How HubSpot uses AI as the ultimate co-pilot

Every day we see another headline proclaiming that AI has taken yet another part of the world by storm. It’s enough to make even the most stoic person a little concerned about their future in an increasingly AI-driven workplace!

But the good news is that it’s not here to steal our jobs.

It’s transforming them. 

We spoke with Daphne Lopes, Principal Manager of Customer Success at HubSpot, about how AI is changing the way we work.

“I think AI is definitely going to change all of our jobs. Now is it going to take it away completely? I don't think so.”

Instead of thinking about AI as a scary, Terminator-esque figure that’s here to steal your job and get rid of John Connor’s mom, think about it instead as a trusty “co-pilot”, helping us do more with less effort.

Like the Terminator in Terminator 2.

AI as a Co-Pilot: Enhancing human capabilities

AI is like having an assistant who never sleeps. It handles repetitive tasks and processes vast amounts of data quickly, freeing you up to focus on more strategic, creative, and human-centric aspects of your job.

Lopes describes it as a co-pilot that can “serve as this external brain that can process a lot of information at a very quick pace.”

Imagine you’re a Customer Success Manager (CSM). Instead of spending hours analyzing customer data, AI can do it for you in minutes. It can highlight key insights and trends, allowing you to make informed decisions faster. 

“I think it's going to make us faster, doing the things that we are already doing and then (open up) space for us to be even more creative about how we do our jobs, be more human, connect at a deeper level.”

AI could also automate routine tasks, such as scheduling follow-up emails or updating CRM records, making your workflow smoother and more efficient.

Or, instead of manually crafting personalized messages, AI can generate tailored content based on customer behavior and preferences.

AI handles the grunt work, leaving you with more time to think creatively and connect with your customers on a deeper level. This means you can focus on strategies to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty and not menial tasks.

“A lot of the time what CSMs, sales reps, marketing people right now, a lot of data input on the CRM is manual, especially relationship stuff. 

With the use of generative AI, you can take things like call transcripts and transform those transcripts into CRM notes and they go straight into the CRM. Based on what you had conversations about, you can update properties. 

So I think the admin part of the customer experience work would be... drastically reduced.”

How HubSpot is using AI and machine learning

At HubSpot, machine learning is not just a buzzword—it's a powerful tool that drives real value for their customers. 

“Unfortunately, the average company that I talk to is still not at that stage where they're using sophisticated machine learning to profile customers based on their behavior. Now, I am very lucky to work for a very future thinking organization, HubSpot, who is already doing that.”

One of the common questions customers ask is how they are performing compared to others in similar situations. As Lopes explains, “Customers are really interested in how they're doing, but they are also interested in how they're doing against other customers… [T]hey're always asking how are people like me doing this?”

To address this need, HubSpot integrated machine learning into their email tool.

“So for example, I send my newsletter through HubSpot. So I know what is my open rate... And I also know how my open rate compares to the open rates of other businesses like me. 

So they profile me based on my business size, the industry I work in, the region I'm in, the language I'm set up to actually tell me whether my open rate is on par, better, or worse (than similar businesses).”

This benchmarking capability is crucial because it not only tells users how they are performing but also provides tailored recommendations to improve their metrics. 

“Let's say if my open rate wasn't good,” Lopes continues, “if I was doing poor against my cohort, what HubSpot will do is actually tailor recommendations of things that I can do to improve my open rate on my email.

…So you can really dive into everything that makes up a successful email campaign. Look at how other people like you are doing. And what are the recommendations based on the behaviors of those other customers that are performing well? What should I be doing next to improve?”

The beauty of this system is that it operates seamlessly, without the need for constant human intervention. “We’re doing all of that without a CSM actually moving to talk to the customer about these things.” 

This allows CSMs to focus on more strategic discussions and high-value tasks. “Of course, our customers have CSMs that they can have deeper conversations about it. Email is a simple tool. There are much more complex tools inside HubSpot that customers see value in having more strategic discussions with their CSM about.”

“I think the most advanced companies, the companies that are more at the edge of using technology like this, are thinking about how you build those insights and those recommendations into the product and meet customers where they are.”

And this is just one example of how advanced companies are leveraging technology to meet customers where they are and provide real, actionable insights! AI and machine learning can transform customer success and drive better outcomes for businesses and their clients.

AI isn’t a threat, it’s an opportunity

AI is here to enhance your job, not replace it. It’s your co-pilot, ready to handle the mundane tasks, so you can focus on what really matters—building meaningful relationships with your customers and driving strategic growth.

According to Lopes, she’s incredibly excited about “the potential of taking away all of the administrative tasks, all of the data crunch…and getting straight to the insight, to the point where you can take action or add value to customers or highlight an important point on something that they have to do.”

And even more importantly, folks who get into the career path of customer success and experience aren’t going down that road “because they want to be crunching numbers and creating spreadsheets or creating presentations.”

“They do those jobs because they have a passion for the problem that they're trying to solve or for the industry that they're in... So I think (AI) is going to free us up to do more of the jobs that we want to do and that we know are the most valuable, and less of the mundane admin type of tasks that we unfortunately end up being drowned in our day-to-days.”

Honestly? Same.

And the one aspect we’re most excited about here at Videate? AI-powered video automation.

Recording and editing software tutorial videos is incredibly tedious and time consuming. Then your SaaS product updates, and you have to do it all over again.

We’ve solved that problem. Videate uses AI-powered video automation to automatically generate software how-to and product videos. It does it super fast and in multiple languages, so you never have to re-record a video ever again. Just click to re-render, and Videate does the work for you.

Wanna see how it can work for you?

Get a demo!