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Ian sits down with Prachi Gore, CMO of Asana, to talk about how AI is reshaping marketing and the future of work. Prachi shares why she joined Asana, why brand and community matter more than ever in an AI-driven world, and how marketing leaders need to rethink old playbooks as buyers change how they research, discover, and adopt new tools. Key Takeaways: · Brand matters more than features. When marketing and products start to look similar, trust and reputation make the difference. · Buyers are doing more research on their own. Marketers need to win in digital channels before sales ever gets involved. · The future is more personalized marketing. AI will help teams move beyond broad campaigns to more relevant experiences. Sponsor:  Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: · Connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaison/ · Connect with Prachi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prachigore/  · Learn more about Asana: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asana/ · Learn more about Caspian Studios: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caspian-studios/about/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian sits down with Trinity Nguyen, CMO at UserGems, to unpack how modern B2B teams balance AI-powered demand capture with measurable brand building. Trinity shares how signal-based ABM drives pipeline, why SDRs report to marketing, how owned events outperform conference booths, and what it really takes to move fast without losing alignment in an AI-driven go-to-market world. Key Takeaways:  Signal-based outbound wins. Prioritizing who to target, when to engage, and why drives higher conversion than volume alone. · Brand can’t stay a black box. Marketing leaders must map awareness to buying stages and find breadcrumbs to revenue. · AI should scale capacity, not replace thinking. Used well, it gives teams air cover when resources are tight. · Owned events create real lift. Even registration alone can significantly increase downstream win rates. · Prospecting is one of the hardest jobs in GTM. SDR roles build resilience — but closing requires a different muscle. · Alignment matters more than speed alone. Moving fast is powerful, but only if marketing and sales stay in lockstep. Episode Timestamps:(02:23) Trust Tree: Demand capture and building brand (18:48) The Playbook: When you depend on your own product Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: · Connect with Ian on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaison/   · Connect with Trinity on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinitynguyen/   · Learn more about UserGems:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinitynguyen/   · Learn more about Caspian Studios:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/caspian-studios/about/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian sits down with Mike Manheimer, Chief Customer Officer at Postscript, to unpack how brands turn SMS into a revenue engine. Mike shares why Black Friday and Cyber Monday expose marketers who under-communicate, how Postscript aligns marketing and customer success under one leader, and why incrementality is the only metric that matters in e-commerce. Key Takeaways: · Under-communication kills revenue. During high-intent moments, hesitation leaves dollars on the table. · E-commerce buyers care about one thing: making more money. Marketing strategy must tie directly to incremental revenue. · Community drives pipeline. The fastest way into tight-knit markets is by creating spaces for customers to connect. · B2B marketers are too risk-averse. Owned data and bold experimentation win. · AI will redefine marketing. Don’t just buy tools — start building. Episode Timestamps: *(06:40) Black Friday mistakes: Why brands under-message at the worst time *(17:09) Trust Tree: What Postscript does and how the buying process really works in e-commerce *(46:22) The Playbook: Community-led pipeline and customer advisory boards Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: · Connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaison/  · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemanheimer/  · Learn more about Postscript: https://www.linkedin.com/company/postscriptio/  · Learn more about Caspian Studios: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caspian-studios/about/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian sits down with Peeyush Dubey, Chief Marketing Officer of Tech Mahindra, to unpack how he built the company’s first global marketing organization. Peeyush explains his four-pillar marketing strategy (brand, demand, expand, and grand). The conversation goes deep on Tech Mahindra’s Global Chess League, a bold brand experiment that has evolved into a flagship marketing, customer experience, and talent branding platform.  