The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® | What CMOs Need to Know About Marketing Technology, AI & CX

Are your marketing investments driving real business value, or are you simply throwing money at the latest trends?

Agility means being able to react to change while knowing which strategies, processes, and technologies are ultimately moving the needle and driving real business outcomes.

This episode is brought to you by The Office of Experience, a design-driven, digital-first, vertically integrated and collaborative agency that believes in the power of ideas and the strength of people.

Today, we're going to talk about taking ROI models from confusion to clarity, specifically in the B2B e-commerce space. We'll explore how to build models that truly reflect business value, avoid common pitfalls, and unlock exponential growth. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Carlos Manalo, Co-CEO and Co-Founder at Office of Experience.

About Carlos Manalo

Carlos is co-founder & co-CEO of OX. He leads his team with nearly 20 years of grit and seasoning in the interactive and integrated multichannel space. As a customer-centered experience strategist by training, Carlos believes that enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty is achieved through clarifying strategic intent and uncovering opportunities in the user journey. By merging the benefits of analysis and interaction, he creates experiences that drive alignment, progress and evolution. His focus on performance-driven engagements has allowed Carlos to be a true 360-degree partner, building user-centered experiences for some of the world’s leading brands.

Carlos Manalo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosmanalo/

Resources

Office of Experience: https://www.officeofexperience.com

This episode is brought to you by The Office of Experience, a design-driven, digital-first, vertically integrated and collaborative agency that believes in the power of ideas and the strength of people.

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it’s a struggle for marketers to even keep up with the latest trends, are brands truly keeping pace with their customers, or are they stuck playing catch-up with outdated strategies and technologies?

Agility requires a willingness to experiment, learn, and adapt quickly. It also demands a deep understanding of your customer and the ability to anticipate their evolving needs.

We are here today in New York City at Opticon25 and seeing and hearing some amazing things about the future of martech and how AI will shape the role of marketing in the months and years to come.

Today, we're going to talk about building an agile brand in the age of digital transformation, focusing on the power of experimentation, personalization, and continuous improvement. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Muqtadaa Miandara, Principal, Digital Growth at Upbound Group.
About Muqtadaa Miandara

Muqtadaa Miandara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muqtadaa/

Resources

Upbound Group: https://www.upbound.com/

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With so much noise around AI, changing customer expectations, and the ever-evolving martech landscape, how can marketing leaders avoid the noise to focus on what truly drives long-term value?

Agility requires not only adapting to change but also anticipating it. It demands a willingness to experiment, learn, and iterate quickly, especially when it comes to leveraging new technologies and understanding evolving customer behaviors.

We are here today in New York City at Opticon25 and seeing and hearing some amazing things about the future of martech and how AI will shape the role of marketing in the months and years to come.

We're going to talk about the evolving role of the marketing leader in a world increasingly shaped by AI, automation, and the demand for personalized experiences. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Tara Corey, SVP of Marketing at Optimizely.

Tara Corey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taracorey/

Resources

Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marketers' roles are changing, but their goals are still the same: reach and engage customers, meeting them where they are, and for better or worse, often needing to do more with less while delivering greater value.

Agility requires both adapting to change quickly while also having the wisdom to know which changes truly matter. It demands a delicate balance between embracing new technologies and staying laser-focused on core business objectives.

Today, we are here in New York City at Opticon25. We are going to talk about the growing role of AI for both marketers and consumers, how organizations can leverage an agentic platform to create better internal and external customer experiences, and how marketers can both do more with less while delivering exponentially greater value. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Rupali Jain, Chief Product Officer and Kevin Li, SVP Product at Optimizely.

About Rupali Jain
Rupali Jain is the Chief Product Officer at Optimizely. Previously she has held product leadership roles at several SaaS software companies, including Microsoft's PowerBI and Qualtrics. Throughout her two-decade career, Rupali has shared Optimizely's vision of prioritizing the end user's daily needs. Rupali is committed to advancing practical, growth-driving applications of AI and machine learning to help marketers take control of their workflows, experiment at scale, and deliver digital experiences that meet and exceed customer expectations

Rupali Jain on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupali/⁠

About Kevin Li
At Optimizely (previously Episerver before rebrand), I describe my job as a "tale of two mirrors" with one being a telescope and one being a microscope. On the telescope side of product strategy, I own long-term strategy covering build/buy/partner, M&A (thesis, due diligence, etc.), new product launches (SaaS CMS, Personalization, etc.), analyst relations (leader in 11 categories across Gartner, Forrester, and IDC), etc. On the microscope side of product operations, I own the product commercialization process, product operations, product analytics, documentation, and competitive intelligence.

Kevin Li on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsyli/

Resources

Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being strategic means asking the right questions and meaningfully applying the learnings. How do you do this while innovating and outpacing the competition?

Agility requires a willingness to experiment and adapt quickly to changing market conditions and customer preferences. It also demands breaking down silos and fostering collaboration across teams.

Today, we're going to talk about how leading brands are leveraging automation and AI to drive efficiency and optimize their merchandising and trading capabilities in today's complex retail environment.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Karthik Ramakrishnan, Director, Planning Systems and RPA at Tapestry.

