Welcome back to The Hypha Wire!

It’s the Friday before a holiday. Let’s jump right into our content for the day!

I hope everyone enjoys a nice long weekend.

-Sage Levene, VP of Marketing, Hypha HubSpot Development

Open Mic

Summer’s Over. Now What?

By Phil Stott, Head of Client Success, Hypha HubSpot Development

Labor Day weekend always feels like a strange pause, but this year especially. Everyone’s at the lake while Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce plan what will undoubtedly be the most-covered wedding in human history (sorry, Mr. Bezos). Meanwhile, business leaders are trying to navigate an economy that defies prediction and AI tools that promise everything while delivering mixed results.

If you’re like most executives I work with, this year has been an exercise in constant recalibration. The AI revolution feels simultaneously overblown and inevitable. Economic indicators point in every direction at once. Your competitors are either betting everything on automation or pretending generative AI doesn’t exist.

This uncertainty isn’t going away. What separates companies that will thrive from those that won’t isn’t having perfect information about what comes next; it’s building systems resilient enough to handle multiple scenarios.

I’ve watched (and helped) clients tackle this all year. The successful ones aren’t chasing every AI tool or making dramatic pivots based on headlines. They’re auditing what actually generates revenue, strengthening relationships with their most valuable customers, and retooling their marketing approach to show up in front of potential customers more often, rather than waiting for them to type the magic words into a search box that will serve up their site.

With all that in mind, the final third of this year presents a unique opportunity. While competitors are either paralyzed by uncertainty or distracted by the latest trend, you can focus on fundamentals. That CRM optimization you’ve been postponing. The content strategy that never launched. The automation workflow that’s been “almost ready” since spring.

These months aren’t just about hitting quarterly targets anymore. They’re about positioning your business to capitalize on whatever clarity emerges in 2026. The companies that use this period strategically—who make tough decisions about resource allocation and actually execute on delayed initiatives—will have significant advantages when the dust settles.

Whatever next year brings, you’ll be ready for it.

Second Hand News

Backlinko: SEO vs. GEO, AEO, LLMO: What Marketers Need to Know ➜

This is a great explainer that breaks down the alphabet soup that is “blank” optimization. They all have a great deal of overlap, but have their own nuances to be aware of. These terms are going to keep popping up, so it’s important to understand which aspect of the optimizing you’re talking about.

Marketing Brew: The Congressional Creators Caucus is taking on Washington this fall ➜

Independent creators are looking for a seat at the table.

Hypha Highlights

Speed to growth has always been a priority for portfolio companies, but the rapid advancement of AI is redefining what’s possible, particularly in driving operational efficiency. Meanwhile, marketing is becoming increasingly complex, with the expansion of channels, platforms, and data streams, creating the perfect environment to leverage AI for sharper execution and measurable impact.

Recent data highlights just how quickly AI and digital adoption are reshaping the market.

These trends point to a clear reality: While portcos face transformation across every function, marketing must scale smarter, faster, and with precision. That’s where a Fractional CMO solution comes in: They can align marketing strategy, systems, and AI-driven execution to turn HubSpot into the growth engine portfolio companies need to drive measurable returns and prepare for exit.

Read: AI & HubSpot: How Fractional CMOs Future Proof Marketing for Portfolio Companies ➜

HubSpot Hacks

A new certification is available in HubSpot Academy: Content Hub Software Certification.

“How effective are your current content strategies? Discover how Content Hub can impact your content creation by streamlining processes, optimizing management efficiency, and providing in-depth analytics. In this certification, you’ll learn how to leverage AI-driven tools like Breeze. These tools offer secure and personalized experiences that drive growth and improve content management for consistency and accessibility. Then, you’ll learn how to create engaging podcasts, dive into data-driven case studies, and review comprehensive analytics to refine strategies and improve performance. Finally, you’ll gain the skills necessary to elevate your brand’s engagement and achieve measurable results.”

AI in Action

News, updates and tools from the AI industry.

It’s the AI roundup! (To the tune of Final Countdown):

Microsoft announced two new AI models on Thursday: MAI-Voice-1, a speech model that can produce a minute of audio in under a second using one GPU, and MAI-1-preview, a text model that could power future versions of Copilot. Microsoft’s AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, told Semafor, “This is a model that is punching way above its weight,” demonstrating the company’s push to compete directly with OpenAI and others and control its own destiny in the AI race.

Google revealed that the viral AI image editor “Nano Banana” is actually its own project, now officially launching as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image in the Gemini app with improved editing capabilities that preserve facial consistency. The tool aims to address a key weakness in AI image generation where edited photos of real people often end up looking like different individuals, with Google’s Nicole Brichtova explaining that “when editing pictures of yourself or people you know well, subtle flaws matter.” (Editor’s Note: Certainly raises red flags in relation to deepfakes.)

Anthropic will begin training its AI models on user chat transcripts and coding sessions unless users opt out by September 28th, marking a significant shift in the company’s data practices. The policy change applies to consumer accounts and extends data retention to five years, though users can disable this feature through their privacy settings if they notice the toggle switch that’s automatically set to “On” in the consent pop-up.

Meta is rushing to launch its next AI model, Llama 4.X, by year-end through its Meta Superintelligence Labs. This comes after the April release of Llama 4 disappointed developers with poor performance in coding and reasoning tasks. The company is simultaneously trying to fix bugs in Llama 4 while developing the new model, though the superintelligence lab has already lost eight employees just two months after its launch.

1x Speed

The podcasts Team Hypha has queued up.

Hard Fork: Is This an A.I. Bubble? + Meta’s Missing Morals + TikTok Shock Slop

“This week, the whole tech world seemed to be asking: Are we in an A.I. bubble? We’ll explore the cases for and against, including who we think stands to lose most. Then we’re joined by the journalist Jeff Horwitz to discuss his blockbuster reporting about an internal Meta policy document that permit the company’s chatbots to engage in romantic role-playing with children. And finally, Casey introduces Kevin to a shocking new TikTok trend.”

How can we help you?

Case Study: Zoho to HubSpot

Thanks for reading! See you next week! -Team Hypha