This episode of B2B In Flux features a conversation with Kai Waehner, a global Field CTO at Confluent, exploring the realities of the B2B buying process and how marketers can effectively reach technical decision-makers.Kai and host John Wilkes cover topics that include:1. The Shift to Bottom-Up Buying: Technology adoption often starts with individual users (bottom-up) rather than executive mandates (top-down), frequently leading to "shadow IT" that executives eventually need to strategize around.Targeting Beyond the C-Suite: While many marketers aim for the C-level, the most impactful research and evaluation often happen one or two levels below, such as with Heads of Architecture, Integration, or Analytics.2. Effective Content Strategies: Successful content should lead with industry-specific customer stories and business value rather than deep technical demos or generic marketing claims.The Role of AI in Research: AI agents and large language models (LLMs) are becoming complementary research tools for buyers, though human-led trust and verified customer proof points remain essential. 3. The Importance of Trust and Compliance: For large enterprises, technical evaluation is less about a "feature battle" and more about a vendor's ability to execute securely within complex regulatory environments like GDPR.4. High-Value Networking: Small, high-quality industry roundtables where executives can discuss shared problems and competitor case studies are often more effective than mass-market lead generation.Kai Waehner is a global Field CTO, author, and frequent speaker who interacts with hundreds of enterprise customers annually to understand how technology fits into their broader architectures. He maintains a private blog with significant monthly readership and is active on LinkedIn and X.