B2B Agility with Greg Kihlström™: MarTech, E-Commerce, & Customer Success

B2B marketing strategy grows ever more complex, with marketers needing to understand strategy, marketing technology, e-commerce, customer success, and more. This show covers it all, from a Business-to-Business perspective. From the creators and host of the award-winning The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast, comes B2B Agility™, a podcast focused on how B2B marketers and the brands they represent become category leaders and drive optimal results for the business and their customers. The show looks at B2B success in a variety of ways, all with a focus on the intersection of sales, marketing & technology.

#61: How agentic AI can transform B2B event marketing with Travis Cushing, CEO of RainFocus 09/16/2025

#61: How agentic AI can transform B2B event marketing with Travis Cushing, CEO of RainFocus If you had to bet on one technology that will fundamentally reshape B2B marketing in the next five years what would it be, and would it have “agentic” and “AI” in the name? Agility requires not just reacting to technological advancements like agentic AI, but proactively experimenting with them and adapting your strategies based on real-world results. It also requires organizational buy-in and a willingness to challenge established norms. Today, we're going to talk about the rise of agentic AI and its potential to revolutionize B2B marketing, particularly in event marketing. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Travis Cushing, CEO at RainFocus. About Travis Cushing As Chief Product Officer at RainFocus, Travis Cushing brings over 20 years of experience in the events and SaaS industries, blending product strategy, customer empathy, and technical execution. With deep expertise in event technology, product-led growth, and integrated data-driven experiences, he is committed to transforming event workflows into strategic business drivers. His passion for people and experiences has built bridges between customers and development allowing RainFocus to execute and build great software. Travis Cushing on LinkedIn: Resources RainFocus: Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/37629615

#60: Anticipating and adapting to change with Kathleen Pomento, ProcureAbility 09/09/2025

#59: Maintaining customer centricity by knowing when to automate with Jeanne Duca, BCN 09/02/2025

#59: Maintaining customer centricity by knowing when to automate with Jeanne Duca, BCN With customer centricity being top of mind, is the rush to automate and hyper-personalize making things better or is it making customers feel less connected to their favorite brands? Agility requires keeping the human elements of empathy and understanding visible and audible beneath growing layers of automation tools. Today we’re going to talk about how a human-centric approach to managed network and technology solutions drives loyal, long-term customer relationships. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jeanne Duca, Chief Marketing Officer at BCN. About Jeanne Duca Since joining BCN in 2016 as Vice President of Marketing, Jeanne Duca has leveraged her years of expertise in brand management and channel marketing to elevate BCN’s brand presence and market influence. Her leadership has been recognized industry-wide, most recently, as one of The Top 50 Women Leaders of Massachusetts for 2024. As CMO, she leads BCN’s marketing strategy, focusing on brand innovation, digital transformation, and delivering compelling experiences to partners and customers. “BCN is at the forefront of empowering businesses through technology,” said Ms. Duca. “I’m honored to lead our marketing efforts as we continue to elevate our brand and deliver exceptional partner and customer experiences.” Ms. Duca holds a B.S. in Advertising from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Resources BCN: https://www.bcn.tele https://www.bcn.tele Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Keep up with the latest B2B Marketing insights by following the B2B Agility Podcast: https://www.b2bagility.com Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/37059630

#58: Interfaces that generate joy, with Dominik Angerer, Storyblok 08/26/2025

#57: Supply chain as competitive advantage with Salvatore Lombardo, Coupa 08/19/2025

#57: Supply chain as competitive advantage with Salvatore Lombardo, Coupa Is your supply chain a competitive advantage, or your biggest liability waiting to be exposed? Agility requires preparing for the unpredictable, especially when your brand’s ability to deliver hinges on global events that are entirely out of your control. In a world of political unrest, regulatory change, and natural disasters, the brands that win are the ones who can pivot fast — without losing their balance. Today we’re going to talk about the crucial connection between modern supply chain strategy and brand agility. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Salvatore Lombardo, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Coupa. About Salvatore Lombardo Salvatore “Salva” Lombardo is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Coupa. Lombardo leads Coupa’s innovation roadmap and is responsible for its vision, articulation, and execution. Lombardo was previously Chief Product Officer for SAP Ariba, where he was responsible for leading its global product team, roadmap, engineering, and delivery. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Head of SAP S/4HANA Source to Pay & Order to Cash. Lombardo was instrumental in leading the development organization through SAP’s largest shift from on-premise to cloud. He harmonized and built SAP’s spend portfolio and deployed the innovation roadmap at scale. Over two decades at SAP< he held various product and development management roles across procurement, suppliers, logistics, warehouse, customer management, and custom projects. Lombardo holds a master’s degree in business informatics and administration from the University of Mannheim. Resources Coupa: https://www.coupa.com https://www.coupa.com Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Keep up with the latest B2B Marketing insights by following the B2B Agility Podcast: https://www.b2bagility.com Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/37048245

#56: Building a global B2B marketing strategy with Sangeeta Prasad, Slalom 08/12/2025

