What Technology & SaaS Buyers Need Now—and What It Means for Marketing

Nearly seven in ten B2B software buyers say an AI chatbot led them to choose a different vendor than they expected. One in three bought from a vendor they had not even considered when they started (G2). Those decisions were shaped before a single sales call, inside conversations most marketing teams never see.

And winning the shortlist is only half the battle. A buyer can want your software and still be unable to buy it. Finance needs a credible business case. Security needs answers. The operating team needs a workable transition.

Technology and SaaS buyers have not stopped buying. They have stopped waiting for vendors to tell them what to buy. In 2026, the shortlist is increasingly assembled in an AI chat window, checked against review sites and peers, and then stress-tested by a CFO, a security team, and a procurement lead before anyone signs.

For CMOs and marketing decision makers at companies generating $5 million or more a year, this changes where marketing creates value. The work is moving upstream, into the places buyers form opinions before they ever fill out a form. It is also moving downstream, into the evidence a buying committee needs to say yes.

At Webolutions, we have guided businesses through every major shift in how buyers find and choose vendors since John Vachalek founded the agency in 1994. From our offices in the Denver Tech Center and downtown Denver, we are watching this shift play out among our neighbors. Below, we break down what technology and SaaS buyers need now, what Denver and DTC technology companies are already doing about it, and what it means for your marketing plan.

The Short Version

Discovery has moved into AI. Roughly half of B2B software buyers now start research in an AI chatbot more often than in Google (G2).
The shortlist forms before you know a deal exists. The eventual winner was on the buyer’s Day One shortlist about 95% of the time, and buyers first contacted a seller about 61% of the way through their journey (6sense).
Buyers want to self-serve, then verify. Two-thirds prefer a rep-free experience, yet 69% still turn to a sales rep to validate what AI told them (Gartner).
The committee is bigger, and finance holds the pen. A typical decision now involves 13 internal stakeholders and nine external influencers (Forrester), and nearly half of software buyers saw a CFO veto an already approved purchase in the past year (G2).
Proof beats promises. Trials, transparent pricing, security documentation, and fast time-to-value now decide the deals that awareness campaigns merely start.
Visibility and decision support must connect. Webolutions’ review of ten Denver-area providers found that high-volume educational rankings and purchase-ready content serve different buyers, and domain totals often mix in existing-customer traffic.

What Technology and SaaS Buyers Need Now

Today’s technology buyer needs six things from a vendor, and most of them are delivered before a salesperson is involved. The 2026 research from G2, Gartner, Forrester, TrustRadius, and 6sense points in the same direction: AI made finding vendors faster, but it made choosing one harder.

1. To find you inside the AI answer

AI chatbots are now the front door of B2B software research. G2’s spring 2026 survey of more than 1,000 buyers found that 71% rely on chatbots for software research and that 51% start there more often than with Google (G2 AI Search Insight Report). The same survey of 1,076 decision-makers found that 69% chose a different vendor than expected because of what a chatbot surfaced.

The practical consequence is blunt. If an AI engine does not understand what you do, who you serve, and why you are credible, you are not on the list it hands the buyer. Your website, review profiles, and third-party coverage are now the training ground for those answers.

2. To trust what they found, which means verifying it

Buyers use AI, but they do not take it at face value. TrustRadius reports that 63% of technology buyers used AI during a purchase, yet 94% fact-check its answers at least some of the time (MarketScale on TrustRadius). Gartner found buyers split almost evenly on whether AI (51%) or sales reps (49%) are more likely to mislead them, and 69% prefer to validate AI-generated insights with a rep (Gartner).

Review sites carry real weight in that verification. In G2’s 2026 Buyer Behavior Report, review sites (38%) edged past AI chatbots (37%) as the top source shaping which vendors make a shortlist (G2).

3. A self-directed path with a human on call

Buyers want to move on their own terms. Gartner’s survey of 645 buyers found 67% prefer a rep-free experience and 70% prefer a fully digital, self-service buying experience (Gartner). They still want an expert available at the moments that matter: framing the problem, confirming a preferred supplier, and closing.

