For years, revenue teams have operated around systems of record. CRMs, databases, and dashboards full of static data. And for a while, that was enough.
But the world has moved on. Buyers expect faster, more relevant experiences. Sales cycles are more complex. The margin for error is smaller. And the systems we once relied on are no longer keeping up.
Sales reps are stuck navigating disconnected tools. Marketing builds campaigns on stale segments. And ops teams are left trying to stitch it all together.
Jeff Ignacio, Head of GTM Operations at Keystone AI, put it simply:
But storing data isn’t the same as understanding it. That’s where context comes in.
He sees the next evolution clearly:
Today, the best-performing go-to-market teams are building systems of context.
Systems that connect the dots between data points, surface meaningful signals, and give every team member the insights they need to take the right action, at the right time.
Why systems of record aren’t enough anymore
What separates top-performing teams today isn’t whether they have data, but how they use it.
Jeff explained:
In other words, the playing field has levelled. It’s no longer about simply collecting information.
It’s about how quickly and meaningfully that information can be turned into data insights.
Jeff added:
And that edge comes from blending signals across data types, sources, and teams.
As Jeff explains, the challenge with traditional systems is fragmentation:
Traditional GTM motions relied on static fields, siloed systems, and incomplete records.
- Sales reps wasted time combing through outdated CRMs trying to find the right contact.
- Marketing built campaigns off firmographics that hadn’t been reviewed in quarters.
- And RevOps teams were left stitching together spreadsheets, tools, and guesswork just to give leadership a half-complete picture.
The result?
Slow decisions, misaligned execution, and revenue left on the table.
That’s why systems of record alone are no longer enough. They were built to store data, not make sense of it.
Today’s teams need something more.
The shift to systems of context
A system of context makes data useful. Dynamic. Actionable.
It’s not about adding more dashboards or another integration layer. It’s about giving teams the right insight, at the right moment, to take the right action.
Jeff said:
Context-first systems do three things exceptionally well:
1. They capture the right signals
From job changes and new funding rounds to open roles and inbound engagement, buying signals provide real-time indicators of interest or intent.
Jeff explained:
2. They blend information across sources
Modern teams can’t afford to treat every lead as an isolated touchpoint.
Instead, they must unify data across contacts, accounts, and activities to spot larger patterns.
Jeff said:
3. They surface insights where people already work
Context isn’t helpful if it’s buried. A true system of context delivers insights within the tools reps and marketers use daily - CRMs, inboxes, dialers, and more.
Jeff said:
Done right, a system of context functions like a real-time GTM assistant. It helps revenue teams answer critical questions faster:
- Who should we be speaking to?
- When is the right time to engage?
- Why is this company or person worth prioritising now?
And most importantly, it enables a more consistent, more coordinated, and more competitive go-to-market strategy.
How high-performing teams are getting there
They use signal data to prioritise action
Modern GTM teams aren’t just prioritising based on static lists - they’re operating in a live environment.
Instead of treating every lead equally, they’re using real-time context to spot momentum and act faster than the competition.
Signals like job changes, funding rounds, or sudden surges in account engagement don’t just sit in a dashboard - they trigger action.
When three people from the same company visit your site, that’s not just a coincidence - it’s a coordinated buying signal. When a new decision-maker steps into a role, it’s a narrow window for influence.
As Jeff puts it:
The difference is in the motion:
High-performing teams build systems that surface those signals automatically, enrich the context around them, and deliver timely insights straight into the hands of reps - so no opportunity goes cold while someone waits for a form fill.
And crucially, this context doesn’t live in isolation. It flows through the entire GTM engine, aligning SDR outreach with AE activity, informing marketing nurture, and even guiding CS handovers.
Jeff said:
They connect leads to accounts
In a traditional system of record, leads are often treated as standalone entries - just a name, a job title, an email address.
One person downloads an eBook. Another requests a demo. A third clicks an ad. And because they’re logged as individual actions, scattered across your CRM, the bigger picture gets lost.
But in a system of context, those fragments are stitched together. You’re not just looking at isolated behaviours - you’re seeing the account story unfold in real time.