Key Takeaways: Marketing’s real job is reducing friction to sales. Everything else is in service of that goal.Brand experiments can outperform sponsorships. Building owned IP creates control, longevity, and compounding value.Innovation budgets should never be cut. Even in downturns, experimentation is non-negotiable.Episode Timestamps:  *(03:34) Trust Tree: Reducing friction for sales *(22:09) The Playbook: Building a global ches league *(43:13) Quick Hits  Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Peeyush on LinkedInLearn more about Tech MahindraLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ian sits down with Marco Mueller, CMO of AVEVA, to explore how marketing operates as a strategic growth engine inside one of the world’s leading industrial software companies. Marco shares how AVEVA balances speed and stability in a risk-averse category, why in-person events remain one of their most powerful channels, and how the team redesigned its campaign model to move faster without sacrificing quality. The conversation dives into AVEVA’s global event strategy, including AVEVA World and 37 localized AVEVA Days.  Key Takeaways: In-person events compress trust timelines. Face-to-face experiences move risk-averse buyers faster than any digital channel in complex B2B.Speed is a design problem, not a hustle problem.  Campaigns ship faster when you cut upfront complexity and build in room to adapt.The CMO’s real job is integration. Growth happens when marketing aligns product truth, sales reality, and customer risk.Episode Timestamps:  * (02:08) The Trust Tree: Why industrial software marketing is built on trust * (07:24) The Playbook: Events, positioning, and adaptive digital strategy * (45:24) Quick Hits Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Marco on LinkedInLearn more about AVEVALearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ian sits down with JP Laqueur, SVP of Marketing & Culture at DataBank, to explore how brand, culture, and CEO-led thought leadership work together to create lasting differentiation in B2B. JP explains why DataBank prioritizes culture-first marketing, how involving the CEO in media and content unlocks disproportionate impact, and why disciplined PR often outperforms flashier tactics.  The conversation also covers how marketing teams should think about video, written content, AI-driven discovery, and why human connection may become even more valuable in an AI-saturated world. Key Takeaways: Culture is a competitive moat competitors can’t copy. Facilities and technology can be replicated, people and behaviors cannot.CEO-led storytelling scales trust. Thoughtful PR and executive content outperform most paid tactics when done consistently.Brand work compounds over time. Earned media, strong culture, and clear positioning reinforce each other across customers, employees, and investors.  Episode Timestamps:  *(14:01) The Trust Tree: Culture is the strategy  *(31:06) The Playbook: SEM is still working  *(46:45) Quick Hits Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with JP on LinkedInLearn more about DataBankLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ian sits down with Henry Wagner, Chief Marketing Officer at Megaport, to explore how marketing teams can earn attention in increasingly crowded and skeptical B2B markets. Henry shares why Megaport invests in unconventional campaigns, like building an eight-bit video game to celebrate a major company milestone, and how smaller, calculated bets often outperform large, high-risk sponsorships. He breaks down his philosophy of “doing science, not alchemy” in marketing, emphasizing rigorous testing, learning, and iteration over narrative-driven guesswork. Key Takeaways: Creative risk is easier to justify when bets are small and frequent. Contained experiments often deliver outsized attention with limited downside.Great marketing teams run science, not alchemy. Measurement, iteration, and learning beat intuition and narrative.LLMs change discovery, but not the need for authority. Clear, structured, problem-focused content still wins—measurement just looks different.Episode Timestamps:  *(14:16) The Trust Tree:  *(17:56) The Playbook:  *(46:32) Quick Hits:  Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Henry on LinkedInLearn more about MegaportLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ian sits down with Greer Lynch, VP of Marketing at Reprise, the AI-powered demo automation platform helping enterprise teams deliver high-stakes software demos with confidence. Greer shares how she approaches storytelling as the foundation of effective marketing, why community-building has become a core growth lever for Reprise, and how her team balances long-term brand investments with short-term demand generation. She also breaks down how Reprise thinks about rebranding for enterprise credibility, adapting SEO strategies for an AI-first world, and using AI internally to move faster without losing authenticity. Key Takeaways Storytelling is the foundation of scalable marketing. Clear positioning and narrative make every channel more effective — from demand gen to community.Community is a long-term growth strategy. Bringing people together authentically builds trust, insight, and future demand, even beyond your immediate ICP.Brand maturity matters in enterprise markets. Positioning and design must reflect who you serve today, not who you served yesterday.AI is changing how marketing works — not eliminating fundamentals. The best teams use AI to accelerate insight, experimentation, and execution, not replace judgment.Episode Timestamps:  *(03:01) The Trust Tree: Focus on what you can uniquely deliver to your audience  *(07:09) The Playbook: Storytelling and understanding your audience *(32:53) Quick Hits Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Greer on LinkedInLearn more about RepriseLearn more about Caspian Studios    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Ian sits down with Phyllis Fang, Head of Marketing at Transcend, where she leads go-to-market strategy for a data infrastructure platform powering compliant AI-driven experiences. Phyllis shares how she thinks about go-to-market strategy, building repeatable marketing systems, investing in thought leadership and IRL events, and creating the right culture for AI adoption inside marketing teams. Key TakeawaysThought leadership compounds over time. First-party research, executive voices, and clear points of view build trust long before buyers are in-market.  