GEO as the Next Foundational Platform Shift – Where Venture Capitalist Sees the Billion-Dollar Opportunities, Panel Discussion at Index’25

The business landscape is undergoing a major transformation as GEO emerges as the next foundational platform shift, following in the footsteps of internet, cloud, and mobile revolutions. At Index’25, hosted by Pepper, this panel brought together renowned investors, operators, and strategists to discuss where billion-dollar opportunities are surfacing and how marketers, technologists, and founders can thrive within this new paradigm

Panel 

• Paul Daugherty: The former CTO and Group Chief Executive of Technology at Accenture, where he led more than 700,000 professionals worldwide in driving digital transformation. He’s also the co-author of Radically Human and Human + Machine
• Jonathan Metrick: Chief Growth Officer at Sagard and a multi-strategy global asset manager, Jonathan was previously at Procter & Gamble and Policygenius, and has led growth and marketing at both Fortune 500 giants and high-growth startup
• Dev Khare: Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, one of the world’s most influential VC firms, with a track record of backing unicorns across SaaS, consumer, and fintech. With decades of experience across Silicon Valley and India, he’s seen firsthand how platform shifts create category-defining companies
• Neal Behrend – Former marketing leader at Fortune 100 consumer brands. He brings unmatched expertise in scaling loyalty, growth, and brand trust at a global level
• Moderator: AJ Gandhi: Founder of GTM Leaders Society. With decades of experience scaling GTM functions, he has become a go-to advisor for CMOs, CROs, and founders navigating growth in competitive markets

Key Insights and Takeaways

• GEO is Reshaping Discovery: Major drops in web traffic are occurring as users transition from Google and other engines to direct LLM platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini for discovery, comparison, and decision-making
• Revenue vs. Traffic Focus: Companies must shift from tracking traffic metrics to measuring real conversion, revenue, and visibility across generative platforms. Leading brands are experimenting with new tools for omnichannel search visibility
• Arbitrage and Freshness Windows: Success in the new environment means rapidly testing new strategies such as using proprietary data and frequent citation/refresh cycles, before competitive windows close. Automated pipelines for insights and updates differentiate winners from those left behind
• AI as a New UI: AI-driven agents are quickly becoming the primary interface for consumer and B2B interactions. Web presence is less a conversion tool and more a training ground for these bots to shape agentic behavior and decisions
• Human + AI for Lasting Impact: The most resilient companies combine sophisticated automation with human expertise, especially in areas where trust, QA, and high-specialization matter. Product alone isn’t enough, process mastery and proprietary insights create real moats

Thought Leadership

• The End of Traditional Moats: Product-based advantages are fading as barriers to switching drop; workflow sophistication, outcome-based models, and ecosystem integration are the new sources of defensibility
• Team Structure and Skillsets: Marketers and leaders must adapt by blending custom AI solutions with scalable human oversight. The future belongs to agile organizations that master both automation and differentiated workflows
• GEO as the Next Branding Platform: New brands will emerge, leveraging AI to offer uniquely tailored products and experiences. The panel underscored the opportunity for incumbent enterprises to transform legacy advantages into AI-infused service paradigms

Rising costs, falling productivity, and fast-changing consumer habits mean legacy go-to-market strategies are no longer reliable. The best-performing businesses are those willing to experiment, invest in both technology and human insight, and move quickly to turn workflow expertise into profitable outcomes. GEO, agentic commerce, and AI-driven engagement are only the beginning. Companies that adapt now will lead the next wave of disruption.To learn more or to explore Pepper’s tools for AI search visibility and strategy: book a demo here or reach out on business@peppercontent.in