What does it really mean to work in marketing operations, and how can leaders better leverage these professionals as strategic enablers?

In this episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show, I sat down with Mike Rizzo, Community-led Founder and CEO of MarketingOps.com. A longtime community leader and champion of the marketing operations profession, Mike brings clarity to the misunderstood world of marketing ops and shares what’s next for the industry.

He explains why marketing ops pros are more like product managers for go-to-market systems than just email campaign operators. From the launch of a new certification path to AI’s place in the workflow, Mike reveals how the role is evolving, and what skills the best ops leaders bring to the table.

Whether you're leading a revenue team or just starting in ops, this episode offers practical advice to grow your team, your strategy, and your career.

Takeaways:

• What a tiered certification path could do for the marketing ops profession.
• Why curiosity and self-service learning are essential ops traits.
• How AI can support, but not replace, strategic thinking in operations.
• What leaders can do to foster open communication and innovation.
• Why supporting community participation drives team development.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show!

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hard-corps-marketing-show/ 

Connect with Mike:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedrizzo/  
• Marketing Ops Website: https://marketingops.com/  
• Ops Cast Podcast: https://opscast.marketingops.com/  
• MOps-Apalooza 2025: https://mopsapalooza.com/ 

Ways to Tune In:

• Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show/id1338838763
• Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0f4497c6-b402-4cad-9018-1e41b7e8f2bb/the-hard-corps-marketing-show
• Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1vVLpNI1LssMTiL6Kdsamn
• Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL3RoZS1oYXJkLWNvcnBzLW1hcmtldGluZy1zaG93
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/Vsh4Qn-OIOU 

Hard Corps Marketing is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/