#trust-building

At the May 2026 MarTech Conference, a panel moderated by Angela Vega, director of capabilities and operations at Expedia Group, featured marketing leaders discussing how brands can deliver personalized customer experiences without appearing invasive. The session, titled "Winning attention without losing trust: creating meaningful moments across the customer journey," included Alec Haase, general manager of AI products at High Touch; Sean Nowlin, founder and CEO of Spotlight IQ; and Ed Poppe,...

Buyers are researching independently, comparing options, and forming opinions before engaging with sales, as noted in a recent MarTech article. Google AI Overviews now appear across searches with commercial and transactional intent, meaning the first interaction with a brand might be a synthesized answer from multiple sources rather than direct engagement.

Today's buyers research independently, compare options, and form opinions before engaging with sales, as Google AI Overviews now appear across many searches, including those with commercial and transactional intent. This means the first interaction with a brand might be a synthesized answer from multiple sources, requiring brands to compete for inclusion in AI-generated responses rather than just attention.