That self-direction also means the race is often decided early. 6sense’s study of nearly 4,000 buyers found buyers initiate contact more than 80% of the time, usually reach out first to the vendor they intend to buy from, and buy from their Day One shortlist the vast majority of the time (6sense).

4. Content built for a committee, not a contact

A single persona no longer buys software. Forrester’s The State of Business Buying, 2026 puts the typical decision at 13 internal stakeholders plus nine external influencers, and finds procurement acting as a decision-maker in 53% of buying cycles (Forrester). Each of those people asks a different question, and each one can stall the deal. The person who fills out your form is rarely the person who approves the purchase, and content that cannot be forwarded to security, finance, and procurement stops at your champion’s outbox.

5. A business case the CFO will sign

Finance is now a gatekeeper. G2 reports that finance involvement in software decisions jumped from 31% to 46% in a single year, and nearly half of buyers had a CFO veto a purchase that was already approved (G2). Among buyers who lived through a late-stage veto, three in four now expect positive ROI within six months of signing.

Pricing expectations are shifting with it. Seventy percent of buyers say the pace of AI change is pushing them toward shorter contracts, and preference for outcome-based pricing roughly doubled from 11% to 23% since 2025 (G2).

Flexible pricing only helps when it is predictable. Usage-based models can add budget uncertainty rather than share risk, so buyers want vendors to explain likely consumption, overage rules, and how costs can be controlled.

6. Proof of security, governance, and real-world value

Evaluation is now the longest stage of the journey, and IT security review is its single biggest source of delay, cited by 39% of buyers and 50% of enterprise buyers (G2). Concern about internal resistance to AI adoption also nearly doubled in a year, from 16% to 29%.

Buyers close that risk gap with hands-on evidence. Forrester found more than 60% of business buyers now use a trial before purchasing, rising to 78% for purchases of $10 million or more (Forrester).

The Denver and Denver Tech Center Lens

Denver’s technology companies are already reshaping how they go to market around these buyer needs: they are selling outcomes instead of seats, letting buyers test before they commit, and treating security and governance as part of the pitch. The region gives CMOs a useful close-up view because it mixes global distributors, channel marketplaces, identity security firms, and consumer-facing platforms within a few miles of each other.

A region built on technology buyers

The Denver Tech Center was founded in 1962 and grew into the historic home of Colorado’s cable and telecommunications industry (Wikipedia; Built In Colorado). Today, the broader tech sector accounts for about 10% of Colorado’s employment and 20% of its GDP (Colorado Technology Association). CompTIA projects Denver’s tech workforce will grow 2.2% in 2026, adding nearly 3,500 net jobs, a pace among the top 10 U.S. metros (ColoradoBiz).

That mix makes the region a useful laboratory. The companies below sell to very different buyers, from managed service providers to identity security teams to consumer brands, yet they are converging on the same playbook.

What local technology companies are doing

Company	Location	What it is doing in 2026	What it signals about buyers
Pax8	Greenwood Village (DTC)	Launched a Managed Intelligence Provider program, managed AI services, and an agent store for MSP partners; its research finds nearly 9 in 10 SMBs use or test AI, but few report ROI	Buyers adopt AI quickly but pay for outcomes, governance, and a clear path to ROI
Arrow Electronics	Centennial (DTC area)	Opened global experience centers where partners test AI, cloud, and security solutions before investing; partners using them averaged a 90% proposal close rate	Hands-on proof is now one of the strongest sales assets
Ping Identity	Downtown Denver	Named Google Cloud’s 2026 security partner of the year for identity; sells through Google Cloud Marketplace and positions around governing both human and AI agent activity	Security and AI governance are buying criteria, and marketplaces are where procurement happens
Ibotta	Downtown Denver	Q2 2026 revenue rose 3% to $88.9 million, beating guidance, as it added performance-based promotion partners such as Uber and 7-Eleven	Pay-for-performance models resonate when buyers must prove ROI

