I just wrapped an episode that was supposed to be 30 minutes… it went over an hour.

Why? Because Sachin Jha kept dropping insights that were too good to cut short.

Sachin is a Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Safe Security, one of the top 100 product marketing influencers, and someone who’s been deep in developer marketing, AI products, and cybersecurity for years.

Here’s what we unpacked:

On AI in Product Marketing:

* Why “AI-powered” is becoming as meaningless as “cloud-based” was 10 years ago

* The difference between using AI tools vs. marketing AI products

* How to actually differentiate AI products (hint: lead with the problem, not the tech)

On Developer Marketing:

* Why developers can “smell marketing from 200 feet away”

* The biggest mistake marketers make when talking to technical audiences

* How to separate education from selling (and why it matters)

* Real example: How Sachin cracked messaging for Isovalent by keeping sales out of open-source Slack channels

On Technical PMM Survival:

* You don’t need to code, but you need to be “dangerous enough”

* Why Sachin got Kubernetes certified as a PMM (and what it taught him)

* The skills that AI can’t replace: empathy, judgment, strategy, conflict management

On Breaking Into Tech Roles in 2025:

* Why easy-applying on LinkedIn won’t cut it anymore

* How to use AI tools (Cursor, Lovable, Base44) to build prototypes and stand out

* The rise of GTM engineering and why execution + strategy matters more than ever

* Why domain expertise beats being a generalist

AI Tools Sachin Actually Uses: ChatGPT (for polite pushbacks and coaching), NotebookLM (mind maps + voice summaries), Genspark.ai (one-pagers from videos), Napkin.ai (workflow diagrams), Clay, Notion AI, Gamma, and more.

My favorite quote from the episode: “Think of AI as your assistant that never sleeps. Your job is safe. Just focus on what only humans can do—strategy, empathy, judgment, and fighting between your CXO and CMO for messaging.”

This episode is for anyone who:

* Wants to understand what developer marketing actually means

* Is trying to break into technical PMM roles

* Wonders if they need to learn coding

* Wants real talk about AI (not hype)

* Is looking to upskill for 2025 and beyond

🎧 Listen here:

Have questions or thoughts? Hit reply; I read every email.

Until next time, Shruti

When I first thought about starting Behind the Brief, Tas Bobur was one of the very first people I dreamed of bringing on.

Why? Because as an immigrant myself, I’ve always carried doubts, fears, and a heavy dose of imposter syndrome. Even when I left my hometown, those feelings followed me. And I often wondered: how do women who come from deeply rooted cultures make their way, lead boldly, and still build something of their own?

Tas is one of those women.She runs her own consultancy, The Scroll Lab, and is known for creating killer, high-converting B2B landing pages. For those outside of B2B, that might sound dry — but trust me, it’s the kind of work that transforms companies.

And here’s the kicker: Tas is also known as “the purple LinkedIn banner lady.” Her personality is so purple 💜 that for this episode, I even switched my podcast logo into purple. (Commitment or chaos? You decide 😅).

But more than the brand colors, this conversation hit deep. We talked about:

* Navigating identity as an immigrant & woman of color

* Standing up for yourself in rooms where you feel invisible

* The leap from in-house marketer to building your own business

* Why most landing pages are built wrong — and how to rethink them

* Advice for expats and women of color chasing their own dreams

This turned into my first-ever hour-long episode — and honestly, every minute felt worth it. If you’ve ever questioned where you belong, how to balance identity with ambition, or whether you’re good enough to chase your path… this one’s for you.

🎧 Listen here:

💜 And when you do, let me know what part of Tas’s story resonated most with you — I promise you’ll catch me grinning ear-to-ear the whole way through.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:Most PMMs don’t struggle because of lack of skill.They struggle because they can’t influence.

This week, I sat down with Amruta (Amazon GTM Lead + PMM Coach) for Part 2 of our conversation, and we dug into the invisible side of product marketing—the people strategy.

We covered:

* Why Amruta started coaching PMMs (and the repeating patterns she saw)

* The #1 reason cross-functional influence is so hard

* The mindset traps that silently block your career growth

* How to escape execution mode and finally be seen as strategic

💡 My takeaway: Your credibility is your career currency. And influence isn’t a “one-time pitch”—it’s built day after day, through trust and relationships.

👉 Listen here →

💬 What’s the toughest part of influence for you—getting buy-in, building trust, or shifting your own mindset?

Most SaaS teams don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem.

This week on Behind the Brief, I sat down with Lashay Lewis — Founder of BOFU.ai — to talk about how to turn blogs into bottom-of-funnel machines.

Two years ago, I was saving her LinkedIn posts like playbooks. Today, she’s walking us through:

* Why BOFU is ignored (and why that’s costing companies pipeline)

* How to use AI without losing the human edge

* The 3-step workflow she built to take blogs from 5% to 30% conversion

* Her biggest founder lessons from building BOFU.ai

👉 Watch on YT:

"Intent over volume. Thirty people with buying intent beat 30,000 browsers every single time." – Lashay Lewis

CTA:

If you’ve ever wondered why your blog “looks great” but doesn’t bring leads — this one’s for you.

