fear and skepticism around AI.

"Over the course of 18 months, I've seen organizations pass the hype, and they're treating AI like any other tech investment.” 

Early on, slapping an “AI” label on any product was a surefire way to garner attention. Now, as we are settling into this new reality, executives are learning how AI can positively impact their businesses. Cunningham noted he has recently seen CEOs take a more proactive approach than they did during previous industry transitions.

"The ones who are going to be the most successful in the next five years are not going to be the ones who use AI the most. I think they're the ones who combine AI with what can't be replicated — a trusted brand, original content, judgment, your transparency and governance,” he said.

How is AI changing publishing’s audience?

Since the advent of digital media, the ad economy has centered on impressions from real humans. Bots were something to filter out and avoid. As AI search becomes a primary way consumers find information, publishers are adapting to a new reality in which LLMs increasingly scan, evaluate and surface their content.

"We actually have standards written that say you should not be delivering impressions to bots," Cunningham said. "Now we've got a whole new world here, and candidly, we're kind of making this up as we go."

While optimizing for non-human audiences may still go against our instincts, not as much has changed as you might think. AI search still values credible sources. Brands that have spent years building a strong readership, sharing trustworthy information and establishing their expertise will still gain the most attention; their audience will simply include both humans and machines. For B2B publishers — and B2B marketers — this means continuing to invest in original content while recognizing that some of the systems finding and evaluating that content won’t be human.

"That's the value proposition for publishers — using the credibility they've earned," Cunningham said. "I think that's actually one of the most exciting advances I've seen in the last 12 to 18 months."

How should B2B marketers plan for AI in 2027?

Unfortunately, we cannot see into the future to know how AI will impact our businesses, which makes any rigid budgets or long-range plans risky. This uncertainty isn’t restricted to any specific market or job type. Even where we work is up for question, as new data from the International Workplace Group shows. 

“Six in 10 CEOs and CFOs (60%) believe the rise of AI has made it impossible to know how much office space they will need in two years’ time, opting for flexible, capital-light models.”

The pattern is the same one Cunningham describes for content: When the landscape is moving this fast, flexibility beats a five-year bet.

Before making long-term commitments, start by identifying what is irreplaceable in your business. As Cunningham noted, in B2B publishing, the focus is on original content, credibility and transparency. With your priorities in place, it becomes clear what is worth the risk of the unknown and what needs to be protected.