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State of Partner AI Readiness

The transformation is happening now.

Partners across the HubSpot ecosystem are racing toward an AI-first future, but the journey looks different for everyone. While 92% of companies plan to invest more in AI, only 1% believe they're anywhere near maturity.

Source: IBM Institute Research

The good news? Partners have the technological foundation and market demand to succeed with AI. The challenge now is bridging the skills gap and moving from experimentation to monetization. 

Those who can combine their unique expertise with AI capabilities while maintaining strong client relationships will capture the largest share of the $36 billion opportunity ahead.

Source: IDC White Paper, sponsored by HubSpot: The Agentic Shift: AI Reshaping HubSpot’s $36B Partner Opportunity, #US53770925, September 2025

“36 billion?! I think it’s way bigger than that.”

Kevin Dean, Manobyte

The Current Reality

Partners Are All-In but Need Guidance

The data tells a clear story: 

pie chart73% of partners say they are actively embracing AI

pie chart42% are prioritizing building internal AI skills and expertise above everything else

pie chart25% are focused on identifying the right mix of AI tools to drive growth & efficiency

The Adoption Curve

From Exploration to Building

Illustration of toy building blocks

30% of partners across all tiers are building custom agents today, with higher-tier partners showing stronger adoption rates.

Partner AI Builders by Tier
Chart showing Hubspot Partner AI Builders by Tier
Partner AI Builders by Region
Hubspot Partner AI Builders by Region with Average

Source: Internal HubSpot Data, 2025

The Readiness Heatmap

Strong Foundation, Focus on Skills

Technical leadership on AI is strong: 

92.5% have deployed third-party AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)
Nearly 60% feel they have AI-ready data and tech foundations
Strong momentum in tool adoption and infrastructure

Source: Internal HubSpot Data, 2025

While teams and individuals are focused on skill-building and AI fluency, with more than half of partners investing in AI training for their staff (60%), and asserting that their teams are AI fluent (55%). That’s huge progress based on where many partners were even just 12 months ago. 

The Service Evolution

Technical Services Lead the Way

The partner revenue mix has also fundamentally shifted. Nearly one-third of solutions partner revenues now come from technical services—a marked departure from traditional offerings like writing email copy or fixing blog issues.

Current Revenue Breakdown:

32%

Technical services (AI implementations, integrations, custom development)

22%

Product sales and commissions

18%

Business services (strategy, change management)

18%

Marketing services (content, campaigns)

10%

Ongoing consulting

This shift reflects partners moving from task-based work to strategic, high-value services that can't be easily automated.

Three Transformation Archetypes

Based on our analysis, partners fall into three categories:

AI Leaders (13%)
  • Generate 20%+ revenue from AI services
  • Have comprehensive AI strategies
  • Building proprietary agents and tools
    Leading with IP + AI + EQ formula
AI Adopters (40%)
  • Actively implementing AI tools
  • Building internal capabilities
  • Generating 1-10% revenue from AI
  • Need guidance on monetization
AI Explorers (47%)
  • Recognize AI importance
  • Just starting or facing challenges
  • Limited revenue from AI services
  • Require foundational support

Source: HubSpot Internal Data 2025

The Winning Formula

IP + AI + EQ = Customer Value

Successful partners aren't just adopting AI—they're combining it strategically to deliver customer value.

IP

Intellectual Property

Your proprietary expertise from years of client delivery in specific verticals or use cases. You lead with business strategy first, then apply AI to solve real problems.

AI

Artificial Intelligence

Your ability to scale expertise using the latest tools, systems, and agents. This includes:

  • Monetizing IP by turning frameworks into agents and apps
  • Introducing AI-native services like prompt engineering, agent orchestration, AI training, and compliance design

EQ

Emotional Intelligence

Your relational intelligence—the ability to listen, build trust, and lead change. Genuine relationships that survive competitive pressure.

Illustration of two people and a globe

Regional and Global Opportunities

AI adoption shows interesting geographical patterns:

APAC leads in agent building at 36%
EMEA and LATAM are closely matched at 35% each
NAM shows the most opportunity for growth at 25%

As HubSpot expands globally with new data centers and multilingual capabilities, partners with regional expertise in compliance, cultural nuances, and localization will be essential for international deployments.

Source: Internal HubSpot Data, 2025

Bottom Line: The Foundation Is Set.

Partners have the technological foundation and market demand to succeed with AI. The challenge now is bridging the skills gap and moving from experimentation to monetization. Those who can combine their unique expertise with AI capabilities while maintaining strong client relationships will capture the largest share of the $36 billion opportunity ahead.
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What's the opportunity?
Benchmarking is only the beginning. The real advantage lies in understanding where AI can unlock new value—and how you can capture it first.
Revenue Opportunity