Operational rigor matters, even in startups. Repeatable playbooks and clear ownership help marketing scale without breaking.  AI adoption is as much a cultural challenge as a tooling one. Creating space to experiment is key to long-term impact.  Quote“Slow down to speed up. Be best friends with sales. You’re there to help the business win.” Episode Timestamps00:27 Phyllis’s Path into Marketing 02:03 What Transcend Does and Who It Serves 03:53 Go-to-Market Strategy Overview 05:58 Marketing Team Structure 07:15 Lessons from Uber 12:26 Uncuttable Marketing Investments 14:57 Activating Executive Thought Leadership 16:22 Running Effective IRL Events 21:07 What’s Most Cuttable in the Budget 26:04 Favorite Campaigns 28:08 Building a Culture for AI Adoption 36:27 Navigating Cross-Functional Tension 41:21 Quick Hits SponsorPipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. LinksConnect with Ian on LinkedIn Connect with Phyllis on LinkedIn Learn more about Transcend Learn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Emily Kramer, founder of MKT1 and a longtime voice in modern B2B marketing, joins Ian Faison to unpack how AI is reshaping marketing teams, roles, and expectations.They explore Emily’s concept of the “gen marketer”,  and why traditional silos and specialist-heavy teams struggle in today’s high-velocity environment. Key TakeawaysMarketing teams need more generalists who can connect strategy, creativity, and distribution.Speed to execution matters more than perfect alignment across functions.Big marketing wins come from coordinated campaigns, not isolated tactics.AI increases the value of orchestration and taste, not specialization alone.Marketing leaders should think in portfolios of bets, not incremental activities.  Quote“Every big initiative needs to have a chance to really win — not just deliver incremental results.” Episode Timestamps (03:51) What the “Gen Marketer” role actually means (10:04) Why speed matters more than perfect alignment (16:42) Escaping random acts of marketing with big bets (24:58) How CMOs should think like producers or VCs (31:37) When founder-led marketing works (and when it doesn’t)  Sponsor Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com — the pipeline generation platform for revenue teams. Turn your website into a pipeline machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, and intent data. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.   LinksConnect with Ian on LinkedIn Connect with Emily Kramer on LinkedIn Dear Marketers Podcast  MKT1 Unboxing Learn more about MKT1 Learn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hear from Jill Wiltfong, CMO, Korn Ferry, Chris Bontempo, CMO, Johnson Controls, Shannon Sullivan Duffy, CMO, Asana, and Melton Littlepage, CMO, 1Password on their uncuttable budget items.  Timestamps:  (01:19) Jill Wiltfong, CMO, Korn Ferry, (08:03) Chris Bontempo, CMO, Johnson Controls (23:12) Shannon Sullivan Duffy, CMO, Asana (28:10) Melton Littlepage, CMO, 1Password   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian sits down with Stacey Epstein, CEO of Magnetic, where she helps brands create clear positioning and go-to-market strategies that drive lasting demand. She talks about how to succeed in interacting with the board, outlining do’s and don’ts, and providing advice around defensiveness and preparation.  Key Takeaways: The board is there to help you succeed. Treat them like advisors and go to them with questions and issues that you are trying to solve. Don’t try to hide problems, do demonstrate your wins.There is an art to defending yourself without being defensive. Defensiveness often results in a board member feeling unheard and pushing harder. Take the note, even if you can’t take the proposed solution. Ditch the slide decks and excel spreadsheets, and tell the story for board members. A unified board letter from the leadership team is a great way to do this and increases alignment before a meeting. Quote:  “  We're all on the same team. We all wanna win. Like we're here together in this board meeting because we want the company to be successful and we want to win. And, . There should be no hiding of issues. In fact, that's what the board is there for. The board is there to help you get through the challenging times.”Episode Timestamps:  00:53 The Role of the Board in Marketing 02:20 Navigating Board Interactions 03:06 Performance and Authenticity in Board Meetings 04:29 The Complexity of Marketing Roles 08:51 Aligning Marketing and Sales 16:56 The Importance of SDR