Andy and Brian dig into a topic we haven't tackled in a while (and frankly, we haven't heard much about in a while): should companies own their own marketplaces?

And for the first time in a while, the guys disagree. (Hint: don't ask Brian to fund your marketplace).

Plus, what can we learn from Andy Jassy's shareholder letter?

This week we're joined by fellow Master B2B guy Jared Blank to talk about the most overhyped and underhyped ideas in B2B.  And because everything is AI nowadays, AI somehow shows up on both lists.  Because of course.  But we also talk about alternative payment methods, product data and GEO, all of which may be underhyped.

This week, Andy and Brian bring on Master B2B's Chris Germann to talk about how AI is impacting practitioners' relationships with their system integrators.  What were those companies providing that no longer need to be done by an outside firm?  Where should manufacturers and distributors lean on SIs now for help?  And Andy gives some advice to SIs: "If you haven't figured out how to make data a strategic weapon, you're going to fail."

Andy and Brian share some of their insights from a Master B2B Summit roundtable, where practitioners shared where they will spend the next dollar of their budget.  Yes, execs talked about measuring the ROI of their investments and customer experience, but they also offered some surprising thoughts on where they plan to invest this year.

Andy and Brian spent the week with their B2C peers in Las Vegas at the Shoptalk event, and they came back with some fascinating insights into how B2B and B2C differ in their approach to eCommerce and 5 ways that they're actually more similar than they thought.

This week, Andy & Brian discuss whether all of the AI tools we're using at work are actually making us more productive or whether they're just increasing the output of maybe-just-slightly-better-than-average deliverables.  And how can we avoid getting into the AI rabbit hole where we go to start one quick task and end up in a 2-hour conversation with an LLM?

This week, Andy and Brian share their key learnings from the 2026 Master B2B Mindshare Summit held this week in Chicago.  Whether you were there - or just wish that you were - you'll get a taste of what participants learned at the event.

This week, Andy and Brian speak with Ntara's CEO, Andy Didyk about how organizations are working with their product data to ensure it's being discovered by LLMs.  As Andy Didyk says in the interview, companies are finding that they have hidden data troves that are powering their AEO/GEO efforts.

This episode is also a preview of a session that the three of them will lead at the Master B2B Mindshare Summit on the same topic.  More info is available on the event website.

On the Friday 15, Andy & Brian talk to Optimizely's Trevor Pope about whether practitioners should think about AI initiatives in terms of their impact on costs or their impact on revenue. (You might be surprised to hear that it can be both...)

Master B2B Summit

Master B2B Forum

Andy and Brian are joined by eCommerce expert Howard Blumenthal to talk about how companies should think about the value of their AI initiatives.  Howard lays out a useful set of questions for preparing for new AI projects:

Plus, learn how B2B eCommerce leaders are approaching the 4 hottest AI categories.

Learn more about the Master B2B Mindshare Summit