AI has fundamentally changed how businesses operate. For small businesses and entrepreneurs paying attention, that change is quickly creating a competitive advantage.
“There has never been an easier time to build a company than now with the number of tools available, and the speed at which you can build a business, grow customers, and reach them,” says Reuschal Jackson, Head of Business Development, USC at WeWork, in a recent webinar.
Jackson moderated a conversation between Nick DeMarinis, VP of Sales at WeWork, and Jonathan Hunt, VP of Media at HubSpot, on how AI is transforming the way businesses grow.
During the webinar, DeMarinis and Hunt discussed how AI enables lean teams to build scalable marketing, sales, and operational systems and highlighted real-world examples of where AI can drive measurable impact when the old playbook stops working. The discussion surfaced three priorities that can help small businesses turn AI disruption into an advantage: speed, focus, and flexibility.
Growth needs a new playbook
WeWork is also no stranger to disruption. For decades, businesses settled for traditional leases and full weeks in the office. Seeing there was another way, WeWork disrupted the physical workplace by offering a more flexible model and helping businesses grow on their own terms.
Now, AI is doing something similar. We’re still in the early innings of AI, but the impact is already showing up.
Historically, HubSpot had a strong inbound search strategy, generating tens of thousands of leads. Then came AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and a new way of searching for information. “Imagine losing 80% of a steady revenue source you’ve had for decades,” says Hunt. Rather than treating that disruption as a setback, HubSpot used it as an opportunity to rebuild.
The result was what the company now calls Loop Marketing, a playbook built around the idea that AI gives people the opportunity to own the full lifecycle of their craft. As Hunt explains, AI gives businesses more control over how an idea gets created, produced, distributed, and monetized.
AI isn’t just disrupting search; it’s disrupting systems.
Navigating that kind of disruption requires a new way of thinking. For DeMarinis, the leaders who navigate it best will be systems thinkers: people with a clear point of view on how to build systems that improve efficiency and drive growth.
The lesson for smaller teams is clear: when the old playbook stops working, it’s time to rebuild. In the age of AI, three priorities can help: speed, focus, and flexibility.
Speed becomes the new competitive edge
In the marketing world, traditional campaign cycles often move slowly: create the campaign, launch it, wait for data, review performance, iterate, and relaunch. By then, months may have passed. “The world just moves so much faster than that now,” says Hunt.
AI can shorten the production window from weeks or months to days, which can be especially meaningful for small businesses with limited time or resources.
At HubSpot, for example, AI helps accelerate one of the most time-intensive content formats: video. Teams use AI to identify topics and trends, speed up outlines, and dub content into new languages to better reach global audiences. The result is not just faster production, but faster connection.
DeMarinis has seen a similar shift in sales. When he was a sales rep, much of his time went toward researching prospects, building cadences, writing emails, taking calls, and following up. Now, with AI, many of those administrative steps can be automated, giving sales reps more time to focus on the conversations that actually move relationships forward.
Whether you’re a senior marketer, an operator, or an engineer, AI gives you tools to take more control over your destiny — and get there faster.
Put speed into action: Host a workflow-focused hackathon. Inspired by an exercise DeMarinis did with his team, invite team members to identify one part of their job they wish they could streamline. Then have them partner with an AI tool of choice to devise solutions. WeWork later implemented several ideas that emerged from the exercise.
Focus shifts to higher-value work
Hunt used to moonlight as a project manager, even though he’s a career marketer. “It used to feel like 80% of the job was project management and filling out forms… Now [with AI] I get to do the things I love, and I think engineers and sellers feel the same way,” he says.
DeMarinis sees this as a new era for small businesses: one where teams can spend less time managing administrative tasks and more time going deeper on the work that matters. As AI automates the workflows that once slowed teams down, businesses can deploy their resources more strategically.
One area that deserves that attention is the ideal customer profile, or ICP. “It’s always healthy to relook at your ideal customer profile as often as possible because one of the worst things that could happen is selling to the wrong customer,” says DeMarinis.
Platforms like HubSpot use AI to give businesses a deeper layer of customer context, enriched through data. That insight can help entrepreneurs and small businesses be more thoughtful about who they are reaching and how to better connect with. “AI allows businesses to do the things they’re more effective at while automating what has historically been a burden,” adds Hunt.
Put focus into action: Use AI to zero in on your customer. Tap into tools with predictive analytics that can incorporate real-time data to help you refine your ICP automatically. “If you can stay as close to the customer, to what resonates with them, to why they’re buying, why they’re churning, and why they’re renewing, that’s when you get to really understand the durability of your business,” DeMarinis suggests.
Flexibility gives businesses room to grow
In today’s fast-paced AI landscape, flexibility is imperative for ensuring your business achieves greater success. “AI gives more control to humans to do bigger, better creative bets than what they previously were able to do,” says Hunt.
It also lowers the risk of doing so. Historically, experimenting with new tools or systems required more structure, more planning, and longer-term commitments. A single software decision could mean an 18- or 24-month contract. Now, Hunt says, the pace of AI has changed that. With new models and tools emerging constantly, small businesses can test, learn, and move on faster. The risk is lower, and the permission to experiment is higher.
That same need for flexibility extends to where the work happens.
Today, WeWork’s New York City locations are seeing 90% occupancy rates, with a heavy concentration of AI companies. One reason they’re coming to WeWork, says DeMarinis, is that they want a physical environment that supports flexible ways of working. “They want flexibility of space, time, and cost,” says DeMarinis. “That flexibility allows small businesses to come in and innovate and help define what that future looks like in this world of AI, and that’s very exciting.”
Put flexibility into action: Use AI to flex your curiosity, and not just at work. DeMarinis brings this mindset into everyday life with his son. In the car, when his son gets curious about a topic, he’ll ask, “Can we ask Mr. Robot?” DeMarinis opens Perplexity, and they explore the question together.
The opportunity ahead
As AI continues to reshape how businesses operate, the opportunity is to build teams that can move faster and go deeper while staying agile. “Soon we’ll all be able to focus on the most enjoyable parts of our job, and I think that will be a great place to be,” says DeMarinis.
For many individuals, he adds, it may just take one “aha moment” to see what’s possible.
Leverage WeWork to grow your small business or startup. Learn more about WeWork’s flexible, all-inclusive workspace solutions and be among those building what’s next.
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