Founders & Funders: Building an AI-First GTM Engine
Join Pilot for an evening of candid insight and real-world wisdom with Austin Hughes, Co-Founder & CEO of Unify, the AI-first go-to-market platform powering growth for leading companies like Perplexity, Cursor, and Decagon. Presented as part of our Founders & Funders series, this conversation brings together founders, funders, and operators for an honest look at how AI is reshaping the art and science of go-to-market.
Hosted by Pilot, this session dives deep into the realities of building and scaling in the AI era where intent signals, automation, and human creativity intersect to create the next generation of growth engines.
We’ll explore:
The AI-Driven GTM Shift: How AI agents, unified intent data, and automated outbound are redefining how teams generate pipeline and engage buyers
From Zero to Scale: Lessons on building fast-moving growth teams, operationalizing creativity, and scaling from hundreds to thousands of customers
Buyer Intent as a System: What it means to turn raw intent into actionable pipeline and how the best teams are doing it today
The Founder’s POV on Growth: How founders can architect GTM functions that adapt to changing market dynamics, tooling, and buyer expectations
The Future of Revenue Teams: Where AI, discipline, and human judgment converge to shape the next decade of sales, marketing, and growth
Whether you’re a founder building your next venture, an investor evaluating the future of GTM, or an operator navigating the shift to AI-first workflows, this conversation will offer practical playbooks and unfiltered perspectives.
Come for the honest growth stories, stay for the lively discussion, drinks, bites, and great company.
About Austin Hughes:
Austin Hughes is Co-Founder and CEO at Unify, a go-to-market technology platform built to scale revenue teams’ creativity. He previously led the growth product team at Ramp, playing a key role in scaling the company from a few hundred to over 12,000 customers in just a few years. Before Ramp, Austin was an investor at SoftBank. He holds a degree in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University and is originally from the Bay Area.
About Unify:
Unify is a system of action for growing revenue. The platform captures intent data, runs agents, and sends personalized outbound so teams can engage buyers at the right moment, through automated workflows or with reps in the loop. Growth, marketing, and sales teams at companies like Perplexity, Cursor, and Decagon use Unify to turn buyer intent into pipeline and revenue.
About Pilot:
Pilot provides expert bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services tailored to startups and small businesses. Headquartered in San Francisco and Nashville, Pilot combines U.S.-based finance experts with powerful software to deliver trustworthy financials and actionable insights—helping founders focus on what they do best: building their businesses.