Feedback 19:13 AI and Marketing Technology Decisions 21:44 Navigating Board Dynamics as a CMO 21:59 Building Relationships and Credibility 23:11 The Importance of Authenticity in Marketing 24:22 Handling Investor Feedback Tactfully 29:16 Defending Your Marketing Strategy 36:03 Effective Board Communication Strategies 39:10 The Value of Board Letters Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Stacey on LinkedInLearn more about MagneticLearn more about Caspian StudiosAI’ve Got Questions Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2497617/episodes Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ian sits down with Shafqat Islam, President, Optimizely. They dive into AI, GEO, and the future role of websites. They also talk about how experimentation and creativity give companies the competitive edge in the current marketing landscape. Key Takeaways: Your content needs to provide scarcity value to stand out. People and LLMs want original ideas.Most CMOs are not experimenting enough, and are not being creative enough. Experimentation is key.Many SEO tactics will work for GEO, and the harsh truth is that a lot of SEO content did not move the needle anyway.Quote:  “ Everyone should be testing. Testing allows you to be more creative.Take bigger bets, be bolder. If your bet is huge, and the return and the result is huge, it's totally disproportionate, upside uncapped. Frankly, most marketers are afraid.”Episode Timestamps:  01:56 The Role of Product and Marketing 03:09 Origins and Evolution of Opal 10:51 Creativity in Marketing and Software 13:44 The Importance of Experimentation 19:40 Storytelling and Risk-Taking in Marketing 23:21 The Rise of AI and Podcasting 28:03 Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) 29:31 Websites' New Dual Role 32:34 The Studio Head Approach to Marketing 38:12 The Impact of AI on Creativity 40:09 The Future of Search and Marketing Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Shaf on LinkedInLearn more about OptimizelyLearn more about  Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Alex Halliday, the CEO at AirOps, an end-to-end content engineering platform that gives marketing teams the systems they need to win visibility across AI search and SEO with quality content. Alex gives the marketing masterclass on AI search, laying out the framework for what marketers need to be doing.  Key Takeaways: Understand your current State of the Union: Audit how you are currently showing up across the AI models and what is driving those results. Pick a strategy based on what truly matters to you as a brand and ruthlessly prioritize. Execute through content engineering, a combination of brand taste, technical skills and strategy. Quote:    The future of, we think, content and AI search is this new role that we're pushing and championing. It's called content engineering. And content engineering is a blend of three things. It's brand taste, which you absolutely need. It's enough technical skills to use this technology well. It's strategy. It's like really a really good strategic mind of the kinds of plays that you want to put out into the world.”Episode Timestamps:  *(04:26) The Trust Tree: Education- and Evidence-led go-to-market *(10:19) The Influence of YouTube on AI Search Results  *(18:10) The Masterclass on AI Search: Step-by-step *(25:35) What do LLMs actually like?  *(40:04) How should marketers be investing in content?  Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Alex on LinkedInLearn more about AirOpsLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Kady Srinivasan, Chief Marketing Officer at You.com, the enterprise AI productivity platform redefining knowledge work with trusted, customizable AI agents. She breaks down GEO, storytelling in an infinite-content world, and why content now must serve both humans and LLMs. Key Takeaways Demand generation has changed: Google Ads don’t work, while newsletters, advertorials, and events perform better.Marketing teams must operate as multithreaded groups built around outcomes rather than traditional functional silos.Imperfection and speed are essential to stay competitive in fast-moving AI markets.  Quote  “I just want everything to be on time and running properly… And so, particularly in AI and to your point in 2025, that is, you could just get killed if you're like that. So you need to know when to be fine with imperfection and when to, and in some cases you have to double down and really take your time.” Episode Timestamps 03:23 Demand Generation Changes 04:56 Google Ads and New Marketing Channels 05:51 Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) 07:44 Importance of Original Content 25:12 Exploring the Future of Marketing Roles 28:10 Balancing Speed and Perfection in Marketing Sponsor Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com — the pipeline generation platform for revenue teams. Turn your website into a pipeline machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, and intent data. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links Connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaison/ Connect with Kady on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kadysrinivasan/  Learn more about You.com  Learn more about Caspian Studios: https://caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.