{"id":27210,"date":"2026-03-13T08:47:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insightpartners.com\/?p=27210"},"modified":"2026-03-13T08:53:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:53:30","slug":"agent-led-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightpartners.com\/ideas\/agent-led-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Agent-led growth: The next GTM motion is already here"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the thing about new GTM motions: The window of advantage is typically widest right at the beginning. The companies that built for product-led growth<\/a> (PLG) early \u2014 Slack, Dropbox, Zoom \u2014 didn’t wait until the product-led playbook was fully proven. Snowflake and DocuSign nailed account-based experience (ABX) early and ran circles around teams still doing spray-and-pray. The same window is open now for a new GTM motion.<\/p>\n

The pattern: New infrastructure \u2192 New GTM motion<\/h2>\n

Many dominant GTM motions in enterprise software were unlocked by a new layer of enabling infrastructure. Sales-led growth has always existed, but became scalable when CRMs like Salesforce gave sellers relationships at scale. From Insight’s perspective, product-led growth<\/a> reached efficiencies when product analytics tools like Mixpanel and Amplitude made self-directed user experiences measurable and repeatable. Account-based experience crystallized when intent data platforms like 6sense* enabled precision targeting at the account level.<\/p>\n

\"Agent-led<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Prior motions have followed a similar arc: new infrastructure develops, early movers build around it, and latecomers do their best to copy. We believe the same dynamic is forming now, and winners are already being crowned.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A new infrastructure stack<\/a> is emerging right now \u2014 and a new motion is forming around it. We’re calling it Agent-led growth<\/strong>. Prior motions have followed a similar arc: new infrastructure develops, early movers build around it, and latecomers do their best to copy. We believe the same dynamic is forming now, and winners are already being crowned.<\/p>\n

Defining ALG: The distinction that matters<\/h2>\n

The term “Agent-led growth” is already in use, but it describes two very different things under the same label.<\/p>\n

\"Understanding<\/p>\n

If you ask ChatGPT or Gemini, you\u2019ll likely get the definition of supply-side Agent-led growth<\/strong>. That is, AI Agents<\/a> deployed by companies to reach buyers more efficiently: agentic SDRs, AI content creation, AI-ified pipeline automation. This is genuinely valuable; we talk about it with our portfolio companies \u2014 but it’s an efficiency gain on existing motions, not a structural shift in how markets work.<\/p>\n

Demand-side is driving the opportunity \u2014 and risk<\/h3>\n

Demand-side Agent-led growth \u2014 as defined here \u2014 is different. Agent-led growth is what happens when AI Agents work for the buyer: researching vendors, compiling feature matrices, testing capabilities, evaluating options, and ultimately recommending or initiating purchases on the buyer’s behalf. Supply-side ALG improves the economics of your current funnel. Demand-side ALG changes whose funnel it is.<\/p>\n

\n

Supply-side ALG improves the economics of your current funnel. Demand-side ALG changes whose funnel it is.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Demand-side ALG is where the structural opportunity \u2014 and the structural risk \u2014 lives. This shift is most pronounced so far in the developer ecosystem, where Agents have (so far) been given the most authority to act. The market hasn’t yet crowned defaults in category-specific B2B SaaS \u2014 CRM, HR, marketing automation, and vertical software. The developer ecosystem tipped in under 18 months<\/a>. The question isn’t whether other categories follow it; it’s whether you or your competitors will be positioned when buyer trust shifts to Agents in your category.<\/p>\n

Two early Agent-led growth winners<\/h2>\n

The clearest proof points so far are in the developer ecosystem, where AI Agents<\/a> have both trust and autonomy. Vibe coding tools \u2014 Bolt, Lovable, Cursor, Claude Code* \u2014 don’t just write code. They can make infrastructure decisions for the developer. A de facto default stack is emerging, not through sales processes or marketing spend, but through Agent selection.<\/p>\n

Supabase <\/strong>became the default backend<\/a> for many vibe coding platforms, and it didn\u2019t start out through business development, but by Agent selection. That preferential placement drove the company from 1 million to 4.5 million developers in under 12 months<\/a>. The CEO credited the dynamic directly<\/a>: “Our sign-up rate doubled in three months because of Bolt, Lovable, Cursor.” The valuation reflected the momentum from $765M in September 2024 to $5B by October 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resend<\/strong>, a transactional email provider, went from zero to 400,000 users<\/a> since its 2023 launch. When you ask Claude Code to add email functionality to a repo, it chooses Resend 63% of the time<\/a>. Their much larger competitor, SendGrid, is chosen in 7% of tests.<\/p>\n

\n

A de facto default stack is emerging, not through sales processes or marketing spend, but through Agent selection.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why might Agents pick these products?<\/p>\n