
Advertise on podcast: Presales Podcast by Presales Collective
Rating
4.9from
This podcast has
150 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Jack CochranExplicit
No
Date created
2020/05/16
Latest episode
2026/10/12
Average duration
32 min.
Release period
16 days
Description
Presales Podcast by Presales Collective is a podcast dedicated to growing the Solution Consulting community. We aim to provide presales professionals with the resources, knowledge, network, and mentorship to develop long, impactful careers. On the Presales Podcast, you'll hear from global presales leaders, top individual contributors, industry experts, enablement professionals, and entrepreneurs who have developed products for our profession.
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Check latest episodes from Presales Podcast by Presales Collective podcast
Moving from a Top IC to a New Presales Leader with Akanksha Sehgal
2026/10/12
Making the leap from top-performing individual contributor to effective leader is one of the toughest transitions to make as a Solutions professional. Host Avery Cochran sits down with Akanksha Sehgal, Director of Worldwide Technical Solutions at Omnisa, to explore why the skills that make you a great SE often don't translate to leadership. Akanksha shares her 13-year journey, from handling strategic accounts to leading global teams, and reveals the mindset shifts required at each stage of leadership growth.
Follow Us Connect with Avery Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avery-cochran/
Connect with Akanksha Sehgal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanksha-sehgal/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Key Topics Covered The Challenge of Moving from Expert SE to Leader
Demonstrating Leadership Before Getting the Title
Building Influence and Trust with Former Peers
How Success Metrics Change from IC to Manager
The "Smartest Person Trap" and Letting Your Team Shine
Creating Strategic Thinking Time vs. Staying Tactical
Progressing to Senior Leadership and Managing a Function
Breaking Down Silos Through Cross-Functional Collaboration
Making Hard Decisions and Balancing Business with People
Being Your Authentic Self as a Leader
Getting through the Internal Politics with Samantha Burrell
2026/09/28
In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James welcome Samantha Burrell, an enterprise solutions consultant at BenchLink, to discuss how she successfully launched "Demo Face-Off," a gamified enablement competition for her global SC organization. Samantha shares the complete journey from identifying a gap in product enablement when returning from maternity leave to navigating internal politics, securing buy-in from multiple stakeholders, and executing a March Madness-style demo competition that ran over two months.
Thank you to Baton AI for sponsoring this episode. Check out more at getbaton.ai
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/ Connect with Samantha Burrell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-r-burrell/
Links and Resources Mentioned Baton AI: https://www.getbaton.ai/
Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
PSC Unscripted episode with Samantha: https://youtu.be/2nZjv-vWdF0
Key Topics Covered Demo Face-Off Competition Structure: A March Madness-Style Global Competition
Identifying Gaps from Personal Pain Points After Maternity Leave
Navigating Internal Politics and Getting Multi-Stakeholder Buy-In
Connecting Enablement Initiatives to ARR Impact
Using AI Tools for First-Time Project Planning and Execution
Driving Participation Through Competition, Prizes, and Recognition
Making Enablement Entertaining with Production Value and Energy
Cultural Considerations for Global Teams and Iteration Based on Feedback
Individual Contributor Influence Without Formal Authority
Cross-Functional Benefits and Expanding Impact Beyond the SC Team
Live at Sol/Con 2026! Four Skills Driving Sales Outcomes with Rew Dickinson
2026/09/14
In this live podcast episode recorded at Sol/Con 2026, Rew Dickinson, CEO and founder of Alpha Go-To-Market, joins co-hosts Jack Cochran and Matthew James to present a framework of four core skills that drive sales outcomes for solutions engineers.
Follow Us
Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Rew Dickinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rewdickinson/
Key Topics Covered The SE Talk-Time Problem: How Gong call analysis reveals SEs dominating conversations with product talk instead of listening
The Starbucks Story: Rew's revelation that SEs are often the most influential person in the sales cycle
Knowledge Layer: Why SEs must understand how prospect companies make money before demos
Storytelling for Pre-Sales: Shifting from product-centric to prospect-focused narratives
The iPhone Value Exercise: Live demonstration showing value exists in the gap between current and desired state
Discovery Beyond Requirements: Creating vision with questions like "If I shadowed your team for a week, what would I see slowing them down?"