Three patterns worth copying

Sell the outcome, not the license. Pax8 is openly preparing its partners for pricing that tracks business results rather than devices or users (ChannelE2E). That mirrors G2’s finding that outcome-based pricing preference doubled in a year. Your messaging, case studies, and pricing pages should lead with measurable results.
Turn the trial into the marketing. Arrow’s experience centers exist so customers can see a solution working before they buy. That 90% close rate is what happens when proof replaces persuasion. For most companies, the equivalent is an interactive demo, a sandbox, an ROI calculator, or a pilot program promoted as prominently as the product itself.
Market trust as a feature. Ping Identity leads with security credentials, partner validation, and AI governance, and publishes its security exhibit and compliance documentation where any reviewer can find them. That material is armor for the internal champion who has to clear IT review. With IT security review now the top cause of buying delays, a public trust center, clear data practices, and third-party certifications belong in your marketing, not buried in a sales folder.

Colorado’s AI law raises the bar on documentation

Colorado adds a local wrinkle that buyers will notice. On May 14, 2026, the state replaced its original AI Act with SB 26-189, which takes effect January 1, 2027 (Crowell & Moring via Mondaq). The law focuses on automated decision tools that influence consequential decisions in areas such as employment, housing, credit, insurance, health care, and education.

For technology vendors, the key change is documentation. Developers must give their customers written information on intended uses, known risks and limits, the categories of personal data used in training, and how humans should oversee the system. Most vendors are not yet providing this as a standard deliverable. Procurement and legal teams will start asking for it, and vendors who publish it clearly will look easier to buy.

What Webolutions Found Across Selected Denver-Area Providers

Our own review of ten Denver-area technology providers shows the gap these buyer shifts create: search visibility and purchase-support content serve different jobs, and the strongest providers connect them. To ground the industry research in observable examples, Webolutions examined SEMrush U.S. organic position data and public website resources for Nextworld, AbsenceSoft, SambaSafety, Engrain, Pathify, Intellistack, zLinq, Homebot, VORTO, and zvelo. The sample spans different markets and software-plus-service models.

Search visibility reflects very different buyer questions

The same company can rank for a broad educational topic and a narrow, purchase-ready question. Both matter, but they do not represent the same buyer.

Provider	Illustrative query	Estimated U.S. monthly searches	Type of question
AbsenceSoft	leave of absence	14,800	Educational
SambaSafety	mvr meaning	3,600	Educational
AbsenceSoft	leave management software	1,000	Solution category
SambaSafety	driver safety software	170	Solution category
Pathify	student experience platform	90	Solution category
Nextworld	how much does an erp system and implementation cost	50	Cost and evaluation

Source: SEMrush U.S. organic position snapshots dated October 27, 2026. Volumes are SEMrush estimates, not actual visits or unique buyers. Examples are illustrative and do not represent each provider’s full keyword mix.

A definition query can attract a large, broad audience. A cost or software-category query answers a smaller but far more purchase-specific need. Search volume alone cannot tell a CMO which one matters more, and a 50-search query about ERP implementation cost may carry more revenue weight than a 14,800-search definition.

Several providers already publish real decision support

The review also surfaced strong examples of the evaluation content buyers now look for:

AbsenceSoft offers an ROI calculator with guidance on using the results in a business case, alongside implementation, security, and integration information.
Nextworld publishes pricing and explains its support, training, and approach to starting with a specific business process.
Homebot spells out plan charges, setup fees, capacity, and expansion terms.
Pathify presents customer stories along with information on integrations and governance, including a Grand View University story reporting 90% fewer emails to students.

These assets map directly to the CFO, security, and implementation questions described above. Their presence does not prove sales effectiveness, and we did not independently validate the calculations or performance claims.