Jeff explained:
This is the difference between lead-level thinking and account-level strategy. Rather than waiting until an MQL threshold is hit, high-performing GTM teams connect the dots earlier. They recognise intent signals across multiple contacts and interpret the momentum behind them.
That’s how they prioritise effectively. Instead of letting high-potential accounts slip through the cracks - or waiting for one perfect form fill - they proactively alert sales to act while interest is still hot.
And it’s not just sales who benefits:
- Marketers can tailor messaging and retargeting based on collective account activity.
- RevOps can model account health more accurately.
- And customer teams can understand stakeholder dynamics long before onboarding begins.
This kind of lead-to-account matching doesn’t just prevent dropped balls. It creates a shared context across the whole GTM engine.
One that improves speed, alignment, and ultimately, outcomes.
They enrich and complete their data
Signals only move the needle when they’re anchored in accurate, complete data.
If your CRM is full of gaps, duplicates, or outdated records, it doesn’t matter how sophisticated your GTM strategy is - you’re building on shaky ground.
That’s why high-performing teams prioritise data enrichment as a foundational step - not an afterthought.
Jeff said:
In other words, capturing a job change is only helpful if that job title is current.
Knowing a company raised funding matters - but only if the contact information for key decision-makers is still valid.
Partial data leads to poor prioritisation, wasted outreach, and lost trust.
The best teams don’t just layer signals on top of broken records - they clean, validate, and enrich their databases first. They use tools that update records automatically, fill in missing fields, and verify job titles, emails, and company details in real time.
This isn’t about perfection - it’s about confidence.
Confidence that your SDR is emailing the right person at the right company. That your ABM campaign is targeting decision-makers, not interns. That your reporting reflects the real world, not a messy approximation of it.
They prioritise flow, not just storage
The problem isn’t that data doesn’t exist.
It’s that it doesn’t reach the right person at the right time, in a way that drives action.
For example:
- An SDR sees a key persona engage with a pricing page. Instead of logging the activity and moving on, the system flags it to the AE immediately, with full account context.
- A new job change is detected for a decision-maker in an open opportunity. The signal routes to both the rep and their sales manager, so outreach can be adjusted before the next call.
- An account shows renewed web activity months after going quiet. CS and marketing are alerted simultaneously, prompting a retargeting campaign and a check-in from the customer team.
It’s about operational fluidity - where information flows cleanly between every stage of the sales funnel, reducing friction and increasing impact.
Where does AI fit into this process?
AI is accelerating every part of the go-to-market engine.
From call transcription to lead scoring to content generation, tasks that once took hours are now handled in seconds.
But speed alone doesn’t drive smarter selling - context does.
Jeff said:
That next leap - from insight to action - depends entirely on the quality of the data behind the scenes.
And that’s the catch: AI is only as good as the data it’s fed.
If your CRM is messy, your signals are fragmented, or your contact records are outdated, AI will just become an automation engine for bad decisions. It’ll surface the wrong priorities, suggest the wrong accounts, or miss the timing altogether.
That’s why systems of context are so critical. They don’t just feed data into your AI sales tool - they feed it meaningfully.
With verified, enriched, and real-time signals flowing through your GTM stack, AI tools can:
- Recommend the best contacts to reach out to - based on role, timing, and past activity.
- Flag accounts heating up - based on multi-threaded engagement and job changes.
- Suggest personalised next steps - based on conversation history, open deals, or even stalled opportunities.
Jeff said:
In other words, systems of context give AI something to work with.
They move teams beyond static predictions or one-size-fits-all workflows, towards a world where AI becomes a true assistant: proactive, personalised, and grounded in what’s actually happening.
Done right, AI becomes less about replacing humans and more about amplifying the decisions humans make.
And systems of context are what make that possible.
The last word
Jeff said:
If your CRM still acts like a digital filing cabinet - full of outdated records, isolated leads, and fragmented activity - it’s no longer serving your GTM team. And it’s certainly not keeping pace with how buyers behave today.
This isn’t just a data hygiene issue. It’s a strategic one.
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