Leadership and Taking a Stance: Why SEs need to be prescriptive ("you should") instead of offering endless options ("you could")
The Tenure Gap: SEs average 7 years versus sales reps at 2 years—and why SEs should leverage this expertise advantage
Being the Founding SC with Alex Margolis
2026/08/31
Alex Margolis joins the show with cohosts Jack Cochran and Mathew James to share his experience as a founding sales engineer, pulling back the curtain on what it's really like to be the first SE at a startup. Alex discusses his deliberate decision to target founding SE roles as a way to fast-forward his career after six years at a company with limited growth opportunities, expecting to build processes and lead strategically from day one. Instead, he found himself supporting eight AEs and an equal number of BDRs, running five demos a day in a high-velocity sales environment that left little time for the strategic work he'd been promised.
Follow Us
Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Alex Margolis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexnmargolis/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast
Key Topics Covered Motivations for seeking founding SE roles and fast-forwarding your career
The sales assistant trap: expectations vs. reality of strategic involvement
Supporting eight AEs plus BDRs as the only SE in a high-velocity environment
Setting boundaries and tracking workload to prioritize effectively
Cross-functional relationship building as the company "facsimile"
Interview questions to ask when evaluating founding SE opportunities
Who the right fit is for high-volume founding SE roles
Finding company culture fit and working with good people
Building Repeatable Methodologies with Paul Vogt
2026/08/17
In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Paul Vogt, VP of Pre-Sales and Professional Services at GPG, to explore how building repeatable methodologies can transform solutions organizations at scale. The conversation dives deep into two powerful frameworks: the Technical Win Definition (5 binary yes/no questions that eliminate ambiguity and improve forecast accuracy) and the PGA Framework (Purpose, Goal, Agenda for planning every customer meeting).
Thank you to Saleo for sponsoring this episode: https://saleo.io
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Paul Vogt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulvogt00/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Podcast: https://presalescollective.com/podcast
Paul's Blog: https://www.art-of-sales-engineering.com/
Key Topics Covered Paul's Career Journey: From Defense Contractor to Scaling Pre-Sales Teams at Twilio
The Alaska Cellular Network Project: Building the First Network in Remote Communities
Customer Lifecycle Gaps: Why 70% of Churn Happens During Onboarding
Technical Win Definition: Creating 5 Binary Questions to Eliminate Ambiguity
How Technical Win Criteria Improve Forecast Accuracy Better Than Sales Tracking
The PGA Framework: Purpose, Goal, Agenda for Every Customer Meeting
Warning Signs Your Organization Needs Repeatable Methodologies
Using Metrics to Identify Where Deals Slow Down (POC-to-Win Rates as Diagnostic)
The Lost Art of Prep Calls and Meeting Alignment
Practice and Preparation: Why Pre-Sales Professionals Should Train Like Athletes
Small Impactful Changes: The Ted Lasso Approach to Leadership
Adapting to the Changing World of Presales with Steve Bullington
2026/08/03
In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Steve Bullington, Global Public Sector Sales Onboarding and Strategic Programs Lead at Salesforce, to explore the seismic shifts reshaping presales. Steve draws powerful parallels between today's transformation and the move from perpetual licenses to SaaS, arguing that we're experiencing an equally fundamental change as the industry shifts to consumption-based pricing models.
Follow Us
Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Steve Bullington: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebullington/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Key Topics Covered The Evolution of Presales: From Technical Expert to Business Value Architect
Consumption-Based Pricing Models and the Death of Shelfware
The Critical Importance of Accurate Consumption Forecasting
Forward-Deployed Engineers: The 10x Growth of a New Role
AI's Impact on Demo Capabilities and Presales Productivity
The Current Maturity Level of AI (Comparable to SaaS in 2000)
Which Sales Roles Face AI Replacement and Future Career Pathways
The Need to Accelerate Professional Development Beyond 1% Daily
Debunking the Traditional Path to Presales with Adam Bauman
2026/07/20
In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James sit down with Adam Bauman, Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong, to challenge the myth of the "traditional" path into presales. Adam shares his journey from nearly 20 years in software engineering and management into solutions engineering, exploring why technical backgrounds can be powerful entry points into presales.
