#829: ActiveCampaign CEO Jason VandeBoom on AI as foundation versus feature

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

The Agile Brand

Business, Marketing

4.9 • 113 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you had to start your business over from scratch today, would you build it the same way, or would you build it entirely around an AI core? Agility requires more than just adapting to change; it demands a willingness to proactively dismantle what's working today in order to build what's necessary for tomorrow. It’s about challenging the very playbook that brought you success, especially when a fundamental shift like AI arrives. Today, we're going to talk about the playbook for building a unicorn-level business in one era, and the courage it takes to reinvent that playbook for the next. We’ll discuss the difference between using AI as a feature versus using it as a foundation, and how leadership and team structure need to evolve to not just survive, but thrive, during this shift. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jason VandeBoom, Founder & CEO at ActiveCampaign. About Jason VandeBoom Jason founded ActiveCampaign in 2003 and continues to lead the company as Founder and CEO. Under his leadership, ActiveCampaign has become the leading intelligent marketing automation platform, supporting over 180,000 businesses across 170+ countries. Now with over 700 employees across offices in the USA, Europe, Australia, Costa Rica, and Brazil, Jason has transformed ActiveCampaign from a side project to support his studies into a $250m+ ARR privately-owned leader in marketing automation. Jason also serves on the board of the Future Founders Foundation, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. Jason VandeBoom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvandeboom/ Resources ActiveCampaign: https://www.activecampaign.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Agile Brand
0:02.3	Welcome to Season 8 of the Agile Brand podcast.
0:10.1	This season we're going all in on expert mode
0:12.7	MARTEC, AI, and customer experience, talking with the people and
0:16.8	platforms behind the brands you know and love.
0:19.4	I'm Greg Kilstrom, your host, and I help Fortune 1000 companies make sense of
0:23.8	Martec, AI, and marketing ops.
0:26.6	Hit subscribe or follow to make sure you always get the latest episodes and leave us a rating
0:30.8	so others can find us as well.
0:32.8	And make sure you check out our sponsor, Tech Systems, an industry leader in full-stack
0:36.8	technology services, talent services, and real leader in full-stack technology services,
0:38.3	talent services, and real-world application. For more information, go to teK-systems.com. Now let's dive in.
0:46.3	If you had to start your business over from scratch today, would you build it the same way or would you build it entirely around
0:54.2	an AI core?
0:55.1	Agility requires more than just adapting to change.
0:58.8	It demands a willingness to proactively dismantle what's working today in order to build
1:02.5	what's necessary for tomorrow.
1:05.0	It's about challenging the very playbook that brought you success, especially when a fundamental
1:08.7	shift like AI arrives. Today we're going to talk about the playbook for building a unicorn-level business in one era,
1:15.6	and the courage it takes to reinvent that playbook for the next.
1:18.6	We're going to discuss the difference between using AI as a feature versus using it as a foundation,
1:23.6	and how leadership and team structure need to evolve to not just survive, but thrive during this shift.
	...

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