#56: Building a global B2B marketing strategy with Sangeeta Prasad, Slalom What’s harder—building a global marketing strategy from scratch, or educating your organization on why it matters in the first place? Today’s guest has done both—twice. Sangeeta Prasad is the Chief Marketing Officer of Slalom, a global business and technology consulting firm with $3 billion in revenue and a presence in over 40 markets. With three decades of marketing experience—across brands like Procter & Gamble, American Express, and Chase—Sangeeta has spent her career not just building campaigns, but building belief in the power of marketing. About Sangeeta Prasad Sangeeta is the Chief Marketing Officer at Slalom. She joined Slalom as its very first chief marketing officer in 2020 and now leads a global team of 160 marketers in seven countries. Leveraging Slalom’s strong industry reputation as a consulting company that helps thousands of clients, Sangeeta is building a friendly, engaging brand that reflects the success of the company’s 13,000+ employees worldwide. Her goal is to make the Slalom brand as big as its business, which is experiencing record growth. To do this, she’s transformed a company that relied on traditional marketing into one that thrives on human-based marketing. This is the second time she’s joined a company as its first CMO – also at Russell Reynolds – bringing a strong portfolio of consumer and B2B experience from P&G, Chase and American Express. She lives with a global mindset having started her career in Australia and worked and lived across Asia for years. Sangeeta is known for her courageous yet adaptable leadership style and ability to build consensus across many cultures. Most of all, her leadership style and work are anchored in Slalom’s differentiated “fiercely human” approach to client and partner relationships. Sangeeta’s sophisticated marketing expertise pivoted Slalom’s volume-based tactics into human-based marketing, which combines customer insights with a scalable, consistent methodology to promote relationships. She helped prioritize full-journey marketing and what specific clients care about, including an approach to surround Slalom’s customers around the world with personalized messaging. Resources Slalom: https://www.slalom.com Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Keep up with the latest B2B Marketing insights by following the B2B Agility Podcast: https://www.b2bagility.com Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36925415

#55: AI and small businesses with Aparna Khurjekar, Verizon Business 08/05/2025

#55: AI and small businesses with Aparna Khurjekar, Verizon Business We're seeing a fascinating paradox: while everyone's talking about AI's impact on Big Tech, it's quietly revolutionizing small businesses. Is this a sign that SMBs are more agile and adaptable than their enterprise counterparts, or is something else at play? Agility requires not just adopting new technologies, but understanding how they fundamentally reshape your business operations, customer relationships, and even your competitive landscape. It's about being proactive, not reactive, in the face of rapid change. Verizon’s sixth annual State of Small Business Survey - based on responses from 600 U.S. small and midsize business (SMBs) - reveals that SMBs are quickly emerging as real AI adopters, not just for marketing and chatbots, but for cybersecurity, employee retention, and customer experience (CX). Today, we're going to talk about the surprising ways that small and midsize businesses are embracing AI, and what larger enterprises can learn from their agility and innovative approaches. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Aparna Khurjekar, Chief Revenue Officer, Business Markets and SaaS at Verizon Business. Aparna, welcome to the show! About Aparna Khurjekar Aparna Khurjekar brings more than two decades' worth of experience in the telecommunications industry. As Chief Revenue Officer, Business Markets and SaaS for Verizon Business, she is responsible for the accelerating growth, revenue, go-to-market and business strategy, and helping to support mid-market wireless and wireline offerings, including Connect. She leads 6000 sales professionals, who guide customers through digitally transformed journeys with innovative managed solutions for total connectivity, communications, and collaboration. She and her Verizon team are focused on helping to accelerate the recovery of businesses throughout America leveraging the company’s portfolio of technologies and connectivity solutions—from 5G, OneTalk, VerizonConnect, Fios and more. Over the course of her 15-year tenure at Verizon, Aparna has held various leadership roles, most recently having served as SVP and President for Verizon Business Markets, and prior to that Chief Customer Officer for Verizon Consumer Group, which included guiding AI-led business transformations, omni-channel consumer experience and the digital P&l. She also brings extensive product development experience from both her work at Verizon and her previous position at Motorola Mobility, where she served as the Director of Portfolio & Technology Strategy. She holds an MS in Electrical Engineering from Temple University and a B.S. in Electronics and Telecom from Savitribai Phule Pune University. Aparna Khurjekar on LinkedIn: Resources Verizon Business: https://www.verizon.com/business/ Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/37534875

#54: Building a world-class brand from scratch with Maria Winans, Kyndryl 07/29/2025

#54: Building a world-class brand from scratch with Maria Winans, Kyndryl What if rebranding wasn’t just about a new logo and tagline, but about transforming an 80,000-person company’s entire culture and strategy? What if brand became one of your most valuable tools for business reinvention? Today, I’m joined by Maria Winans, Chief Marketing Officer at Kyndryl. After nearly three decades at IBM, Maria took on the monumental task of launching Kyndryl as a stand-alone brand following its spin-off. With a workforce of over 80,000 people across more than 60 markets, Maria has redefined what it means to build a world-class brand from scratch—one that’s people-centric, culture-driven, and positioned for growth. About Maria Winans Maria B. Winans, Chief Marketing Officer at Kyndryl, is a recognized expert in data-driven marketing, brand engagement, and performance marketing. Prior to joining Kyndryl, Maria amassed an impressive 29-year career at IBM, culminating in her role as the Chief Marketing Officer for IBM Americas. In this capacity, she held overarching responsibility for all marketing professionals and activities throughout North and Latin America. Maria's tenure at IBM was marked by pivotal contributions to global marketing endeavors across diverse disciplines and business units, notably including initiatives such as Smarter Commerce and Watson. A native of Santiago, Chile, Maria serves as the executive sponsor of Kyndryl’s Hispanic Latin Community. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, the proud mother of two children and a certified fitness instructor. Resources Kyndryl: Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brightest minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36936045

