By Shankar Ganapathy, Co-founder, Boomerang AI. Published November 12, 2026.
The best-performing GTM channel in B2B is the one most teams are not planning to fund next year.
That is the clearest contradiction in the 2026 State of B2B GTM report from Kyle Poyar (Growth Unhinged) and Maja Voje (GTM Strategist). They surveyed 300 software and AI companies in September 2026.
Network and intros came out on top on almost every measure that matters. Then, when asked where they will increase investment in 2027, respondents put it sixth.
What the report says about network and intros
- It is the most common core channel. 62% of companies say network and intros is a core GTM channel, #1 of 16 channels. SEO is second at 51%. (p.16)
- It has the best odds of ROI. On the report's ROI heatmap, network and intros is the only channel rated "excellent odds of ROI" in every deal size band: under $5K, $5K to $50K and over $50K ACV. (p.21)
- It leads for bigger deals. It is the #1 top-3 channel for $5K to $50K ACV (39%) and for deals over $50K (51%). (p.20)
- The authors say it plainly. In their summary, network and intros are "the most popular and the most effective GTM channel." (p.4)
Where teams plan to put more money in 2027
| Channel | Plan to increase investment in 2027 |
|---|---|
| AI search (AEO) | 50% |
| Signal-based outbound | 48% |
| Intimate events | 42% |
| LinkedIn posting | 34% |
| Ecosystem partnerships | 28% |
| Network and intros | 24% |
Source: 2026 State of B2B GTM report, p.28 (N=300).
The best channel is sixth in line for money. At companies with $10M to $50M ARR, only 15% plan to invest more in it. (p.29)
Why the best channel gets the least budget
1. Intros have no line item
You can buy an AEO tool. You can buy a signals platform. Both come with a contract, an owner and a dashboard, so they fit neatly into a budget.
Intros usually live in a founder's inbox, a few senior reps' heads, and an occasional Slack message asking "does anyone know someone at this account?" There is nothing to buy more of, so there is nothing to put in the plan. The channel works, but it is not run as a channel.
When teams do try to give it a budget, the obvious options are awkward. Digideck, which sells interactive sales presentations to sports teams and brands, looked at asking its customer success managers to source intros. That would have meant paying them a share of commission on deals they helped open, which the team did not want to take on. (case study)
2. The channel scales with the founder, then stops
Founder-led sales is the most common primary GTM motion in the report (26%). It is the main motion for 44% of companies under $1M ARR, but only 2% of companies over $50M. (pp.11, 13)
Network and intros follow the same curve. It is the #1 top-3 channel under $1M ARR (54%) and at $1M to $10M (46%).
At $10M to $50M it drops to #3 (29%). Over $50M it is not in the top four. (p.22)
One respondent described their biggest challenge as acquiring customers "beyond my personal network." (p.9) That is the problem in five words.
3. Teams that try to scale it do it by hand
1mind, a Boomerang AI customer, saw this inside its own data. Its 15 AEs source their own pipeline with no SDR team, and nearbound deals close at 3x the rate of outbound.
A few reps had already worked it out. They kept spreadsheets of paths into accounts, cross-checked the advisor list against their LinkedIn mutuals, and used Claude to sift through the results.
"It was working for them. But we just had no way of scaling it up."
Josh Carter, Head of Revenue Operations, 1mind (case study)
That is what the 24% looks like from the inside. Not doubt about the channel. No way to scale it.
The fair counterpoint
A channel that 62% already call core has less room to grow than one that 39% use, like AI search. Some of the gap is saturation, not neglect. But saturation does not explain why the channel fades as companies grow, or why the most effective channel is the one teams are least likely to systematize.
