Why this report exists
The Story
- —GTM Engineering is one of the most leveraged roles in growth
- —Poorly defined and inconsistently compensated
- —Tooling complexity is increasing
- —This report captures the inflection point with real benchmarks
2026 Edition
The State of GTM Engineering
The first benchmark report on compensation, tooling, org design, and commentary from GTM Engineers.
225+ respondents worldwide•
Available now
Presented by
View the Report
Data collected from 225+ GTMEs worldwide including those at companies like
Where the data came from
Methodology
Respondents
225+ GTM Engineers, RevOps, Sales Engineers, Growth Engineers
Date Range
Q4 2025 - Q1 2026
Roles Included
GTM Engineers, RevOps, Sales Engineers, Growth Engineers
Geography
All around the world
What's inside
Benchmark Categories
01
Compensation + Equity
Benchmarks for salary, equity, and total compensation
02
Tooling Stacks + ROI
What tools teams use and their impact
03
Org Design + Reporting
How teams are structured and who they report to
04
Bottlenecks + Future
Challenges and the future of the role
Testimonials
What GTMEs are saying
"Two things will be true heading into 2026: what's possible is expanding fast, but most companies are still tripping over the same fundamentals. The winners won't be the ones with the boldest ideas, they'll be the ones who build an operating system that turns strategy into consistent execution."
"In 2026, tools won't be the bottleneck. Well-structured, retrieval-ready context: Foundations any system can use, iterate on, and apply consistently. AI already handles execution to 90%. Chase tools, fall behind. Build context, tools follow. Clarity of thought and expression plus taste will drive successful work."
"GTM Engineering is becoming increasingly self-made, with engineers building their own solutions using tools like Claude Code to move faster and stay autonomous. At the same time, it's expanding beyond sales to support the entire revenue org through bespoke, automated solutions across marketing, customer success, and support."
"idk i just click buttons on my keyboard in a certain order and my bank account keeps going up"
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"My prediction: More teams will be bringing GTM Engineering in-house and it'll play a more crucial role in Strategy & Ops. We'll see the JD become more technical with GTM Engineers building their own apps/tools. This undoubtedly will unlock new use cases + expand on existing ones. I'm still keen on seeing which department(s) the role will land in."
"My prediction is that context will live in a shared space people can access and the top 5% of teams will use Claude code to build bespoke stuff."
"The 2000s digitized everything, the 2010s replaced infrastructure with SaaS, and the 2020s are making context itself the code that powers connected systems. GTM Engineers who thrive will be the ones who bridge sales metrics and marketing funnels with technical execution—the automation architects who understand revenue systems end-to-end. This decade belongs to those who turn strategy into systematic execution."
Sponsors
Presented by
From the Rho team
"A GTM engineering team isn't a support function - it's the tip of the spear. While everyone else is sitting in meetings debating strategy, your GTM engineers are in the trenches weaponizing data, automating the grind, and building the infrastructure that turns pipeline into revenue. You don't hire these people to keep the lights on. You hire them to make your go-to-market motion feel inevitable - like every lead, every touchpoint, every conversion was always supposed to happen exactly that way. This team doesn't need to wait for permission. They ship, they measure, they iterate, and they do it before anyone else realizes there was a problem to solve."
Tommy McNulty
CRO
"You want to know what GTM engineering actually is? It's being the person everyone calls when the funnel is leaking, and nobody knows why. I just open the hood and start cutting wires until I find the one that's fried. I sit between systems that were never meant to talk to each other and I force them to have a conversation. Salesforce to HubSpot to Snowflake to Slack to Clay - I'm the interpreter, the plumber, and the electrician all at once. I don't wait for a ticket. I see the problem, I claim it, and I squash it."
Logan Hine
Growth Engineer
Authors
The Team
Garrett Wolfe
OneGTM + Startup Founder
10K+ LinkedIn followers, 250+ Substack subscribers
Click to learn more
Alex Lindahl
Clay / Claymation
22K+ LinkedIn followers, 5K+ subscribers
Click to learn more
Frequently asked questions
FAQ
What is The State of GTM Engineering report?
The State of GTM Engineering is the first benchmark report dedicated to GTM Engineering. It covers compensation and equity, tooling stacks and ROI, org design and reporting lines, and the bottlenecks shaping the future of the role, based on survey data from 225+ GTM Engineers worldwide.
What is a GTM Engineer (GTME)?
A GTM Engineer is a technical go-to-market operator who builds the data, automation, and AI workflows behind pipeline and revenue. GTM Engineers sit between sales, marketing, RevOps, and data systems, using tools like Clay, CRMs, warehouses, and AI coding agents to turn GTM strategy into systematic execution.
Who created the report?
The report was created by Garrett Wolfe (OneGTM), Alex Lindahl (Clay / Claymation), and Maja Voje (GTM Strategist). It is presented by Rho, with Wiza, Juicebox, and Exportly as supporting partners. Sponsors have no editorial control and no influence on the findings.
How was the data collected?
The 2026 edition surveyed 225+ GTM Engineers, RevOps professionals, Sales Engineers, and Growth Engineers worldwide between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, including practitioners at companies such as Rippling, Ramp, Hex, Vimeo, Vercel, Cursor, Docker, and Clay.
What does the report cover?
Four benchmark areas: GTM Engineer compensation and equity; tooling stacks and their ROI; org design, including who GTM Engineers report to; and the biggest bottlenecks and predictions for the future of the role.
How do I get the report?
The 2026 report is available now. Enter your work email on the stateofgtme.com homepage to get instant access to the full report.
How can I contribute data to the next edition?
GTM Engineers can add their data by taking the State of GTME survey linked on the homepage. Responses feed future editions of the benchmark.