#53: Creating brands and categories in regulated industries, with Kristin Russel, Symplr 07/22/2025

#52: Navigating the effect of AI on marketing jobs and the job market with Sue Keith, Landrum Talent Solutions 07/15/2025

#52: Navigating the effect of AI on marketing jobs and the job market with Sue Keith, Landrum Talent Solutions This episode is brought to you by Landrum Talent Solutions, a national recruiting firm specializing in marketing and HR positions. Our guest today has been keeping us up to date with the current state of hiring for marketers on a quarterly basis, which has taken us on quite a roller coaster ride. Today we’re going to look at how marketing and communication execs are responding to the latest developments in the world while still needing to get their work done. To take a look at the latest here, I’d like to welcome back to the show Sue Keith, Corporate Vice President at Landrum Talent Solutions. About Sue Keith Sue Keith is Corporate Vice President at Landrum Talent Solutions. With deep expertise in navigating complex labor markets, Sue has a front-row seat to the evolving dynamics of marketing roles, hiring trends, and the broader implications of AI and economic uncertainty. RESOURCES Landrum Talent Solutions: https://www.landrumtalentsolutions.com Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Online Scrum Master Summit is happening June 17-19. This 3-day virtual event is open for registration. Visit www.osms25.com and get a 25% discount off Premium All-Access Passes with the code osms25agilebrand Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36799140

#51: Readying an AI-augmented workforce with John Munsell, Bizzuka 07/08/2025

#50: REPLAY: Data-driven decision-making in B2B marketing and sales with Kunal Mangal, Verizon Business Group 07/01/2025

