Configuration follows the blueprint. The deliverable is platform selection and the working setup behind it, which means the stack is specified against the route to market rather than assembled from a feature comparison. A company with one marketer does not need the stack of a company with thirty.
The market conditions are documented. The 2026 Marketing Technology Landscape lists 15,505 products, effectively flat year on year, and Gartner puts martech at 19.4 per cent of the marketing budget, down from 26.6 per cent in 2021. Pricing also changed shape. HubSpot moved Breeze agents to outcome-based credits from 14 April 2026, at 50 credits for a resolved conversation and 100 for a recommended lead, and Salesforce sells Agentforce three ways, including US$2 per conversation. Both mean a configuration decision now carries a unit cost that belongs in the CAC model rather than in a software line.
