Catherine Solazzo, CMO of Appfire, explains why most B2B marketing completely misunderstands technical buyers, how AI is disrupting the traditional marketing funnel, and why modern CMOs are redesigning marketing teams to operate more like engineering squads.Catherine has spent more than two decades marketing to technical audiences—from building developer programs at IBM to leading growth through multiple acquisitions and now driving go-to-market at Appfire, whose products are used by over 55% of Fortune 500 companies.At Appfire, she leads marketing for a developer ecosystem with over one million users and more than 700 channel partners, where technical buyers—not traditional enterprise buyers—drive discovery and purchasing decisions.◼️ Why most marketing personas fail with developers — unless you’ve actually lived inside dev teams and used their tools◼️ How modern marketing teams are adopting agile, sprint-based operating models similar to engineering organizations◼️ Why AI is disrupting traditional marketing funnels — discovery now happens through recommendation engines, communities, and AI assistants◼️ The reason technical audiences still rely heavily on community trust and peer recommendations, even in an AI-driven world◼️ How CMOs can position marketing as a growth engine instead of a cost center when budgets tighten◼️ Why marketing teams must shift from generalists to specialized expertise in areas like AI search, LLM optimization, and developer ecosystemsFor leaders in IT services, SaaS, and enterprise technology, this conversation breaks down how marketing, product, and go-to-market strategies must evolve as technical buyers change how they discover, evaluate, and adopt tools.00:00 Introduction – Meet Catherine Solazzo, CMO of Appfire01:05 Catherine’s Unconventional Path to CMO03:17 What Most Companies Get Wrong About Marketing to Technical Buyers05:16 Why Appfire’s Marketing Team Runs Like an Engineering Squad06:35 How AI Is Changing Tool Discovery for Technical Buyers11:04 Why Marketing Budgets Are Flat (And What CMOs Must Do Differently)14:04 Precision vs Volume — The Modern Marketing Strategy17:03 Aligning Marketing With Sales, Product & Leadership19:34 Appfire’s Unique GTM Model: 700+ Channel Partners24:03 Why the Traditional Marketing Funnel Is Now Chaotic29:12 The Biggest Misconception About Marketing Teams33:10 AI Content Explosion vs Real Differentiation40:02 Marketing Careers in the AI Era — Specialists vs Generalists45:01 AI Hype vs Reality — Is SaaS Really Dead?Follow Chirag Khanijau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiragkhanijauFollow Catherine Solazzo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-solazzo/🔗 LinksAppfire: https://www.appfire.comCXO Community: https://www.flywheelr.com/cxo-communityCXO Spotlight: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cxospotlightSponsor: Brand Stori - The AI platform purpose-built for IT Industry BrandStori: https://brandstori.ai🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xVy5IPCvf68BrGaALfUMZ🍏 Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cxo-spotlight-growth-influence-leadership-in-b2b/id1792963542#CMO #B2BMarketing #DeveloperMarketing #EnterpriseTech #ITServices #GTMStrategy #AIinMarketing #TechnicalBuyers #DevTools #MarTech #CXOSpotlight #Flywheelr #SaaSMarketing #B2BTech