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Why Traditional B2B Marketing Falls Apart When Selling AI Infrastructure
Most AI companies are racing to build the next ChatGPT or Midjourney. But beneath the flashy applications, there’s a critical infrastructure layer powering the AI revolution. In a recent episode of Unicorn Builders, Rodolfo Yiu, Head of Demand Gen at Anyscale, revealed how they’re rewriting the B2B marketing playbook to sell this essential but complex technology.
The Traditional Enterprise Marketing Playbook Is Broken
When you’re selling infrastructure that powers companies like Canva and Runway, conventional demand generation tactics fall flat. “I think a lot of like how I would think about a traditional conversion campaign…is probably what I would drive less,” Rodolfo explains. The reason? Infrastructure buying decisions aren’t triggered by white papers or LinkedIn ads – they’re driven by deep technical needs and knowledge gaps.
This realization forced Anyscale to fundamentally rethink their go-to-market approach. Instead of chasing quick conversions, they built their strategy around two core pillars: open source adoption and commercial success. As Rodolfo puts it, “If no one uses Ray, Anyscale won’t be successful. If Anyscale is not building proprietary algorithms to make Ray users successful, like we won’t have a business as well.”
The Knowledge Gap Problem
But Anyscale faced a more fundamental challenge: their buyers, despite being technically sophisticated, often lacked deep understanding of AI infrastructure optimization. “There’s a knowledge gap in our buyers,” Rodolfo notes. This gap couldn’t be bridged with traditional marketing materials.
Their solution? Turn education into a core part of their go-to-market strategy. Anyscale launched certifications, self-paced courses, and enterprise workshops. This wasn’t just about training – it was about advancing sales conversations by helping potential buyers understand the full scope of their infrastructure challenges.
Evolving Beyond Technical ROI
As Anyscale grew, they encountered another challenge: the need to speak to both technical practitioners and C-suite decision makers. “Right now we actually need to talk to like a CTO, the CPO, the CIO because the budgets are getting bigger and bigger,” Rodolfo shares.
This required a sophisticated approach to value proposition. Instead of focusing solely on technical capabilities, Anyscale learned to frame their solution within the broader context of enterprise infrastructure costs. As Rodolfo explains, “We need to think beyond just us… We need to think about like that whole tech stack, how much they’re paying AWS and GCP, how much they’re paying Nvidia’s.”
Building Sales and Marketing Alignment in Deep Tech
Perhaps most interestingly, Anyscale discovered that traditional marketing-sales alignment strategies don’t work in deep tech. Rodolfo’s solution? Get marketing involved at the deal level: “If you are not talking about a specific account, specific people with the rep doesn’t want to talk to you because you are not really helping with my accounts.”
This granular approach ensures marketing efforts directly support real sales opportunities rather than chasing vanity metrics. It’s a stark departure from the typical enterprise marketing playbook that focuses on high-level metrics and general awareness campaigns.
The Future of AI Infrastructure Marketing
As the AI infrastructure market continues to evolve at breakneck speed, Anyscale’s marketing strategy remains fluid. “How do we allow some space to adjust the quick double changes in the AI market?” Rodolfo asks. Their answer is maintaining close partnerships with ecosystem players to stay ahead of industry shifts.
For B2B founders selling complex technology, Anyscale’s journey offers valuable lessons: traditional demand generation might not work, education could be your best marketing tool, and sales-marketing alignment needs to happen at the deal level. Most importantly, it shows that when conventional marketing wisdom fails, the willingness to rewrite the playbook might be your biggest advantage.
The Ray open-source community serves as Anyscale's "crown jewels" in their GTM approach. Rodolfo emphasized, "If no one uses Ray, Anyscale won't be successful." B2B founders should consider how open-source components can create a natural adoption funnel and community-driven growth.
Anyscale sees two distinct paths to customer conversion: longtime Ray users upgrading to enterprise, and new customers directly adopting Anyscale. As Rodolfo explained, "The market is maturing...people have more needs of like more performance AI workloads then we actually see people just exploring Ray and they realize Anyscale is a great solution already." B2B founders should design their GTM to accommodate multiple adoption patterns.
As deal sizes grow, Anyscale has expanded their messaging beyond technical users to reach C-suite buyers. Rodolfo shared, "Right now we actually need to talk to like a CTO, the CPO, the CIO because the budgets are getting bigger and bigger." Founders should develop multi-level value propositions that resonate with both technical users and executive decision-makers.
Rodolfo revealed they're moving away from conventional conversion campaigns: "I think a lot of like how I would think about a traditional like conversion campaign...is probably what I would drive less." Instead, focus on knowledge-sharing and educational content that helps developers advance their careers and expertise.
To bridge the sales-marketing divide, Rodolfo advocates getting into deal-specific details: "If you are not talking about a specific account, specific people with the rep, they don't want to talk to you because you are not really helping with my accounts." B2B founders should encourage marketing teams to engage at the opportunity level rather than just high-level metrics.