Sales Efficiency in the AI Era With Eric Quanstrom

Eric Quanstrom is the Vice President of Go-To-Market Engineering at Apollo.io, an AI-powered sales intelligence and engagement platform that helps businesses build pipeline and grow revenue. He leads initiatives that help customers optimize GTM strategies, improve sales efficiency, and leverage data and AI to create better revenue outcomes. Eric brings more than a decade of experience in technology, marketing, and growth, previously serving as CMO at Cience. His expertise spans demand generation, sales development, and building scalable go-to-market systems. In this episode… Sales teams have more AI, data, and automation than ever, but getting a buyer's attention still comes down to relevance. So how can teams use these tools to work smarter without losing the human side of sales? GTM expert Eric Quanstrom believes the answer starts with relevance, better buyer signals, and keeping humans involved in AI-assisted selling. Rather than chasing larger lead lists, teams should focus on fewer, higher-quality prospects, use intent and timing signals to prioritize outreach, and apply AI to create messaging that reflects each buyer's needs and goals. Eric also emphasizes reducing friction across the sales tech stack so reps can spend more time having meaningful conversations. Used thoughtfully, AI can improve sales efficiency while making outreach more personal, timely, and useful. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz talks with Eric Quanstrom, VP of Go-To-Market Engineering at Apollo.io, about sales efficiency in the AI era. Eric covers buyer relevance, AI-assisted personalization, and smarter lead prioritization. He also explores sales automation, customer acquisition costs, and the future of human-led selling.

Noah Fitzgerald is the Chief Revenue Officer at Qredible, a product-first compliance intelligence platform helping financial institutions and regulated businesses manage merchant risk and compliance. He brings more than 30 years of experience in payments, fintech, compliance, and revenue strategy, with a background in building and scaling technology companies. Noah also invests in kubeflow.app, operates Rebirth Center, and leads Expense Defense. His work combines business leadership, customer-focused growth, and innovative approaches to AI, entrepreneurship, and personal development. In this episode… Building a successful company requires more than a strong product or the latest technology. Behind every growing business are the people, decisions, and leadership principles that shape how an organization evolves. As companies navigate rapid change, what does it take to build something meaningful that lasts? Noah Fitzgerald, a fintech entrepreneur and business leader with decades of experience building and scaling companies, believes the foundation comes back to understanding the human need behind a problem. He explains that sustainable growth requires clear communication, customer understanding, strong leadership, and a mindset built on trust rather than scarcity. Noah also highlights how embracing AI, investing in personal development, and staying present can help leaders create stronger businesses and better outcomes. Ultimately, sustainable growth comes from leaders who understand people first, use technology with intention, and build organizations around trust, adaptability, and long-term value. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz chats with Noah Fitzgerald, Chief Revenue Officer at Qredible, about leadership, growth, and building businesses that matter. Noah shares insights on founder challenges, customer-driven growth, and AI's impact on business. He also discusses personal development, entrepreneurship, and lessons from building multiple ventures.

Steve Keifer is the CMO at Ordway, a fintech company automating subscription billing, payments, revenue recognition, and SaaS financial reporting. He leads growth strategy, demand generation, brand development, and Ordway's research practice. With 20-plus years across SaaS, cloud, and fintech, Steve led marketing and product teams from early-stage startups to multibillion-dollar enterprises, with expertise in go-to-market strategy, pricing, and recurring revenue. He was also a 2025 CMO of the Year finalist and has been named a CMO to Watch by CMO Alliance. In this episode… Creating a new category and disrupting an existing one require very different strategies. One asks buyers to understand something unfamiliar, while the other asks them to leave behind what they already know. So how should companies approach each challenge? Drawing from years of marketing leadership across startups and multibillion-dollar companies, Steve Keifer sees category creation and disruption as difficult in different ways. Creating a new category requires educating the market, building awareness, and earning credibility before traditional demand generation can work, while disruption means overcoming entrenched habits with a product that is meaningfully better than what buyers already use. Steve recommends investing in thought leadership, early adopters, customer proof, and consultative selling while making sure leadership, sales, product, and customer success are aligned. The real advantage comes from understanding which market challenge you face and building the go-to-market strategy around it. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz sits down with Steve Keifer, CMO at Ordway, to discuss how to create a category and disrupt an existing market. Steve explains how to educate buyers, differentiate from entrenched competitors, and align teams around the go-to-market strategy. He also touches on CFO buying behavior, paid media, customer advocacy, and lessons from sales leaders.

Eric Gilpin is the President of Go-to-Market at G2, the world's largest software marketplace helping businesses make confident software buying decisions. He leads G2's unified go-to-market organization, aligning marketing, sales, customer success, partnerships, enablement, and revenue operations under one strategy. With more than 20 years of experience building and scaling technology businesses, Eric brings expertise in marketplace growth, customer-focused revenue strategy, and navigating changing buyer behavior in the age of AI.  In this episode… Go-to-market leaders are navigating faster shifts in buyer behavior, technology, and competition while still being expected to deliver consistent revenue. That makes adaptability just as important as execution. How can GTM teams evolve without losing focus on what drives growth? As a seasoned go-to-market and marketplace leader with more than two decades of B2B experience, Eric Gilpin believes the answer starts with prioritization, customer focus, and a willingness to keep learning. He recommends concentrating AI investments on the areas with the clearest business impact, rethinking demand generation around how buyers now discover software, and using real customer outcomes to stand out in a crowded SaaS market. Eric also emphasizes growing existing accounts, understanding customer unit economics, and creating more opportunities for meaningful customer conversations. For modern GTM leaders, sustainable revenue growth comes from adapting quickly while staying grounded in measurable customer value. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz chats with Eric Gilpin, President of Go-to-Market at G2, about modern go-to-market leadership. Eric explores AI-driven buyer behavior, balancing transformation with revenue goals, and using customer stories and results to stand out. He also discusses account growth, ROI-focused selling, and the renewed value of face-to-face customer engagement.

