Subvolts take AI agents are rewriting marketing; focus on original insights, not just SEO. Apr 14, 2026 - Business
- Learn how AI agents are transforming marketing and how to adapt your strategy for agent-led growth.
This interview offers a forward-looking perspective on marketing strategy, directly addressing the impact of AI agents on consumer behavior and business.
From SEO to Agent-Led Growth: Profound’s James Cadwallader
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Sequoia Capital's Training Data podcast features James Cadwallader of Profound discussing a major platform shift in marketing driven by AI agents. Cadwallader argues that AI agents, like those powered by Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude, are changing how consumers discover brands and make purchases. He explains why traditional SEO tactics are insufficient and emphasizes the need to provide original insights for these agents.
Imagine AI bots doing your online shopping research. This episode explains how these bots are changing how companies reach customers. Instead of just optimizing websites for search engines, businesses need to give these AI bots unique information they can't find anywhere else.
This episode is for marketers and business leaders navigating the evolving digital landscape. Cadwallader explains how AI agents are fundamentally altering consumer behavior and purchase decisions, moving beyond simple automation. Listeners will learn why current SEO strategies may fail and how to adapt by creating unique content that AI agents can leverage. It connects to frontier labs' work by highlighting the practical impact of models like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude on consumer interaction and brand visibility.
- HostSequoia Capital
- GuestJames Cadwalladerco-founder and CEO, Profound
- Episode Title: From SEO to Agent-Led Growth: Profound’s James Cadwallader
- Show: Training Data (an official AI show)
- Host Organization: Sequoia Capital
- Length: 31 minutes
- Core Argument: AI agents are causing the biggest platform shift in marketing history.
- Potential Future: Human browsing could largely cease within three years due to AI.
James Cadwallader, co-founder and CEO of Profound, makes the case that we are living through the biggest platform shift in marketing history. The front door of the internet hasn't changed, but the visitor walking through it has. Where consumers once clicked blue links, AI agents now crawl the web on their behalf, synthesizing answers and steering purchase decisions at scale.
James explains why Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude all recommend brands differently, why mapping AI visibility onto traditional SEO is the wrong instinct, and why the real imperative is to equip a superintelligent agent with original insight it couldn't find anywhere else. He also digs into the dead internet theory – the possibility that human browsing could largely cease within three years – how AI advertising may become the most effective form the world has ever seen, and why agent-led marketing isn't just automation of the old work, but an entirely new capability.
Hosted by Sonya Huang, Sequoia Capital
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Questions people ask
- What is the biggest platform shift in marketing history?
- James Cadwallader argues that AI agents crawling the web and synthesizing answers for consumers represent the biggest platform shift in marketing history.
- Why is traditional SEO not enough for AI agents?
- Mapping AI visibility onto traditional SEO is the wrong instinct because AI agents synthesize information and steer decisions differently than human searchers.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Sequoia Capital.