The conversation also tackles practical advice for both sides of the hiring equation: how candidates without presales experience can demonstrate their value in interviews, and how hiring managers can look beyond traditional backgrounds to find great talent.
Follow Us
Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Adam Bauman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjbauman/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Unscripted: https://luma.com/pscunscripted
Key Topics Covered What Defines a "Traditional" Path to Presales and Why Most Paths Are Non-Traditional
Adam's 20-Year Engineering Career and What Drew Him to Presales
The Learning Curve: Demos, Confidence, and Learning Not to Know Everything
Scoping Engagements and Understanding Buying Journeys Beyond Technical Validation
Staying Involved Through Security, Procurement, and Legal Reviews
Understanding Business Value and ROI from an Engineering Mindset
Using AI Tools Like Claude for Personal and Professional Efficiency
How to Interview for Presales Without Traditional Experience
Changes Needed in Recruiting: Using Rubrics and Formalized Evaluation
Timestamps 00:00 Start
03:36 Welcome Adam Bauman
06:58 Building confidence without all the answers
10:25 Drawing from an engineering background
13:55 Timeline for feeling confident in the role
22:07 Communicating value without presales experience
24:34 Changes needed in recruiting and hiring
27:23 Final Thoughts
Becoming Sales Leadership's Trusted Advisor with Lisa Jameson
2026/07/06
In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James sit down with Lisa Jameson, a seasoned solutions professional, to explore how she built strategic influence and became a trusted advisor to sales leadership without moving into management.
Lisa provides a practical framework for assessing your current level of trust with sales leadership, finding creative solutions beyond product limitations, and ultimately structuring a custom role that maximizes your impact while staying on the individual contributor track.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Mathew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Lisa Jameson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisajamesondb/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Key Topics Covered Building Initial Trust Through Proactive Learning and Debrief Calls
The Deal Review as Critical Trust Builder for Won and Lost Deals
Strategic Use of Closed Lost Deals to Increase Credibility
The "If We're Working It, We're Working It" Philosophy
Recognizing When Sales Teams Trust Your Strategic Input
Developing Deep Expertise in a Niche Area
Creating Custom IC Roles Through Proven Value
Moving Beyond Product Limitations with Partners and Creative Solutions
The Long Game of Career Development and Building Credibility
Structuring Compensation and Proving ROI for Strategic Roles
The Value of a Presales Academy with Rob Fallon
2026/06/22
Rob Fallon, Director, Americas SE Strategy & Associate Program at Nutanix, has built presales academy programs at both Dell EMC and Nutanix, joins the show to discuss the strategic importance of creating structured training programs for presales professionals. Rob shares his experience transforming Dell's 12-week boot camp into a comprehensive academy and building Nutanix's current 18-month-old program from the ground up. The conversation tackles the "inverted pyramid" problem that plagues many SE organizations—being too heavy with expensive senior talent and lacking junior pipeline—and why most companies struggle to fix it.
