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

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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: 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

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

Show notes

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: https://www.nationwide.com
The B2B Agility podcast website: https://agilebrandguide.com/latest-podcasts/b2bagility/
Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/
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

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

Show notes

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 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

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

Show notes

Customer onboarding is often where good intentions often end up with less-than-stellar execution. Delays, confusion, and misalignment derail even the most promising new relationships. Why is onboarding still broken in so many organizations, and how is AI finally changing that?

Today I'm joined by Srikrishnan Ganesan, Co-Founder and CEO of Rocketlane, a platform that's redefining customer onboarding and project delivery.

From AI-driven tools to cross-functional collaboration, Rocketlane is helping teams implement faster, operate smarter, and retain customers better. Srikrishnan's here to talk about the future of onboarding, operations, and the role of technology in scaling both customer satisfaction and internal success.

Resources

Rocketlane: https://www.rocketlane.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 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

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

Show notes

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: https://www.autodesk.com
The B2B Agility podcast website: https://agilebrandguide.com/latest-podcasts/b2bagility/
Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/
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

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

Show notes

When your site is technically "up" but takes too long to load, customers don't care—it might as well be down. Why is "slow" the new "down", and how is that reshaping the way organizations think about digital experience?

Today I'm joined by Gerardo Dada, Chief Marketing Officer at Catchpoint, a leader in digital experience monitoring. Gerardo recently helped launch the 2025 SRE Report, which delivers some surprising insights—most notably, that 53% of organizations now view poor performance as just as damaging as actual downtime. Catchpoint is also leading innovation in observability with tools like their new AI-powered Internet Outage Map, and Gerardo's here to talk about what it all means for digital-first organizations.

Resources

Catchpoint: https://www.catchpoint.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 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

#43: Localizing video using AI with Guy Piekarz from Panjaya May 06, 2025

Show notes

Most brands invest heavily in content creation, but how much of that content actually reaches global audiences in a way that feels authentic? With 94% of B2B buyers saying they are more likely to engage with leadership and conference videos in their local language, companies are missing a massive opportunity. How can AI-powered video localization remove barriers, preserve cultural nuance, and make video content truly global?

Joining me today is Guy Piekarz, CEO of Panjaya, a company revolutionizing video localization with AI-driven deep-real technology that provides seamless lip-syncing and natural dubbing across multiple languages. Panjaya is already working with global leaders like TED and JFrog, helping brands expand their international reach.

Guy's journey includes time at Apple and founding Matcha, where he saw firsthand the inefficiencies in traditional video dubbing and closed captioning—processes that are often slow, expensive, and produce subpar results.

RESOURCES

Panjaya: https://www.panjaya.ai/ 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 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

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

Show notes

How do you take a business from a basement office in Queens to a $25 million company—without losing the personal touch that made it special in the first place? Joining us today is Fred Meyers, President and Founder of Queensboro, a company that has revolutionized the custom logo apparel industry. Fred spotted a market gap while doing laundry in his college dorm room, long before e-commerce, fax machines, or even 1-800 numbers were mainstream. What started as a small side project in the late 1970s has grown into a thriving business with over 125 employees, helping small businesses across America build their brands through high-quality custom apparel.

About Fred Meyers

Fred Meyers is the founder of Queensboro, a company he started in the late 1970s that revolutionized the custom logo apparel industry. Before the existence of fax machines or 800 numbers, Fred identified a market gap in the premium polo shirt space dominated by brands like Lacoste and Ralph Lauren. Through determination and innovation, he built a supply chain from scratch, transforming a college dorm room operation into a multi-million dollar company that has sustained growth for over 45 years. Today, Queensboro serves major clients like Costco, Burger King, and Pepsi, while maintaining its commitment to helping small businesses build their brands through custom apparel.

Resources Queensboro website: https://www.queensboro.com The B2B Agility podcast website: https://www.b2bagility.com Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/ Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

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

Show notes

Payroll isn't exactly what you'd call exciting—so how do you take a - let's face it - rather boring topic like that and make it relatable, engaging, and even funny enough to capture an audience's attention?

Joining us today is Jason Ing, Chief Marketing Officer at Gusto, a leading platform that provides small and medium-sized businesses with payroll, health insurance, HR tools, and more to empower their teams both locally and internationally. Jason has spearheaded innovative campaigns like the recent "Choose Gusto" campaign, proving that even the most unexpected topics can connect deeply with audiences.

RESOURCES

Gusto: https://www.gusto.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 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 The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow 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

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

Show notes

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: https://jotopr.com/ The B2B Agility podcast website: https://www.b2bagility.com Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/ Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

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