#50: REPLAY: Data-driven decision-making in B2B marketing and sales with Kunal Mangal, Verizon Business Group Making intelligent decisions is critical for all businesses, but relying on good information is becoming more critical than relying on what worked yesterday. Today we’re going to talk about data-driven decision making in B2B marketing and sales. I’d like to welcome Kunal Mangal, Associate Director of MarTech Strategy at Verizon Business Group, who leads the Pega Decisioning platform team within their marketing technology organization. Resources The B2B Agility podcast website: Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: B2B Agility with Greg Kihlström is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. Transcript Note: this was AI-generated and lightly edited. Greg Kihlström: I had the opportunity recently to present at the B2B Marcom Summit in Reston, Virginia, and interview Kunal Mangal from Verizon Business Group, and wanted to share this conversation we had about data-driven decision-making. So I hope you enjoy. So thanks, everybody, for joining us. We’re going to talk about data-driven decision making in B2B marketing and sales. And certainly, we’ve been talking a lot today about a number of things. Certainly, data has come up in several conversations, and its importance, and whether that’s just in doing better marketing and aligning teams and doing AI better. Today we’re going to talk about how data feeds into just making better decisions in the enterprise. And I’m joined by Kunal Mangal, Associate Director of Martech Strategy at Verizon Business Group. He leads the Pega Decisioning Platform team within their marketing technology organization. So Kunal, welcome here. And why don’t you start by talking about your background and your role at Verizon Business Group. Kunal Mangal: Sure, yeah. Thanks, Craig. And thanks, everybody. I know there are a lot of sessions going on right now. So thanks for joining us. Thanks for choosing ours. Yeah, so I, by background, I started in technology and I was basically a computer programmer, mainly, you know, Java, web technologies were pretty big those days, 20 years ago. So that’s how I started in ERP software industry. Then I went back to grad school, finished my MBA, and since then it’s mostly been you know, recession was just over and all that. So everybody’s trying to squeeze value. That was a time when in financial industry a lot of regulatory changes were happening. Things were getting digitized, centralized. And they said, hey, you know data. You know some numbers and stuff. Why don’t you get into it? So then, since then, I’ve been more into like digital transformation, you know, revenue optimization. other sort of marketing problems like churn prevention and all that using data science automation. So slowly, slowly, you know, learn the ropes and did it in various domains I’ve been into in financials like, you know, online banking and payments and mortgages and all that. And then switched to telecom after moving to here, like, I think Virginia, about four years ago. And there in Verizon, my role is I’m leading what they call so-called data-driven decisioning framework. And we basically, what we try to do is create data-driven, what we call next best actions, looking at you as a customer. What is the text by section for you looking at your whole relationship your current context and all that and how do you operationalize it in various channels? B2b channels, you know where it’s digital. It’s outbound. It’s so that’s what we do and the way I mean. So basically it’s a sort of a. mix between technology, data science, and marketing. So we try to figure out where in our marketing flows can we implement more data-driven intelligence and what kind of value we can drive, and then how to design and implement it. That’s all we do. Greg Kihlström: Great, great, and so your position, your title here, you lead the Pega decisioning platform team within Verizon Business. For those a little less familiar, I’m very familiar with Pega, with a few clients, but for those a little less familiar, could you describe what is that platform and at a high level, how are you using it? Kunal Mangal: Okay. Yeah, sure. I mean, Pega is a big software company. They’ve been around for, I think, more than four or five decades, probably. So they create, they have things like CRM and business process automation softwares, but they also have this thing called, what we use is called Customer Decision Hub. What it is, it’s a portal that allows you to Implement automated decisioning strategies and it’s a fancy name for maybe recommendation so you can say so. What it does, so the main advantage here is that there’s this one portal you can bring in data from various sources. You can create business rules. You can create machine learning models. It has built-in experimentation abilities and all that. And so you can manage all that, plus your actions and stuff, your recommendations, what kind of things you want to recommend. Those things, all together, you can manage in a central, low-core type of environment. And then you could serve it into different channels of engagement platform just using standard API architecture. So in a way, I mean, you basically use one brain. To figure out how to decide on if somebody walks in, what’s the best, what’s their need, what to recommend for them. You can just decide all that in one place, and you can serve it out to different channels of engagement. So if you do it well, you’re giving a real omnichannel experience, and then you’re using feedback from what happened to my recommendations from multiple channels to further enrich your AI models. So that’s what it is. In essence, it’s nothing, I would say, There’s nothing you can do with it that you cannot do without it. It just makes it managing it, you know, it easier at scale. And I think the go-to-market is faster because, you know, there’s a low-code environment as I said, so it doesn’t take a lot of time to build new strategy or bring in new actions and stuff like that. Greg Kihlström: Yeah, because part of the challenge with a lot of this stuff is just getting the right pieces aligned, right? Because it’s not just platforms, it’s teams, it’s data, it’s all of those things. So just kind of centralizing that in one place can be really helpful. Kunal Mangal: Yeah, and plus another thing is that, I mean, in organizations like you, like Verizon, you know, we have so many channels of engagement with the customers. And if you want to implement the same logic or, you know, same sort of intelligence and multiple, you have to do it multiple times. So better do it in one place. So yeah, that’s, I mean, but you’re right. I mean, the centralization in this case helps. I mean, although I know that it’s not good for everything, but so that’s the idea, but it’s still a challenge to kind of do it right. Greg Kihlström: Yeah. So you mentioned in your experience you’ve worked with in a number of different industries. You’ve worked on the B2C side as well. What’s now working in B2B. What’s been your experience. You know what’s what’s been different from your experience. And you know what are what are you seeing there. Kunal Mangal: Yeah, I mean, I started in B2C, and to be honest, I’m not like a hardcore nuts and bolts marketer, but I kind of learn along the way. I think some ideas and some concepts, I mean, are very much similar in B2C and B2B. So, for example, we talk about, like, there was a session earlier talking about personalization. Personalization is equally important in B2B and B2C. Now it worked in different ways, I mean, but basically you’re saying, tailoring messages and offers and experiences based on data-driven insights. It gets more sophisticated actually in B2B because think about it, you’re working with multiple stakeholders within the same client organization. If I’m talking to the CTO of a company and try to pitch something versus I’m talking to the HR head, their needs are different, their perceptions are different. So how do you personalize your contacts with the customer? I think that if you learn some techniques or you know, best practices in B2C, a lot of them are equally applicable in B2B, so that’s one thing. Same thing with customer experience, I would say, in CX, you know, smooth, hassle-free experience from initial contact to making a sale, onboarding, ongoing support after that. It applies same in both, like business customers also, they want hassle-free experience. So again, if you learn something in B2C, you have to understand that’s equally interesting and important. Some of the differences I would say is content marketing, although it is there in B2C as well, but I think it gets much more sophisticated in B2B because the nurturing period is much longer in B2B. You know, you’re looking at…I’m sorry, I’m speaking from a telecom perspective probably, but, you know, I mean, new model comes in, everybody wants it, they’re just looking for the best deal. But in B2B, you know, you don’t sell stuff by exciting people. You have to show them the value, you have to understand their pain points. So I think the nurturing part, the content marketing part in B2B is something that you touch upon in B2C, but I think it gets much more sophisticated and complex in B2B. And when they talk about things like Gen AI and all that, so I see a lot of that, a lot of people trying to figure that out. Greg Kihlström: Yeah. And so a lot more time spent in the journey and a lot more potentially decisions and hurdles to get through in the process. Kunal Mangal: Definitely. So that’s one thing I’m learning. I never took it seriously in B2C and I was like, oh, it’s a big deal now. Greg Kihlström: Yeah, so a