2025 made one thing clear: martech, adtech, and performance tech are being rebuilt around simpler, modular pieces. Stacks bloated with point solutions were picked apart. The companies that did well separated what scales, what repeats, and what should stay close to the core. AI played a role, but the real story was cleaner quarters, steadier margins, and product lines that could stand on their own.​

At RAD Intel, that showed up in the work and the numbers. Seven‑figure relationships renewed and expanded. Larger deals came through agencies that understood how to run slimmer, performance‑anchored programs. 

We head into 2026 with roughly two times last year’s sales contracts, without a big jump in headcount. That did not come from adding more software. It came from removing drag and treating each part of the business like it needs to carry its own weight. 

Consolidation Without the Buzzwords

Consolidation pressure is now a daily reality in marcom. Buyers have less patience for “full stack” stories and more interest in clear, discrete engines they can evaluate on their own merits. In practice, that means a few things:

  • Products that can grow without being propped up by services.

  • Services that show repeatable margins instead of one‑off hero projects.

  • Data and AI layers that improve decision quality without creating new chaos.​

Our AI buyout strategy has focused on that line. Across our ecosystem, we saw deals move faster when there was a clean connection between behavior, revenue, and cost to serve. We also saw good assets stuck inside structures that made that line hard to see. The work this year was about untangling those pieces, not dressing them up.​

Setting Up the Next Chapter

The most useful lesson from 2025 is simple: separate what should be separate, and let each piece prove itself. Teams that did that ended the year with more options. They could raise, sell, or keep building without explaining away a messy mix of models.​

The same logic applies inside our own portfolio. We have lines of business that now operate with their own rhythm, their own customers, and their own performance profiles. You will see more of that show up in how we talk about RAD Intel in 2026. The through‑line will stay the same: disciplined expansion, clear performance, and structures that make sense to operators and investors at the same time.

2026 Shifts We’re Watching

  • Fewer tools, deeper stacks
    Teams are consolidating around a smaller set of platforms that can prove they move revenue, not just produce reports.​

  • Services that look more like product
    Managed work is getting packaged into repeatable offerings with clearer pricing, margins, and outcomes.​

  • Creative that starts from behavior
    Briefs that begin with how people actually act are beating those built around opinions and legacy calendars.​

  • AI as a filter, not a feature
    The real value is in using AI to cut bad ideas and wasted spend early, not to add new layers.​

  • Deal flow favoring clean lines
    Companies that separate their models and show simple, traceable economics are moving to the front of the line.​

You did not read this far to chase noise. We will keep building for the version of this market where discipline, performance, and clarity are the things that compound.


Stay relentless,

Jeremy