About Karthik Ramakrishnan

Karthik Ramakrishnan is a seasoned IT professional with 20+ years of experience in leading, architecting, consulting and delivering novel IT solutions. Karthigeyan has worked in the Retail IT industry spanning different functional areas ranging from warehouse management, planning, merchandising, customer service, automation and Gen AI. He has global consulting experience in various markets encompassing Europe, India, South America and the U.S. At Tapestry, he leads the Planning and Automation space. He is passionate about Gen AI and enjoys leveraging Gen AI to not just solve problems but identify new opportunities that are yet to be unearthed. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai and loves applying reactor design principles to technology solutions.

Karthik Ramakrishnan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthikram007/

Resources

Tapestry: https://www.tapestry.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

UIPath: https://www.uipath.com
Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the pursuit of the "perfect" customer experience actually holding brands back from achieving true agility?

Agility requires a willingness to embrace calculated risks and adapt quickly to changing market dynamics. It also demands a shift in mindset, from a focus on rigid planning to iterative experimentation and continuous learning.

Today, we're going to talk about how brands can navigate the ever-evolving retail landscape by prioritizing agility and leveraging technology to enhance the customer experience. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Tom Schmitt, CEO at Radial.
About Tom Schmitt

As Chief Executive Officer, Tom oversees the leadership of Radial North America’s Managing Committee, bringing his strategic vision and operational expertise to our team. Tom joins Radial with over 20 years of executive leadership experience in supply chain logistics.
 
Most recently, Tom led commercial growth and rigor for Nikola Corporation serving as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to Nikola, Tom spent 12 years at FedEx and serving as CEO of FedEx Supply Chain; leading Forward Air Corporation as President, Chairman and CEO; leading Canadian parcel and freight corporation Purolator as CEO; and also heading up the global Contract Logistics business as a management board member for DBSchenker. In addition, Tom has served on several Boards of organizations focused on various aspects of the supply chain. Tom holds an MBA as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School as well as a Bachelor of Arts in European Business Administration, First Class Honors, from Middlesex University.

Tom Schmitt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tschmitt1965/

Resources

Radial: https://www.radial.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands
Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150"

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the hype around AI in marketing justified, or are we setting ourselves up for another "tech bubble" disappointment?

Agility requires not only embracing new technologies like AI, but also a fundamental shift in mindset, processes, and even organizational structure. It demands a willingness to experiment, learn, and adapt quickly to the ever-changing marketing landscape.

Today, we're going to talk about how AI is poised to revolutionize marketing, from personalization and customer engagement to the very structure of the SaaS market itself. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Rafael “Rafa” Flores, Chief Product Officer at Treasure Data.
About Rafael Flores

As an accomplished technology executive and proud immigrant from Honduras, I specialize in scaling SaaS companies from startup to high-growth enterprises. My career is built on my family's deep-rooted principles: valuing education, treating others with equal respect regardless of background, and uplifting younger talent—because I was once that little boy with big dreams.

Throughout my career, I have led transformative initiatives at some of the most recognized names in the technology landscape:
Meltwater: Played a pivotal role in the company's successful IPO, showcasing expertise in product innovation and market readiness.
Datanyze: Led strategic initiatives that culminated in a successful acquisition by ZoomInfo, enhancing data intelligence capabilities.
ARM Holdings: Spearheaded innovation in Retail SDK and IoT solutions, advancing the company's technology ecosystem and driving new business opportunities.

6sense: Led all automation, data, and AI-products, fostering a culture of collaboration and inclusion, while delivering data-driven solutions that empower GTM team(s) to sell effectively.
Treasure Data: Orchestrated a landmark $600M acquisition by ARM and secured record-breaking Customer Data Platform (CDP) funding. Today, I am back leading Treasure Data through a transformative era of intelligence and automation fit for scale, while returning to an organization that feels like home—rich with talent, poise, and a passion for progress.

I am also a devoted father of three beautiful children and grateful for the unwavering support of my wife—a registered nurse who embodies strength and compassion. My core expertise lies in defining and executing product strategies, roadmaps, and key performance indicators (KPIs). I possess deep knowledge of CDPs, data management, privacy frameworks, and SaaS go-to-market (GTM) applications, scaling solutions for businesses ranging from agile SMBs to Global 2000 enterprises.

Rafael Flores on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ref2019/

Resources

Treasure Data: https://www.treasuredata.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when your best sales strategy from a year ago is now driving customer attrition instead of acquisition?

Agility requires brands to rethink how they create consumer value in real time, especially when traditional strategies no longer work as consumer behavior shifts unpredictably.

Today we’re going to talk about driving sales growth amidst economic uncertainty—something every brand leader is trying to figure out right now.
To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Chris Cubba, Chief Revenue Officer at Snipp.

About Chris Cubba

Christopher Cubba is a seasoned executive with over two decades of expertise in the loyalty and promotions industry, focusing on the CPG, Retail, and Technology sectors.
In his previous agency, Cubba was pivotal in scaling the business through its private equity transaction in 2016 and its eventual acquisition by a strategic buyer in 2021.

Currently serving as the Chief Revenue Officer at Snipp, Christopher oversees the sales, strategy, and customer success teams.
His deep industry knowledge, coupled with a passion for delivering impactful data driven results, has made him a trusted partner to companies aiming to expand their customer base and strengthen brand loyalty.

Chris Cubba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cubba/

Resources

Snipp: https://www.snipp.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show
Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.