big part of your role involves data-driven decision-making, as you said, and a lot of that has to do with data, a lot of that has to do with platforms, but there’s a huge people and process component to that as well, right? So from your perspective, even having the right tools in place and the data connected and all of that stuff, what’s the mindset shift from a, well, we did it this way and it worked, that anecdotal perspective versus a really truly relying on data to make decisions? Kunal Mangal: Yeah, that’s a great question because, I mean, believe it or not, that is the biggest challenge. And so I think the mindset change has to, first of all, start from the top. You know, you have your topmost leadership needs to demonstrate that they are using data for their own decision making. They need to be seen as doing it. You know, you go to meetings, they need to ask for data, insights, evidence. You know, you go for a proposal approval, you have to understand that my leaders are going to ask me for concrete evidence. So that is the first thing, so that everybody knows that, okay, you know, we value data and we value fact and reality. So that’s one big chain, I think. And many times these initiatives tend to, people tend to start them from like one division or, you know, one little corner of something. It doesn’t work. It’s not going to scale well. Second thing I would say is the culture of collaboration and the cross-functional cooperation. Because see what happens is if you’re saying, we’re going to start using more data to make our decisions. First thing is you have to get that data, and it doesn’t stay in one place. Earlier, if you run a business unit, you would say, I own my data. So you have to open your data up, to other, because you have to create some data layer, which is not just your business unit or your department. So open that data up to other people. Open your decision-making processes up, too. And that could create insecurities. That could also create, because if you’re not seeing the value, you’re like, why are we doing all this? So that is, I think, a big mindset change, also, that you have to learn to collaborate better. And I think third is, probably like having a culture of like constant improvement learning and curiosity and this may sound preachy but think about how data science works right I mean you cannot have the most perfect model on day one it needs feedback it needs more and more data to constantly improve itself, plus things change. Customer behavior changes, the way new data sources emerge and all that. So if you don’t do that, that culture of where folks are questioning things and saying, hey, we built this model last year, but is it still good? So basically, are you measuring it constantly? Are you willing to you know, work on continuous improvement. I think that is also, that kind of culture is very important, too. I mean, like, so employees should be encouraged to ask questions, to investigate, and, you know, so I think there’s a couple of, I mean, so these things, I think, from a mindset perspective, you know, leadership, demonstrating the need, and then business units opening up and collaborating more, and trying to incorporate that at an employee level, that culture of, you know, curiosity. Greg Kihlström: And so from that really talks about from the internal perspective, what about from that customer perspective? I mean, at the end at the end of the day, everyone is driven towards, you know, sales and revenue growth and lifetime value and stuff like that. But how does the customer experience kind of weigh into this this notion of data driven decision making? Kunal Mangal: This CX remains the most important thing. I mean, honestly, so no matter how smart your decision-making is, if you’re not communicating it to your customer at the right time, in the right context, using the right channel, it’s not going to work. And it has. I mean, it has happened to us many times. Our setup was great, but we didn’t see much adoption, or we didn’t see much success. So one thing is, yeah, I mean, no matter how great your data-driven insights are, you’ve got to figure out, from a customer experience perspective, where does it make sense the most, how to present it, what content should be delivered to convey this action or whatever to the customer. I mean, in fact, in companies like Verizon, I mean, a lot of our efforts of, you know, spending or creating data-driven initiatives and projects are geared towards improving customer experience. And, you know, you measure, you know, customer experience using multiple things. But they’re saying, okay, well, we have gaps here. Net promoter score we want to increase. So how do we do? How do we use? So a lot of actually effort is going towards improving CX. Greg Kihlström: Yeah, so that’s the desired end result, essentially, is that CX. So you talked about the feedback loop and the importance of that. There are a number of ways to get there. So, you know, you talked about how, you know, we’re not going to get things perfect on day one. You know, the idea of machine learning even and all those things is continuous improvement. What about, you know, another way of doing that is to do like the pilot project and the small, you know, the small thing and grow from there. What’s, you know, in an organization like yours, you know, is it, does one work and not the other? Do both work? Does it kind of just depend on the use case? Kunal Mangal: No, I think the same sort of iterative approach works better. And part of the reason is, first of all, no matter how much confidence you have in your ability to build the best models in the world, you have to understand that the outcomes from technology intervention projects or automation projects is much more certain. You can measure, okay, if I automate this process, I’m going to save 100 hours a week and blah, blah, blah. But when you’re bringing in probabilistic reasoning, machine learning and all that stuff, then the outcome becomes a little less certain. You don’t really know. Honestly, I mean, you know, to an extent, but it may not work out the way you expected. So you have to always start small, find a very specific problem, which is not too complicated, and try to solve that using, you know, some data-driven approach. So I’ll give you an example. Like, we were, for example, when people called to disconnect, reps were trying to save those customers, and they were going to go to the Deepest discount say I want to save you I can what if you give you 40% discount save this line, right? So yeah, fine, your retention rate is good, but then your cost per offer is also very high. So can you solve this simple problem? Maybe just try to gauge the customer’s lifetime value or probability to churn and all that, whatever. And then if you can even get those offers. Maybe we start with 20% for this customer, things like that. And the way you design your interface, you make it work that way that nobody can jump or, you know, Even that thing, a simple problem doesn’t require a neural network model to solve. But you can show value. You can say two easy KPIs. What is the disconnect rate? What is the cost per offer? You prove it. That gives your stakeholder some confidence that, OK, well, it is working. And then, based on the feedback loop and all, and you basically try to improve that process. Again, when your KPIs start to drop, you figure out, OK, what do I do? So that’s one thing. The other thing is, now it has given you a case study, a success story. Now you can use that to Basically figure out more use cases go in front of more. So this is the only way it’s going to work honestly. I mean if you’re a small company or a startup. Yeah, maybe you could do you know sort of a top-down that way, but I think in companies big companies you have to. You have to do iterative because. I’m telling you, I mean, like, your value estimates are going to vary from reality, but you want that variance to be as small as possible. Because once your stakeholders lose faith in data, you know, it’s very difficult to get it back. So, I mean, from my perspective, that is the best way to go. Greg Kihlström: Yeah, and another thing you touch on, you know, you touch on next best action, which is, okay, a customer is about to churn, let’s send them some kind of reminder or whatever, but it’s also next best offer, which is what you also kind of, so in other words, it’s not just, okay, it’s time to like communicate with this person, it’s, what’s the best way to retain, what’s the, you know, it could come down to the cost of a text message versus an email, you know, in some, you know, really broad use case or something like that. So it sounds like, you know, it’s a new, when done well, it’s a nuanced, a nuanced thing, right? Kunal Mangal: Yeah, I mean, definitely. You cannot create unrealistic expectations, and that’s why you don’t want to start very big where the value proposition gets a little bit vague. That’s how you’re going to get executive support, by the way, because they’re nervous. They’re not experts in machine learning or data science. So they want to see evidence and if you start small, you can give more concrete evidence and you can prove it quickly enough also, right? Versus if you do a large project, which is quite a lot of IT work, a lot of new architecture and all that. You know what happens when any project becomes technology project. There’s going to be cost overruns. They’re going to be delays. So you don’t want to go that path right from day one. Greg Kihlström: So let’s talk a little bit about. So your data driven decision making involves AI. There’s lots of flavors of... /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36601490