Domain-level totals can overstate acquisition demand

The data also contained customer-portal navigation, documentation, community resources, and brand misspellings. Pathify’s records, for example, included "my uvu," a query pointing to a university’s student portal built on its platform.

That visibility has value, but it comes from existing users, not prospective software buyers. Reporting every ranking or estimated visit as new-business demand blends different audiences and inflates the picture. The more useful question is whether the content that earns attention leads a suitable buyer to the evidence they need next.

What the study means for Denver technology marketers

The pattern reinforces the buyer research. Attention is only the first step; the companies best positioned to win are the ones whose visibility connects to pricing logic, ROI support, security detail, and implementation clarity. Geography identifies these companies as part of Denver’s business community, not their buyers as local, so their marketing has to reflect national and global purchasing processes.

Methodology: Webolutions used ten previously selected providers, not a random or representative sample. Analysis used SEMrush U.S. organic position records from a single snapshot, with brand variations, customer subdomains, and mixed-intent terms reviewed manually. Public pages were reviewed October 29, 2026; retrieval limits affected Engrain and zLinq. No historical trends, AI-related traffic changes, leads, or revenue are inferred.

What This Means for Your Marketing

Marketing’s job has shifted from generating leads to earning a place on the shortlist and then arming the buying committee to approve it. That requires changes in where you invest, what you publish, and how you measure success.

Map each buyer need to a marketing asset

What buyers need	What marketing should build	How to measure it
To find you in the AI answer	Clear entity and category positioning, structured data, comparison and alternatives pages, and third-party citations	Brand mentions and citations across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews
To verify what they found	Active review programs on G2 and TrustRadius, analyst and peer validation, named customer proof	Review volume, recency, and rating; share of shortlist-stage review traffic
A self-directed path	Interactive demos, transparent pricing ranges, self-serve trials, fast routes to an expert	Demo and trial starts; time from first visit to first sales conversation
Content for the committee	Role-specific pages and briefs for finance, IT security, procurement, and end users	Buying-group engagement by account, not single-contact MQLs
A CFO-ready business case	ROI and TCO calculators, payback benchmarks, flexible contract options	Win rate after finance review; deal slippage at budget approval
Proof of security and value	A public trust center, AI and data documentation, certifications, pilot results	Days spent in security review; deals lost at evaluation

Six priorities for the next two quarters

Make your brand legible to AI engines. Answer engines recommend what they can understand and corroborate. Define your category, audience, and differentiators consistently across your website, schema markup, review profiles, and earned media. Then audit what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews actually say about you versus competitors.
Compete for Day One, not for the form fill. 6sense found the eventual winner was almost always on the buyer’s initial shortlist. Brand awareness, prior experience, and category authority built months earlier now decide more deals than late-funnel nurture.
Publish the evidence buyers hunt for. Pricing logic, security posture, implementation timelines, and ROI benchmarks are now research topics, not sales secrets. If you do not publish them, an AI engine or a competitor will frame them for you.
Retool sales enablement around validation. Gartner’s data shows buyers come to reps to confirm what they already learned. Give sellers content that resolves conflicting AI claims, answers CFO and security questions, and proves outcomes.
Retire metrics built for the old funnel. Form-based MQLs undercount a journey that happens largely out of view. Track AI visibility, shortlist inclusion, buying-group engagement, and stage-by-stage velocity alongside pipeline and revenue. Separate prospect demand from customer-portal, documentation, and brand traffic so domain-level totals do not overstate acquisition.
Treat the renewal as a campaign. G2 notes that buyers re-evaluate vendors they have already chosen, and a better alternative is always one AI query away. Document adoption and outcomes throughout the contract term, and start value reviews well before renewal.

A Quick Buyer-Readiness Check

Answer these eight questions honestly. Every "no" marks a point where a buyer can drop you from the shortlist without ever telling you.