The discussion covers the business case for academies, how to secure executive sponsorship and funding, the structure of successful two-year programs, and why hiring for technical curiosity and grit matters more than existing technical knowledge.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Rob Fallon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robfallon/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Contact Rob: [email protected]
Key Topics Covered The Inverted Pyramid Problem: Why SE Organizations Over-Hire Senior Talent
Executive Sponsorship and Funding: Getting Buy-In for Long-Term Investment
The Two-Year Academy Program Structure at Nutanix
Hiring for Technical Curiosity, Communication, and Grit Over Knowledge
Why Field Integration and Manager Engagement Are Critical to Success
How Academy Associates Become Productive Within 12 Months
Academy Programs as Diversity and Fresh Thinking Enablers
Success Metrics: When Field Leaders Want Academy Grads on Their Teams
Using AI as your Voice Assistant with Yasmeen Hyder
2026/06/08
In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Yasmeen Hyder, an enterprise solutions consulting leader from Atlanta, to explore a game-changing approach to working with AI: speaking to it instead of typing. Yasmeen shares how she uses voice-based AI interactions as a thought companion and coaching tool to enhance decision-making, reduce mental load, and work more efficiently in her presales leadership role.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Yasmeen Hyder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmeenhyder/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast
Key Topics Covered Voice AI vs. Typing: Why Speaking Creates Higher Bandwidth Communication
AI as Thought Companion Rather Than Answer Engine
Yasmeen's Career Journey: Healthcare to Pharma to Tech Presales
Overcoming the Behavioral Change of Talking to Your Computer
Stress Testing Leadership Decisions with Voice AI
Using AI as a Coach: Asking for Questions Instead of Answers
Time Compression Benefits: 60-90 Minutes Down to 15-20 Minutes
Addressing Zoom Fatigue: Voice AI as Reset and Grounding Tool
Negative Prompting Technique for Better Outputs
Personal and Professional Applications Beyond Work
Timestamps 00:00 Introduction
02:45 Welcome Yas
05:45 Why talking to AI
08:02 Setup and behavioral change
10:57 Writing vs. speaking
15:27 Rubber ducky but better
16:28 Stress testing leadership decisions
20:46 Using AI as a coach
22:36 Addressing Zoom fatigue
26:00 Personal life applications
30:19 Closing and contact information
Product-Trained Agents, and the New SE Workflow with Kintan Brahmbhatt
2026/05/11
Jack Cochran and Matthew James welcome Kintan Brahmbhatt, CEO and co-founder of Olto, to discuss how AI agents are fundamentally reshaping the presales workflow and buyer experience. Drawing from over 12 years at Amazon building personalized experiences for Alexa, Amazon Music, and Prime Video, Kintan explores why B2B buyers receive generic "Acme Corp" demos while B2C consumers get highly personalized recommendations, and how product-trained agents can finally close this gap economically. The conversation goes beyond productivity gains to examine how buyers, products, and SE roles have evolved rapidly while metrics, compensation plans, and tooling have remained static.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Kintan Brahmbhatt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kintan/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Olto: https://olto.com/psc (3 months free promotional offer mentioned)
Key Topics Covered Why AI Timing Is Better Now: Moving Beyond Productivity to Workflow Transformation
The Personalization Gap Between B2C and B2B Buyer Experiences
What Olto Is: Product-Trained AI Agents Across the Revenue Journey
Kintan's Amazon Background: Building Personalized Experiences at Scale
SE Capacity Economics and the Unspoken Rule About Qualified Deals
How Product-Trained Agents Differ from Generic AI
The New SE Workflow: Agents Handle Discovery, SEs Focus on Sense-Making
Evolution of SE Metrics, Compensation, and Tooling for the AI Era
Implementation Challenges and Change Management
The Future of the Presales Profession
Timestamps 00:00 Welcome
04:04 Now vs a year ago
05:40 What is Olto
07:52 B2C vs B2B personalization disconnect
11:15 Agent capabilities and limitations
21:35 Future of the solutions roles
28:26 Key takeaways from solutions leaders
The Convergence of Presales and Post-Sales: A New Career Path with Shamil Turner
2026/04/28
Presales teams are being asked more and more to do post-sales work. This isn't a fad or something we're doing in the short term. This is a significant change for the broader profession of presales and solutions consulting. What was once occasional support for implementations or customer renewals is now becoming formal job responsibilities for solutions consultants across the industry.
In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Shamil Turner, Global Technical Solutions Leader at Figma and Presales Collective advisory board member, to explore why this shift is happening and what it means for the future of presales.