#49: Adapting your B2B marketing playbook at the speed of AI, with Victoria Blackwell, G2 06/24/2025

#49: Adapting your B2B marketing playbook at the speed of AI, with Victoria Blackwell, G2 Agility today means adapting your marketing playbook at the speed of AI—experimenting fast, learning faster, and never assuming yesterday’s tech advantage still applies. Today we’re going to talk about how B2B marketers should be thinking about AI in the months ahead—and how to know if you’re already behind. To help me discuss this, I’d like to welcome Victoria Blackwell, Sr. Program Manager of Research Insights at G2. About Victoria Blackwell Victoria Blackwell is a Sr. Program Manager for Research Insights at G2, specializing in marketing and digital advertising software. She brings a strategic mindset, analytical depth, and a strong track record of cross-functional leadership to the B2B tech space. Victoria began her career on Capitol Hill before transitioning into the private sector, where she developed expertise in program management and stakeholder engagement. Her journey took her through high-growth B2C startups and global app platforms in Chicago and London, where she led innovative brand and marketing initiatives. Today, she leverages her cross-industry experience to deliver strategic insights and thought leadership that help shape the future of marketing technology. RESOURCES G2: https://www.g2.com https://www.g2.com Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: Keep up with the latest B2B Marketing insights by following the B2B Agility Podcast: https://www.b2bagility.com Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36535950

#48: REPLAY: B2B Brand Stories with Tiffany Grinstead, Nationwide Insurance 06/17/2025

#48: REPLAY: B2B Brand Stories with Tiffany Grinstead, Nationwide Insurance We aired this episode a little while ago but wanted to share it again because we think there are some great insights for B2B marketers within it. Today we’re going to talk about using personalization to create more engaging and inspiring stories for B2B brands. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Tiffany Grinstead, Vice President – Personal Lines Marketing at Nationwide Insurance. About Tiffany Grinstead Tiffany Grinstead serves as vice president of personal lines marketing for Nationwide. She is responsible for driving segmentation, marketing strategy and promotion for auto, homeowners, RV, boat, renters, condo, umbrella and powersports insurance across independent agencies, partners, members and direct-to-consumer. She previously served as vice president of agency marketing for Nationwide Property Casualty, where she was responsible for independent agency and regional marketing across personal lines, commercial lines and ag, as well as Nationwide National Partners. Prior to that, she was vice president of marketing for Nationwide Financial, Individual Products and Solutions (IPS) including life insurance and annuities, Nationwide Financial Network and Nationwide Business Solutions Group. She also served as vice president for Nationwide Investment Management Group marketing and was previously associate vice president for Nationwide Financial Network and Nationwide Financial Life Insurance marketing, associate vice president of private sector retirement plans marketing for Nationwide Financial and led Organizational Communications for Nationwide. Grinstead has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, brand, distribution strategy, communications, leadership and solutions development. She is a Registered Corporate Coach and a graduate of The Ohio State University. She was recognized by Columbus Business First Magazine as a Top 40 Under 40, was finalist for a 2016 CMO Club Award and was commended by the international group Women in Marketing in 2018 in the Best Leader in Marketing- Brand category. She is passionate about public education and programs to reduce the impact of poverty. She is an active volunteer with Columbus City Schools and a board member for I Know I Can, a college access non-profit. She currently resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and children. Resources Nationwide Insurance: The B2B Agility podcast website: Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36601475

