Sophie Mckay, Head of Marketing APAC at Notion, shares how an unconventional career path from receptionist to regional executive shaped her approach to leadership and modern marketing. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, she explains why today’s marketing leaders must rethink how teams operate in the age of AI, moving beyond isolated productivity gains toward fully integrated workflows that allow teams to move faster from insight to execution. Sophie discusses the “messy middle” of AI adoption, where marketers are experimenting individually but struggling to scale transformation across teams, and why the future lies in building an AI-powered marketing operating system. She also reflects on the power of community-led growth, sharing lessons from Notion Australia’s launch and why engaged communities will always tell a brand story better than advertising alone.

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Prateek Mathur, Head of Marketing at SAP, shares how a career that began in web development evolved into leading marketing for one of the world’s most influential enterprise software organisations. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, he introduces the “Business Yogi” philosophy, where marketing is defined as the unification of Mind (strategy), Body (execution), and Soul (creativity and innovation).

He explains how modern B2B marketing has become increasingly complex, driven by non-linear buyer journeys and expanding buying committees that require marketers to think beyond organisations and engage individual stakeholders with B2C-level precision. At the core of his perspective is a challenge to leaders: to continuously question whether they are truly reimagining marketing through AI or simply applying new tools to outdated processes, positioning the modern CMO as a “Business Yogi” who balances strategy, execution, and innovation in an evolving digital landscape.

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Jade Meara, Director of Marketing (APCJ) at F5, operates at the intersection of high-growth markets, evolving regulatory landscapes, and enterprise-scale AI transformation. With a background shaped by storytelling, art, and commerce, she brings a distinctly human perspective to one of today’s most pressing challenges: how to scale AI without losing authenticity. Jade introduces the concept of the “velocity tax” in AI adoption, highlighting the hidden risks of moving too quickly without the right governance and security frameworks in place.

At the same time, she explores the evolution of marketing into a revenue-driving function, where teams are increasingly embedded within the Office of the Chief Revenue Officer and measured by business impact rather than activity. For Jade, the modern marketer must strike a careful balance, leveraging AI for speed and efficiency while preserving the clarity, relevance, and emotional resonance that only human storytelling can deliver.

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Marcy Comer, Chief Marketing Officer at EagleView, joins CMO Chats to unpack why most B2B marketing struggles to break through, and why storytelling, not technology, is what truly drives impact.

From leading a fast-paced eight-week rebrand and platform launch to navigating the shift towards AI-powered marketing teams, Marcy shares how the role of the modern marketer is evolving rapidly. She explains why organisations are moving towards leaner teams, why upskilling in AI is now a weekly necessity, and why creativity and taste are becoming the most valuable skills in marketing.

We also explore how B2B brands can stop “talking to themselves” and start building narratives that resonate with real human buyers, as well as why exposure to art and culture can directly improve creative output and strategic thinking.

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Emma Acton, VP of Marketing EMEA at Zendesk, shares how an accidental move from sales into marketing shaped her into a cross-functional leader navigating one of SaaS’s most dynamic regions. From building strategy across complex markets to leading with curiosity, she explains why modern marketing is no longer just about demand generation, but about connecting strategy, storytelling, and execution.

In this episode, Emma unpacks the risks of AI “shiny object syndrome,” the shift from volume to authority in search, and why the best marketing leaders act like alchemists, turning raw demand into strategic growth. She also explores how curiosity and cross-functional thinking are becoming essential skills in an AI-driven world.

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Jaya Joseph’s 25-year career is a masterclass in cross-functional evolution. Starting as a software engineer in India’s early-2000s tech boom, she moved through project management into high-stakes commercial leadership for global giants like Cisco and Deutsche Telekom. Today, as a Senior Director at SOTI, Jaya oversees marketing and business development across the Middle East, Africa, and Central/Eastern Europe. Her technical foundation allows her to do what many struggle with: translating complex engineering into clear, demand-generating stories. For Jaya, the modern marketer must be an integrator who connects the company’s strategic "why" with the market’s tangible "what." She emphasises that exposure to peer strategies across regions is critical in refining how she approaches fragmented global markets.

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Christine Royston, the Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike, explores the critical transition of artificial intelligence from isolated experimentation to a scaled and trustworthy operational reality. Drawing on a career that began on the front lines of Wall Street sales, she redefines the role of the modern CMO through the lens of agility, which she identifies as the single most important word for leaders navigating an environment of rapid shifts. Christine argues that in a crowded AI market, differentiation is won through deep vertical storytelling and functional expertise rather than generic messaging. By advocating for an always-on strategic approach and the rise of hybrid technical marketing roles, she provides a blueprint for building high-performance teams that can pivot in real-time to meet the needs of the increasingly informed and tech-savvy buyer.

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Sophie Pietremont, the Regional Marketing Director for Southern Europe at Zendesk, focuses on maintaining the "human heart" within the rapidly evolving landscape of intelligent customer experience. Drawing on an extensive career at global technology giants like Microsoft, she redefines modern management as the "Antidote" to the friction and burnout caused by high-performance cultures. Sophie argues that the AI revolution must be leveraged to shield agents from routine tasks, allowing them to pivot toward more strategic, high-value human interactions. By architecting a "leadership mosaic" that celebrates local cultural nuances, she champions an inclusive framework designed to bridge the leadership gap and empower the next generation of women in tech.

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Monica-Alexandra Antonescu, who directs Global Customer Marketing at Ivalua, specializes in architecting the internal frameworks necessary to transform successful users into long-term revenue drivers. With a professional background rooted in journalism and political science, she transitions the traditional "brand guardian" role into that of a "commercial orchestrator". Monica-Alexandra contends that SaaS growth in 2026 must move beyond simple acquisition to prioritize structured advocacy and expansion programs. By mastering board-level metrics like ARR and pipeline dynamics, she champions a model where peer-to-peer ecosystems—rather than vendor-led content—become the primary engine for sustainable business impact.

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Mariette Snyman, marketing director for IFS across Australia and New Zealand, specializes in building sustainable marketing engines that bridge the gap between creative storytelling and regional commercial strategy. With over 26 years of experience across global enterprises and high-growth tech, she operates as a strategic "lynchpin" at the intersection of brand building, revenue acceleration, and P&L decision-making. Mariette believes modern B2B marketing must evolve from chasing short-term tactics to developing high-performance systems that prioritize "thinking time," psychological safety, and creative joy to move enterprise buyers and deliver consistent, long-term compound growth.

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