LinkedIn’s Ty Heath on Solving B2B Buyability at B2BMX 2026

LinkedIn Executive Addresses B2B Buying Challenges at Conference

At B2BMX 2026, LinkedIn’s Ty Heath, Global Director of Thought Leadership GTM Strategy and co-founder of The B2B Institute, focused on why B2B deals stall due to buying groups lacking collective confidence rather than losing to competitors, emphasizing that marketers must solve buyability by reducing hidden friction. Heath’s session, titled 'Solving the Buyability Problem: The Hidden Friction Inside B2B Buying,' highlighted how AI-driven research, larger buying committees, and unseen stakeholders in finance, legal, and procurement make brand authority, proof, and internal alignment essential, according to Demand Gen Report. Cross-functional partnerships between marketing, sales, product, and communications teams form the backbone of business success by driving revenue growth and ensuring operational harmony.

Evolution of B2B Buying Dynamics

B2B buying decisions have shifted from involving one or two individuals to larger, more complex committees, with the average group now comprising about 8.2 people from diverse departments such as sales, HR, product development, and legal. Each member brings unique priorities and incentives, turning the process into a high-stakes negotiation where alignment is a major challenge. This evolution requires marketers to address the diverse motivations of all stakeholders to navigate these committees effectively, as detailed in Heath’s presentation.

The Role of AI in Modern Buyer Behavior

Artificial intelligence has transformed the B2B buying journey, with buyers using AI tools to research and generate shortlists before sales conversations, making them more informed and cautious. Heath noted that 94% of buyers are employing large language models (LLMs) in decision-making, which condenses the need for brand authority and credibility into these tools. This change means marketers must build a strong authoritative presence that influences both AI algorithms and human decision-makers to ensure brands appear on buyers’ shortlists.

Insights from Viability Research

Heath drew on research from LinkedIn and Bain to explain that many B2B deals are lost to indecision rather than competitors, underscoring the importance of viability as the collective confidence needed for buying groups to reach decisions. Marketers often overlook viability by focusing solely on leads and pipeline metrics, but addressing it involves questioning whether it is easy to buy from a brand and tackling unseen barriers. For instance, hidden stakeholders in finance, legal, or procurement can derail deals if unfamiliar with a brand, with scenarios where 81% of the buying group knows the brand leading to higher success rates compared to when only 4% of recommending functions are aware, according to Demand Gen Report.