Demand & Expand 2026 is not trying to be a broad marketing conference for everyone. It is built for the teams that have to make the full funnel work in the real world. The event says it is the premier event for B2B marketing teams and brings together more than 600 B2B marketers and marketing leaders for two full days of sessions and connections in San Francisco. It also says AI will be infused throughout, with many sessions showing how attendees are using Claude Code and agents in their roles.
Where B2B Marketing Gets Less Siloed
Demand & Expand is built around a simple but overdue idea. Product-led, sales-led, demand, lifecycle, customer, and ops teams should not be living in separate universes. The event positions itself as the only live conference designed to unite the full funnel, which is exactly why it matters right now.
This is not a place for vague “brand awareness” talk. It is built for marketers who need pipeline, conversion, retention, and expansion to actually connect. That is why the agenda is split into tracks like Demand, GTM Ops, PLGTM, and Expand, with a CMO Executive Summit layered in for senior leaders.
Also Read: Sales and Marketing SLA Agreement in 2026: How to Align Teams for Predictable Revenue Growth
What to Expect at Demand & Expand 2026?
Two Full Days of Tactical Content
The conference is structured around in-depth sessions and meaningful connections. The site explicitly says there are no panels here, which tells you the format is meant to be practical, direct, and operator-led.
Five Tracks Built Around Real GTM Work
The event includes the Demand track, GTM Ops track, PLGTM track, Expand track, and an invite-only CMO Executive Summit. Topics range from AI-assisted ABM and attribution to product onboarding, customer marketing, lifecycle marketing, and revenue operations.
AI Infused Across the Program
AI is not a side note here. The event says AI will be infused throughout, and many sessions will show how people are using Claude Code and agents to assist in their roles. That puts AI in the middle of execution, not just on the edges as a trend session.
A CMO Summit for Senior Marketers
The invite-only CMO Executive Summit takes place on May 18, the day before the main conference, and is designed for marketing executives, VP level and above, at upper mid-market and enterprise companies. The summit is focused on AI marketing transformation and running marketing in the AI era.
Awards and Community Energy
Demand & Expand also includes awards announced live on stage during the conference, which adds another layer of community and recognition around the event. The award categories include demand campaign, expand campaign, marketing ops and automation, B2B marketing tech, CMO of the year, newsletter, and community.
Key Themes Driving the 2026 Program
AI as a Working Layer, Not a Demo
The event is clearly leaning into AI as an operational tool. Claude Code and agents are being woven into the content itself, which shows the conference is focused on how teams will actually use AI inside marketing workflows.
Full Funnel Alignment
The whole idea behind the conference is to bring together teams that usually operate separately. Demand generation, product-led growth, customer marketing, marketing ops, and revenue ops are all part of the same conversation here.
Practical GTM Execution
The tracks are built around execution-heavy topics like attribution, AEO/GEO, marketing operations, product onboarding, lifecycle strategy, and expansion. That is the real draw. Not theory. Not decks. Execution.
Senior-Led Peer Learning
The event is clearly aimed at marketers who are already deep in the work. The speaker line-up and audience profile both point to experienced operators rather than entry-level attendees.
Featured Speakers and Industry Voices
Demand & Expand’s official speaker list shows a strong mix of senior marketing leaders across customer marketing, demand gen, lifecycle, ops, and platform strategy. Some of the featured speakers include:
- Kevin Lau – VP, Global Customer Marketing, Freshworks
- Lorena Morales – Director of Global Digital Marketing Revenue Operations, JLL
- Nani Shaffer – VP of Demand Generation, Invoca
- Ashley Faus – Head of Lifecycle Marketing, Portfolio, Atlassian
- Colin Netal – Head of Demand Generation – B2B, Otter.ai
The Demand & Expand Experience
Demand & Expand is designed to feel like a working room, not a passive audience event. The agenda is split across multiple tracks, with two days of content, an invite-only CMO summit, and sessions that are intentionally free of panels. Add in the award program, the networking layer, and the focus on practical AI use, and the event starts to look less like a conference and more like a GTM operating system for three days.
The FAQ also makes it clear the event is for people working in PLG or SLG environments, especially in leadership roles, and includes CMOs, demand, growth, lifecycle and customer marketing, marketing ops, and revenue ops. That is a very specific audience, and honestly, that is what makes it useful.
Why Demand & Expand 2026 Matters
B2B marketing is getting pulled in too many directions. More tools. More channels. More AI. More pressure to prove revenue impact. Demand & Expand matters because it is built for the teams trying to connect all of that without losing the plot.
Attendees walk away with sharper GTM ideas, stronger peer connections, a better view of how other teams are using AI, and a clearer understanding of how demand, product-led growth, and expansion actually fit together. That is the point. Not noise. Not fluff. A full-funnel room where the work gets discussed like the work matters.
👉 Discover more at: www.demandandexpand.com/