#47: The power of AI in UX research and design with Jason Bowman, The Office of Experience 06/10/2025

#47: The power of AI in UX research and design with Jason Bowman, The Office of Experience How does a B2B brand maintain speed and agility in the area of UX design, where it has often taken a considerable amount of time, effort, and testing to get to a better result? Today we’re going to talk about using AI strategically in UX research, design, and testing. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jason Bowman, Executive Director of User Experience at The Office of Experience. About Jason Bowman Jason leads OX as the Executive Director of UX, bringing over 20+ years of meaningful UX and design experience to the firm, overseeing and managing Content Strategy, UX and Business Analyst teams. Jason has a true talent for guiding projects to successful launches as quickly and efficiently as possible. With strong collaboration skills and attention to detail, he is always looking for the right thing in order to create a better experience for users, clients, and teams. His expansive experience includes multinational, multilingual intranets, startups, marquee consumer brands, global agencies, mobile apps, and more. Notable client work includes Patagonia, Groupon, Samsung, Boston Consulting Group, Sitka Gear, Goop, American Medical Association, and more. RESOURCES The Office of Experience: https://www.officeofexperience.com https://www.officeofexperience.com This episode is brought to you by The Office of Experience, a design-driven, digital-first, vertically integrated and collaborative agency that believes in the power of ideas and the strength of people. Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Online Scrum Master Summit is happening June 17-19. This 3-day virtual event is open for registration. Visit www.osms25.com and get a 25% discount off Premium All-Access Passes with the code osms25agilebrand Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36799120

#46: Better onboarding and operations using AI to augment with Srikrishnan Ganesan, Rocketlane 06/03/2025

#45: REPLAY: Thriving amidst transformation, with Steve Blum, Autodesk 05/27/2025

#45: REPLAY: Thriving amidst transformation, with Steve Blum, Autodesk We aired this episode a little while ago, but thought it had some amazing insights we thought were worth sharing again. Today we’re going to talk about building a change maker culture and how you can help your teams to thrive among change, instead of being disrupted by it. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Steve Blum, Chief Operating Officer of Autodesk. About Steve Blum As Autodesk’s Chief Operating Officer, Steve oversees the teams responsible for sales, marketing, customer success, digital platforms, and customer experience. Together, these teams create and provide high-impact experiences for customers. Their aim is to help people achieve their business outcomes using design and make technologies. Steve believes in having an “expect to win” attitude. It’s a mindset built around confidence, determination, focus and perseverance. Steve guides his teams to have a vision of the customer’s success, a game plan to achieve it, and the drive to make it happen. He also believes no one accomplishes great things by working alone. It takes a great team. He has experienced this firsthand in his 30-year career in technology. Since joining Autodesk in 2003, Steve has led the field organization through the company’s business model transition, introduced Named Account programs worldwide, implemented a new partner channel framework, and established the company’s first Customer Success organization. Prior to Autodesk, Steve held leadership positions with Parago, Inc, Mentor Graphics, Advanced Micro Devices and NCR Corporation. Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida, and he started his professional life as an engineer. He earned a patent for developing a testing technique to evaluate undershoot and overshoot resistances in programmable logic devices. Steve is usually on the road more than in his office and home in Texas. But he always makes time for family, even if it means getting on another plane with his wife to see his kids. His two adult children have started their careers and now seek out dad for advice. Steve loves hearing about their experiences, getting their insights as young professionals, and seeing them learn and grow. Resources Autodesk website: The B2B Agility podcast website: Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/36601460

#44: Why "slow" experiences are the new "site is down" with Gerardo Dada, Catchpoint 05/20/2025

#43: Localizing video using AI with Guy Piekarz from Panjaya 05/06/2025

#42: Maintaining authenticity as you scale with Fred Meyers, Queensboro 04/08/2025

#41: Connecting deeply with B2B audiences with Jason Ing, Gusto 04/01/2025

#40: Harnessing the Power of PR to Scale B2B with Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR Disruptors™ 03/25/2025

#40: Harnessing the Power of PR to Scale B2B with Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR Disruptors™ Is your brand’s story building trust—or are you leaving credibility to chance? Our guest today is Karla Jo Helms, Founder and CEO of JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla is an expert in transforming B2B brands through innovative public relations strategies. With a career dedicated to building trust, managing crises, and leveraging data-driven storytelling, she has helped countless businesses scale and thrive. She’s here to share her insights on harnessing the power of PR to elevate B2B brands, even in the most challenging environments. Karla Jo Helms, Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR Strategist Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line—and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumni of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators and the media to help restore companies of goodwill back into the good graces of public opinion—Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Karla Jo has patterned her agency on the perfect balance of crisis management, entrepreneurial insight and proven public relations experience. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of PR to drive markets and impact market perception. Resources Joto PR Disruptors™ website: The B2B Agility podcast website: Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/35279295