We like to think GTM is about big launches, shiny campaigns, and killer sales decks.

But in my conversation with Daria Love, Director of Product Marketing at TransEU, we stripped it down to what really makes or breaks a GTM motion: alignment from the top down.

When leadership isn’t on the same page, you don’t have one GTM team – you have five mini-companies, each running in their own direction. And that’s when the blame game begins.

In this episode, we talk about:

* Why executive buy-in is the starting point for GTM

* How to create “internal partnership agreements” that stick

* Why imposter syndrome doesn’t just disappear (and how she manages it)

* The case for work-life harmony over work-life balance

* Why you don’t have to be “just one thing” in your career

If you’ve ever felt stuck between departments, doubted your own seat at the table, or wondered why your GTM feels like a puzzle missing pieces – this one’s for you.

🎧 Watch/Listen to the episode here →

In this week’s Behind the Brief, I spoke with Allison, a startup PMM, GTM strategist, and the voice behind PMM Power Hour, about what it really means to run a product launch.

This wasn’t a fluff-filled “how to write launch emails” chat.We covered the messy, cross-functional, often last-minute reality of what launches actually look like, and how to survive (and thrive) in that world.

Here are 10 product marketing takeaways that stuck with me:

* Product marketing is a team sport. You’re not supposed to do it all, but you should ensure it all gets done.

* A release is not a launch. Launches are crafted moments. Releases just happen.

* Ask for docs. Get the product handoff brief before you write your first sentence.

* Message it right. No value prop = no adoption.

* Momentum matters. Launch day is just the beginning.

* Practice makes the PMM. Early-career folks: small launches, side projects, and mentors are gold.

* Own your impact. You don’t need to “run” the whole launch to make it interview-worthy.

* Use AI as a co-pilot. For brainstorming, framing, pressure-testing your comms.

* Customer-first messaging wins. Stop writing for titles. Start writing for people.

* Not all launches are created equal. Tier them. Don’t treat everything like a tier-one splash.

✨ We also got into AI agents, ChatGPT workflows, and how to future-proof your marketing skills.

🎧 Available now on Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Let me know what stuck with you from this episode — always love hearing your reflections.

I wasn’t planning to record a case study.

But a few weeks ago, Elena emailed me:“I’ve just finished a full rebrand — want to walk through it on the pod?”

I had another topic lined up.But this… felt real. Tangible. Honest.

So we hit record.

This episode is a deep dive into how Elena led a 6-week sprint to reposition SimplyCodes - one of those rare stories where strategy, soul, and execution all show up in equal measure.

She didn’t just redesign a website.She redesigned trust.

We talked about:

* Why “only codes that work” didn’t hold up anymore

* How she fought for honest design and community-first visuals

* Crafting messaging that makes sense to both humans and LLMs

* The power of showing what doesn’t work

* What it actually takes to launch with intention, not just urgency

This episode is a blueprint for marketing that respects the customer’s time, intelligence, and context.

🎧 Watch it here:

📕 And if you’ve got your own story - real, raw, a little messy but meaningful - I’d love to hear it. DM me.

Your story, your way. My questions.

This week on Behind the Brief, I had a refreshingly honest chat with Shirin Shahin, fractional PMM turned founder, about what it really takes to turn your marketing brain into a business.

We covered:

* The mindset shift from execution to ownership

* Why AI is useful, but no match for emotional intelligence

* The scary moment she undercharged - and what she learned

* Getting through burnout, slow seasons, and pricing doubt

This isn’t a glossy founder story. It’s the behind-the-scenes breakdown of what it actually takes.

🎧 Listen on Spotify | Watch on YouTube💬 DM me your favorite part or reply with a “Yes” if you’ve ever felt stuck in the execution trap.

Until next time,Shruti

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but your marketing doesn’t have to be perfect to make an impact.

In this episode of Behind The Brief, I spoke with Chandan, co-founder of Awevent and one of those marketers who just gets it. He’s been the only marketer in the room. He’s launched with chaos, limited time, no money, and a ton of pressure.

Some key moments from our chat:✅ Why startups are a PMM bootcamp✅ The marketing fail that taught him the value of clean funnels✅ How he built trust with data, not decks✅ A launch story that started with QR codes and snail mail

🎧 You can listen here →

— ShrutiProduct Marketer, Creato

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In this episode, Shruti chats with Nikhil, Senior Director of Marketing at Chargebee, who reveals what really happens when a PMM takes on revenue responsibility. From GTM engine building to owning outbound motion, this conversation is packed with real stories, hard lessons, and playbook-level insights.

👉 Whether you're a marketer, founder, or aspiring PMM — this is for you.

🔑 Topics covered:

* Why product marketing is more than just storytelling

* Building outbound from scratch — without a playbook

* Using LLMs to scale pipeline-building

* PMM + Demand Gen = Dangerous Combo?

* How to earn sales team trust

* How to fix broken GTM alignment

* Nikhil’s biggest launch failure — and what he learned

* Pipeline planning + imposter syndrome

Watch the full video here →