Shamil brings a unique perspective to this conversation: he was the first SE hired at Figma, built their entire solutions engineering organization from the ground up, and has now transitioned into a post-sales technical leadership role. Together they discuss the strengths that SEs bring to the table that has a profound impact on a company-customer relationships AFTER the sale has happened, and how this plays out in a new role that has been emerging over the past year, the Forward Deployed Engineer.
Whether you're a leader making organizational decisions or an IC just getting started, this conversation will help you understand how the world of solutions is evolving.
Thank you to Saleo for sponsoring this episode!
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Shamil Turner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamil-turner/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast
Saleo: https://saleo.io
Key Topics Covered The Growing Trend of Presales Teams Doing Post-Sales Work
Historical Context: How SEs Have Always Supported Post-Sales
Forward Deployed Engineer Roles in Consumption-Based Models
Why Presales Skills Are Valuable for Customer Onboarding
Shamil's Journey from First SE at Figma to Global Technical Solutions Leader
The Convergence of Pre and Post-Sales Functions
Career Implications for Presales Professionals at All Levels
What This Means for the Future of Solutions Organizations
What an AI-Enabled SE Looks Like in 2026 with Darlene Volas
2026/04/13
In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Darlene Volas, a senior solutions engineering executive, to explore what it truly means to be an AI-enabled SE in 2025 and beyond. The conversation moves well past basic ChatGPT usage to examine sophisticated operational workflows, custom automation tools, and practical implementation strategies that enhance both efficiency and quality of work.
This episode was recorded during Presales Collective's 2026 AI-Powered Presales Summit on March 19th, 2026. Pro and Pro+ members can view all of the recorded sessions on-demand in the PSC Knowledge Hub: https://www.presalescollective.com/knowledgehub
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthe James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Darlene Volas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlenevolas/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast
Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/
Claude by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude
Cursor AI coding tool: https://cursor.sh/
GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
Gong conversation intelligence: https://www.gong.io/
ChatGPT Enterprise: https://openai.com/enterprise
Obsidian note-taking: https://obsidian.md/
Firebolt database: https://www.firebolt.io/
Key Topics Covered Personal AI Usage Evolution: Moving Beyond Google Replacement to Creative Applications
Three Buckets of AI for SE Leaders: Operations, Team Workflows, and Technical Implementation
Daily Meeting Preparation Automation and Custom-Built AI Applications
Operationalizing SE Teams with Repeatable AI Workflows
Quality vs. Efficiency Trade-off: Better Preparation Rather Than Less Time
Building Technical Credibility Through Hands-On AI Coding
The "One More Thing" Problem and Where Human Expertise Remains Essential
Data Security, Governance, and Vendor Considerations for AI Tools
Why AI Won't Replace SEs: The Irreplaceable Human Element
Hiring AI-Native SEs: What to Look For Beyond Basic Tool Awareness
Timestamps 00:00 Welcome
02:41 How AI conversations have evolved
06:30 Three buckets of AI usage
12:40 Efficiency versus quality improvements
18:40 Building credibility through AI coding
21:07 The one more thing problem
30:59 Why AI won't replace SEs
36:45 Q&A session
39:20 Closing remarks
From Co-Pilot to Orchestrator: AI and the Evolving SE Role with Manisha Raisinghani
2026/03/30
In this episode, Jack Cochran welcomes back Manisha Raisinghani, Founder and CEO of SiftHub, exactly one year after her first appearance on the show. Together they explore the dramatic shift in how AI is being used by solutions engineers. Manisha shares what it means for SEs to become Forward Deployed Engineers, how vibe coding is changing live customer interactions, and what enterprise leaders are getting wrong about AI adoption. She also offers concrete first steps for SEs and SE leaders who feel like they're behind.