When you ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity for the leading vendors in your category, does your company appear, and is the description accurate?
Do you have recent, plentiful reviews on the sites your buyers check, such as G2 or TrustRadius?
Can a buyer understand your pricing model, or at least a realistic range, without talking to sales?
Can a prospect see your product working through a trial, sandbox, or interactive demo?
Do you have content written specifically for finance, IT security, and procurement?
Can a champion hand their CFO an ROI model or payback benchmark taken from your website?
Are your security practices, data handling, and AI documentation published where a reviewer can find them?
Can your reporting separate prospect demand from customer, documentation, and brand traffic?

If you are the one buying technology

Many marketing leaders reading this are also buyers of martech, AI tools, and analytics platforms. The same research applies to your own purchases. Use AI for discovery, but verify claims through reviews, peers, and trials. Ask vendors for outcome-based or shorter-term options, ROI within a defined window, and written documentation of how their AI uses your data. If your organization operates in Colorado, that documentation request will soon be backed by state law.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are technology and SaaS buyers using AI to choose vendors?

Most now use AI chatbots to research, compare, and shortlist software. G2 found 51% of buyers start research in a chatbot more often than in Google, and 69% chose a different vendor than expected because of what a chatbot surfaced (G2). Buyers still verify those answers, with 94% fact-checking AI at least some of the time (TrustRadius via MarketScale).

When do B2B software buyers first contact a vendor?

On average, buyers make first contact about 61% of the way through their buying journey, and they initiate that contact more than 80% of the time. The vendor that wins is usually already on the buyer’s Day One shortlist (6sense).

Why do software deals stall after a vendor is selected?

Evaluation is now the longest stage of the journey. IT security review is the biggest source of delay, finance involvement in software decisions rose from 31% to 46% in a year, and nearly half of buyers saw a CFO veto an approved purchase (G2).

What content do SaaS buyers need before talking to sales?

Buyers look for pricing logic, ROI and total-cost tools, security and AI documentation, credible reviews, and a way to try the product. More than 60% of business buyers now use a trial before purchasing (Forrester).

How does Colorado’s AI law affect technology companies?

Colorado’s SB 26-189 takes effect January 1, 2027, and covers automated decision tools used in consequential decisions such as employment, credit, housing, insurance, health care, and education. Developers must give customers documentation on intended uses, known risks, training data categories, and human oversight (Crowell & Moring via Mondaq).

The Webolutions Perspective: Three Decades of Buyer Shifts

This is not the first time buyers have changed the rules, and the companies that adapt early win. John Vachalek founded Webolutions in 1994, which makes us one of the most experienced web design and digital marketing agencies in the country. Over more than 30 years, we have helped clients navigate the arrival of the commercial web, the rise of search engines, the move to mobile, the growth of social and review platforms, and now the shift to AI answer engines.

Each shift followed the same pattern. Buyers found a faster way to research, vendors who understood it gained visibility, and vendors who waited lost deals they never knew they were in. What has changed in 2026 is the speed. A buyer can now build a shortlist in a single prompt.

Our strategy-first approach connects marketing strategy, SEO, AI optimization, content, and website design and development into one system built around measurable business goals. From our offices in the Denver Tech Center and downtown Denver, we help growth-minded organizations become the brand AI engines recommend, the vendor buyers shortlist on Day One, and the choice the buying committee can defend.

Before your next marketing investment, ask a harder question than "Will this generate attention?" Ask instead: "Which buyer decision will this make easier?" That is the difference between a buyer who wants your software and one who can actually buy it.

Is your brand on the shortlist before the first sales call? Request a free proposal from Webolutions, and we will show you how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews describe your company today, where your search visibility actually comes from, and which evaluation assets your buyers cannot find. Contact Webolutions or call 303-300-2640.

Sources

Webolutions study sources: SEMrush U.S. organic position data (snapshot October 27, 2026); AbsenceSoft ROI calculator; Nextworld pricing; Homebot agent pricing; Pathify customer stories.

Additional company sources: Ping Identity security exhibit; Pathify: Grand View University reduces emails by 90%.