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GTM 159: Scaling ZoomInfo to over $1B ARR, the Upmarket Playbook, and Launching CoPilot to over $200M ACV in 6 months | James Roth
Season 1 Episode 159
James Roth is the Chief Revenue Officer at ZoomInfo, where he oversees a global revenue engine supporting over 37,000 customers and more than $1 billion in ARR. With a background in scaling hypergrowth teams and building enterprise go-to-market machines, James has helped reposition ZoomInfo from a sales tool to the foundational data layer for modern GTM teams. Under his leadership, ZoomInfo launched Copilot, its flagship AI product, and executed a bold shift upmarket — transitioning from transactional selling to a data-first, enterprise-driven GTM strategy.
Discussed in This Episode
- How ZoomInfo transitioned from transactional selling to enterprise go-to-market
- The "Good Co, Bad Co" framework for segment-specific product retention
- Why ZoomInfo changed its ticker symbol to GTM
- Launching Copilot and driving $220M ACV in under 6 months
- How internal AI usage became the go-to-market motion
- Key shifts in comp design and team segmentation for scaling upmarket
- Using telemetry and real-time signal tracking to measure rep effectiveness
- Lessons in long-term execution vs. short-term growth pressure
Episode Highlights
00:00 — ZoomInfo's evolution from a sales tool to a data-first platform
17:06 — Why data as a service is ZoomInfo’s fastest-growing business
20:43 — How to build and apply the “Good Co, Bad Co” segmentation framework
26:26 — The hard part about going upmarket? Aligning the full funnel org
30:19 — Changing your ticker to GTM: A bold positioning play
34:31 — Copilot’s $220M launch: The power of internal usage
39:53 — Most AI tools show <5% revenue lift. Here's why
43:29 — How ZoomInfo is operationalizing AI across the org
48:29 — The signals > activity shift in modern sales measurement
52:18 — What James wants future CROs to steal: Think long-term, build patiently
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Guest Links
Host Links
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/sophiebuona
- Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
- Website: https://gtmnow.com
Where to Find GTMnow
• Website: https://gtmnow.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/
• X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now
• The GTM Podcast: https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/
The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.
Published on 4 hours ago