#39: Payment innovation for SMBs with Brian Goudie, Aurora Payments 03/11/2025

#38: The layer cake approach to branding with Allison Capaldi and Robert Wolfe, Zeck 02/18/2025

#38: The layer cake approach to branding with Allison Capaldi and Robert Wolfe, Zeck In a world of fleeting attention spans and oversaturated markets, how can brands truly stand out and build loyalty that lasts—even when it comes to something as overlooked as board meetings? Today, we’re joined by Allison Capaldi, Senior Content Manager at Zeck, and Robert Wolfe, Founder of Zeck. Together, they’ve built not one but three successful brands, including Moosejaw, which sold to Walmart, and CrowdRise, which sold to GoFundMe. Now, they’re revolutionizing the way companies approach board meetings with Zeck, while continuing to push the boundaries of what it means to build a memorable and lasting brand. Allison will share her innovative "Layer Cake Approach" to branding, and we’ll hear from both Allison and Robert about their unique partnership and insights on building iconic brands. About Allison Capaldi Allison Capaldi started her passion for brand and brand building in 2002 when she was one of the first employees at Moosejaw Mountaineering, founded by Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe. From that moment on, the world of brand building was in her blood. From a small back office carved out of a retail store where they’d put customers on hold to say ‘hold on let us check in our warehouse’ (spoiler, there was no warehouse), to being acquired by Walmart and more recently, by Dick’s Sporting Goods, it was the maniacal pressing of the brand that made it all work.An irreverent sense of humor, a fanatical approach to customer service and a cult following around the globe helped to create a brand full of authenticity well before that was a buzzword. Following the Wolfe brother’s next endeavor (along with award-winning actor Edward Norton), Allison landed at CrowdRise, which eventually became the largest fundraising platform for non-profits in the United States. Kind of cool. Making giving back notable, cool and fun was the goal and it worked. CrowdRise was eventually acquired by GoFundMe. Fast-forward to business number three of Robert, Jeffrey and Edward and Zeck was born. Out of real life experience of now having sat on multiple boards and dealing with multiple boards, everyone realized there was a real problem. First of all, board meetings were miserable - we’re solving that. The brand is right back to taking center stage on a problem that is extremely corporate and lackluster. And, it’s working again. Allison calls her branding approach the Layer Cake Approach and can talk about it until she’s blue in the face. It’s not about creating a brand that looks good and says the right thing - it’s about the layers. The details. The miniscule fine print on the receipt that actually is engaging - and for the 2% of people who read it, they’re yours forever. A graduate from the University of Michigan, Go Blue, she’s devoted her working life to these brands. She’s also a decent singer, brings her own hot sauce to her sister-in-law’s house and can’t go to bed unless the kitchen is clean. That’s all. About Robert Wolfe Robert Wolfe is the founder and former CEO of Moosejaw and CrowdRise. More recently, Robert started Zeck. Zeck is entirely reimagining the miserable board meeting process Robert started Moosejaw in a tiny shop when he had really big hair. Moosejaw’s aim was to make retail and e-commerce fun and engaging and they also pressed their own Moosejaw brand, which became pretty cultish, in a good way. Despite being incredibly foolish, Moosejaw was acquired by Walmart. No one can believe it but it’s true. Robert wanted to make sure he had some sort of decent impact, so along with his smarter brother, Jeffrey, and actor and philanthropist, Edward Norton, he launched CrowdRise. CrowdRise focused on making giving back notable, cool and social. CrowdRise eventually became the largest fundraising platform four non-profits in the US and was acquired by GoFundMe. After spending time as an operator running board meetings and, on the other side of the table, as a board member, Robert launched Zeck to change the process entirely. Zeck transforms the dynamic between the leadership team and the board, making board meetings strategic and forward thinking. Never again will you get into a board meeting to have a deck that you already read, read back to you. Such a waste of time. Robert has no interests or hobbies and is a terrible sleeper. He has been an advisor to several companies and is faster than Usain Bolt at replying to any message. But, publicly Robert only boasts about his Honorable Mention for ‘Best Breakdancer Using an Old School Cardboard Mat’. Also, ‘for’ is spelled incorrectly above on purpose. Resources Zeck website: The B2B Agility podcast website: Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: /episode/index/show/b85adb47-ede9-40b0-82cb-c8b19dd9e2ba/id/35279215

#37: Marketing operations as a driver of growth with Mike Rizzo, MarketingOps.com 02/04/2025

#36: Knowing when and how to automate your sales processes with Joshua Garrison, Apollo 01/21/2025

#35: Aligning organizations for success, with Robert Chatwani, President, Docusign 01/07/2025

#34: What do 34,000 landing pages have to teach you about yours? Featuring Sahil Patel from Spiralyze 12/31/2024

#33: B2B E-Commerce Content Optimization with Ashlyn Fulton, D'Addario & Company 12/17/2024

#32: The Amazonification of B2B ecommerce with Alex Sayyah at Aleran 12/10/2024

B2B Agility with Greg Kihlström™: MarTech, E-Commerce, & Customer Success

TOPICS