Teams that did give intros a line item
Armis grew past $300M ARR on its way to being acquired by ServiceNow for $7.75B. Its BDR and Growth Operations teams mapped 26,000+ warm paths into the company's top 5,000 accounts, and executive meetings from warm intros converted at 3x their cold baseline. Jason, who runs Global Business Operations and the Customer Team, called relationships "something we're doubling down as a key strategy for us." (case study)
Digideck has three new-business reps, and two of them spend most of the fall at trade shows. Instead of paying CSMs for intros, it connected Boomerang AI to Claude through the Boomerang MCP and had Claude work its 6,300+ customer and prospect relationships at once. The one rep at home opened 3 to 4 new opportunities within weeks. (case study)
Neither treated intros as a founder favour. Both made them a system with an owner.
How to give intros a line item in 2027
- Measure it as its own source. Track warm-sourced pipeline separately from outbound, inbound and events, the way 1mind does. If you cannot see the qualification and close-rate gap, you cannot defend the budget.
- Map the whole network, not just the founder's. Your team, investors and board, customers and partners all know people at your target accounts. Write down who they are before you write another sequence.
- Match paths to accounts. For each target account, list who on your side knows someone there, and the evidence: past work overlap, a shared board, a customer relationship.
- Let AI do the research, not the relationship. Digideck had Claude query its relationship data for every account at once. The AI finds the path; a person still makes the intro.
- Make the ask easy. Draft a short, forwardable note the connector can send in their own voice. Vague requests get ignored.
- Track and remember. Log who was asked, when and what happened, so nobody asks the same advisor three times in a month.
The Warm Intro Playbook has templates and a tracker for each step.
Where the report lands
The report's closing argues that the two ways to win right now are being "exceptional at relationships and being exceptional at AI." (p.39) Most 2027 plans fund the AI end of that barbell. The relationship end is the one with the best ROI, and the one most teams still run on memory and goodwill.
Read next: Why warm intros stop working after $10M ARR and Signals tell you who. Intros get you in.
Sources
- 2026 State of B2B GTM report, Kyle Poyar and Maja Voje, October 2026 (N=300): pp.4, 9, 11, 13, 16, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29, 39. https://stateofb2bgtm.com/
- 1mind case study, Boomerang AI: https://www.getboomerang.ai/customers/1mind-relationships-record-pipeline-weeks
- Armis case study: https://www.getboomerang.ai/customers/scaling-smarter-inside-armis-agentic-ai-playbook-for-sustainable-pipeline-growth
- Digideck case study: https://www.getboomerang.ai/customers/digideck-claude-boomerang-mcp-abm
- ServiceNow completes Armis acquisition (Business Wire, 20 Apr 2026): https://secure.businesswire.com/news/home/20260419639334/en/ServiceNow-completes-Armis-acquisition-closing-the-gap-between-asset-visibility-and-cyber-risk
Figures from the report are survey responses. The interpretation of why intros rank lower for 2027 investment is ours, not the authors'.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 2026 State of B2B GTM report?
A survey of 300 B2B software and AI companies run in September 2026 by Kyle Poyar of Growth Unhinged and Maja Voje of GTM Strategist. It covers GTM motions, channels, signals, AI adoption and tools, and is free at stateofb2bgtm.com.
Which GTM channel works best in 2026?
In the 2026 State of B2B GTM report, network and intros is the most common core channel, named by 62% of companies, and the only channel rated excellent odds of ROI in every deal size band, from under $5K to over $50K ACV.
Where are B2B teams increasing GTM investment in 2027?
In the 2026 State of B2B GTM report, AI search (AEO) at 50% and signal-based outbound at 48% lead the list of channels where teams plan to increase investment. Network and intros is sixth, at 24%, despite its top ROI rating.
Why don't teams invest more in warm introductions?
Our reading: intros usually depend on a founder's or a few reps' personal networks, with no tool, owner or budget line, so there is nothing obvious to invest in. The report's own data shows the channel fading as founder-led sales fades.
How do you scale warm introductions beyond the founder?
Map every connector your company has (team, investors and board, customers, partners) against your target accounts, rank paths by evidence, draft the ask for the right person to send, and track the outcome as its own pipeline source.
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