In this clip, Tracy walks through how signals are reshaping the way revenue teams operate inside HubSpot, why simply having data isn’t enough, and what it takes to actually turn intent into pipeline and revenue.
At the Profoundly Annual Kickoff 2026, Tracy Thomas, Product Manager at HubSpot, delivered a practical and highly relevant session on one of the most important shifts happening inside modern revenue teams: how to turn signals into actual revenue.
The session, “From Signals to Revenue: Intent Recognition Inside HubSpot,” unpacked a simple but often misunderstood truth — signals don’t drive revenue. Systems do.
This blog breaks down the key insights and shows how marketing, operations, and sales teams can align around signals to drive measurable growth.
A signal is any meaningful event that indicates a change in a prospect or customer’s situation.
These can include:
Inside HubSpot, signals are now embedded directly into workflows, records, and segmentation tools — making them actionable rather than just informational.
Signals are only valuable if they trigger action.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that simply having access to intent data or signals creates value.
It doesn’t.
As Tracy highlighted, most teams fail at one of these stages:
Without a system, signals become noise.
The real opportunity lies in turning signals into automated, coordinated workflows that drive behavior across teams.
This is where the concept of AIRops (AI Revenue Operations) comes in — a model where AI and automation orchestrate how revenue systems respond to real-time data.
Traditionally, marketing waits for inbound activity — form fills, demo requests, or website visits.
Signals flip this model.
Using HubSpot’s intent data, teams can identify when a target account is researching a topic before they engage directly.
What marketing can do:
Marketing moves from reactive → proactive, engaging buyers before competitors even know they exist.
Operations teams play the most critical role: making signals usable at scale.
The challenge isn’t finding signals — it’s reducing friction in acting on them.
When a company raises funding:
Instead of manual research, signals become routing logic inside the system.
Signals move from insight → infrastructure
Sales teams don’t need more data — they need better context and timing.
Signals enable reps to:
When a known contact joins a new company:
Sales moves from static lists to dynamic, signal-driven prioritisation
Individually, signals help.
But the real impact comes when marketing, operations, and sales align around them.
This creates a continuous loop where signals:
In the session, Tracy shared an example from a HubSpot customer that implemented signal-based workflows:
Signals don’t just improve efficiency — they expand the funnel itself.
One of the most important takeaways from this session is the evolving role of RevOps.
RevOps is no longer just reporting on the funnel.
It is responsible for:
Most teams already have access to more data than they can use.
The problem isn’t volume.
It’s execution.
To succeed with signals inside HubSpot:
Intent signals in HubSpot are data points that indicate when a company or contact is showing interest or undergoing a meaningful change — such as researching a topic, raising funding, or changing jobs. These signals help teams act at the right time with the right context.
Intent signals help revenue teams engage earlier, prioritise better, and automate workflows. When used correctly, they lead to higher conversion rates, faster deal cycles, and increased pipeline generation.
AIRops refers to the use of AI and automation to manage and optimise revenue operations. It focuses on turning real-time data (like signals) into automated actions across marketing, sales, and operations.
Marketing teams can use signals to:
This allows them to move from reactive to proactive engagement.
RevOps is responsible for operationalising signals — turning them into workflows, scoring models, routing rules, and reporting systems that drive measurable outcomes.