Thank you to SiftHub for sponsoring this episode! Visit sifthub.io to learn more.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Manisha Raisinghani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manisha-raisinghani/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
SiftHub: https://sifthub.io/
Sol/Con (PSC Annual Conference, Chicago): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Paytm (referenced in board discussion): https://paytm.com
Key Topics Covered How AI Shifted from Co-Pilot to Workflow Orchestrator
Vibe Coding and the Forward Deployed Engineer
Democratizing Institutional Knowledge
AI Transformation at Enterprise Scale
Making SE Value Visible with Data
Where to Start if You Feel Behind
Timestamps 00:00 Welcome & Intro
03:58 One year later: the headline shift in AI and SE workflows
07:20 Vibe coding — what it is and why SEs should care
10:23 The rise of the Forward Deployed Engineer
14:01 How SiftHub has evolved: from retrieval to reasoning
20:23 Lessons from the Paytm board on enterprise AI adoption
24:43 Sales: the most blamed, least understood function
28:40 First steps for SEs and SE leaders who feel behind
Proving the Value of Demo Engineering: Metrics That Matter with Micah Joel
2026/03/15
In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James continue their conversation with Micah Joel, diving deep into the metrics that matter when building and justifying a demo engineering team. Micah shares practical approaches to measuring the value of demo engineering, from simple time-saving calculations to sophisticated surveys that capture SE satisfaction and retention indicators. The conversation explores how to frame these metrics in terms that senior management cares about, moving beyond technical accomplishments to demonstrate real business impact.
Micah emphasizes the importance of thinking "top down" when building a demo engineering organization, focusing on what leadership values most: productivity, cost savings, and revenue growth. He shares real-world examples from his time at Salesforce's Q Branch, including how to measure the value of demo environments, how to identify unexpected patterns in the data (like deals where demo engineers get involved), and how cultivating relationships with SEs creates goodwill that extends beyond the numbers. The discussion also covers how demo engineering impacts go-to-market speed for new products and how to position the team as mission-critical support for field teams rather than just a technical function.
Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/
Connect with Matthew James https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/
Connect with Micah Joel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micahjoel/
Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack
Sol/Con 2026 (Chicago, August 2026): https://www.presalescollective.com/solcon-2026
Presales Collective Podcast: https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast
Key Topics Covered Establishing baseline metrics for demo engineering through time-saving calculations
Using SE surveys to measure demo environment value and satisfaction
Identifying retention indicators at 3-year and 7-year tenure marks
Reducing technical barriers to hiring SEs through better demo tooling
Thinking "top down" to align metrics with senior management priorities
Measuring go-to-market speed and time-to-revenue for new products
Building goodwill and political capital with SE teams
Branding your demo engineering team with effective metaphors
Course-correcting when metrics don't align with expectations
Positioning demo engineering within the organization structure
Timestamps 00:00 Welcome
02:55 Measuring time saved with tooling
09:20 Reducing technical hiring barriers
13:50 Building the overall business case
18:30 When metrics don't line up
21:20 Product-to-Market (P2M)
27:40 Final thoughts on top-down thinking
Podcast reviews
Read Presales Podcast by Presales Collective podcast reviews
Baby-Yeer 2022/06/25
Encouraging, enlightening, and entertaining
Great podcast for a great cause to inspire and elevate PreSales professionals by showcasing diverse stories of success.
Frank E Cap 2021/11/29
Best Podcast for Presales Solutions Engineers
Any solutions engineer or Presales professional who has any interest in getting better should listen to this podcast. I’ve been in Presales for over ...
DaveyHatcher.com 2021/06/24
Life Changing
I’m new to the PreSales industry and this podcast has helped me tremendously. The interviews are well done and this community is eager to pour into ot...
ChangingForce 2020/07/15
Great content for the PreSales community.
This is another great resource from the PreSales Collective. Enjoying all the episodes so far. Looking forward to more to come.
yph23 2020/07/03
Great insight from knowledgeable guests!
Glad to see a podcast for PreSales professionals. Keep up the good work!
61th 2020/06/06
Great content
Amazing job James! Easy listen, very knowledgeable.
English +1 2020/06/05
Solid
Great content
mynameistiffany 2020/06/04
Amazing content for PreSales professional development!
A must-listen podcast for PreSales professionals! And James is an amazing host!
Yoiop652 2020/06/03
The best!
An easy listen with great content and focused discussion on what is relevant today.
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