Amanda Dyson is the Chief Marketing Officer at DemandTec, a Commercial Trade Intelligence platform connecting retailers and CPG partners through one shared system. With more than 20 years of B2B software marketing experience, she specializes in enterprise technology, supply chain, pipeline generation, and go-to-market strategy. She leads DemandTec's marketing organization and shapes how the market understands its retail trade intelligence platform. Before joining DemandTec, Amanda held marketing leadership roles at FourKites, Blue Yonder, and e2open. In this episode… B2B buyers are surrounded by polished content and increasingly similar brand voices. As AI makes publishing easier, how can a brand remain recognizable and trustworthy? Amanda Dyson, an enterprise B2B SaaS marketing leader with deep experience in pipeline generation, says the answer is an authentic voice supported by a clear point of view. Instead of using AI to manufacture finished thought leadership, she recommends using it for ideation, then bringing people back in to add judgment, originality, and trust. Amanda encourages marketers to focus on the audiences they can serve best, take bolder positions, and connect creative work to measurable business outcomes. Together, these practices give buyers something specific to believe in rather than simply more content to consume. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz talks with Amanda Dyson, Chief Marketing Officer at DemandTec, about how B2B brands can stand out in a crowded market. Amanda explains how to build a distinct point of view, use AI without losing originality, and connect marketing to pipeline. She also touches on event strategy, buying committees, and customer advocacy.

Matt Overman is the Chief Revenue Officer at Identity Digital, a global internet infrastructure company that operates and supports hundreds of top-level domains. He leads revenue strategy, commercial growth, and partnerships across the company's wholesale domain network, working with registrars, website builders, AI platforms, and business services. With nearly two decades in the domain industry, Matt brings deep expertise in digital identity, domain distribution, emerging TLD trends, and the role of domains as trust anchors for people, brands, and AI agents. In this episode… Domain names are no longer limited to helping people find a website. They are becoming signals of identity, credibility, and ownership in a digital world shaped by new extensions and AI. What role will they play as online interactions become more automated? Matt Overman, a domain industry expert with nearly two decades of commercial experience, sees domains becoming a foundational identity layer for people, businesses, and AI agents. Choosing extensions that reflect purpose, owning a space outside third-party platforms, and embedding domain purchases into existing workflows can strengthen trust while reducing friction. Matt also emphasizes reliable infrastructure and mutually beneficial partnerships as essential to sustainable growth. Together, these ideas point toward a more durable, verifiable, and user-controlled digital ecosystem. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz talks with Matt Overman, Chief Revenue Officer at Identity Digital, about the changing role of domain names in digital identity. Matt explains the rise of .ai, the shift toward meaningful extensions, and the use of domains as trust anchors for AI agents. He also discusses embedded partnerships, personal branding, and long-term value creation.

Eric Williamson is the Chief Marketing Officer at CallMiner, an AI-powered customer experience automation platform that analyzes customer interactions to uncover insights and improve service performance. In his role, he oversees global marketing across brand, demand generation, events, and growth strategy. Eric brings more than 20 years of experience across B2B technology, consumer marketing, agency leadership, and content strategy. In this episode… AI is changing the economics of customer service, but the real shift is not just replacing people with bots. Enterprise teams are being forced to rethink what they automate, what they build internally, and where outside platforms can still create value. When everyone can access powerful AI tools, how do companies decide what is worth building themselves? As a B2B technology marketing leader with expertise in AI, automation, brand strategy, and enterprise growth, Eric Williamson explains that the answer starts with intelligence. Companies need to understand which customer interactions are best suited for automation before they deploy AI agents at scale. Eric emphasizes that many teams underestimate the long-term cost of building AI tools in-house, especially when those tools need to match the depth, reliability, and insight of established platforms. The stronger approach is to start small, identify the right use cases, create a seamless handoff between AI and humans, and use customer interaction data to guide automation decisions. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz talks with Eric Williamson, Chief Marketing Officer at CallMiner, about build-versus-buy decisions in AI and what enterprise teams often get wrong. Eric shares how AI agents are reshaping customer service, why SaaS pricing is moving toward consumption models, and what brand visibility means for B2B growth. He also touches on agency resourcing, LMO, and avoiding AI-generated content that lacks quality.

Matt Lyman is the Vice President of Marketing at Flosum, an enterprise Salesforce-native platform for DevOps, data protection, backup, security, and governance. With nearly 20 years of experience across demand generation, ABM, marketing operations, and B2B growth, he leads marketing strategy for technical audiences and helps translate complex products into clear, human-centered messaging. Matt previously held marketing leadership roles at Chef Software and LeanData and brings a people-first perspective shaped by his background in theater and community building. In this episode… Marketing to technical audiences exposes weak assumptions quickly. These buyers rarely respond to vague promises or generic campaigns. So how can marketers create marketing systems that earn trust, generate demand, and keep improving? Matt Lyman, a B2B marketing leader with expertise in demand generation, technical audiences, paid media, and community-led growth, explains that the answer starts with understanding the human behind every technical buying decision. Instead of treating messaging as a static brand exercise, teams should treat it like a hypothesis: test it, listen to feedback, and adjust based on what the market reveals. Matt emphasizes the importance of tailoring messages to executives and practitioners, choosing events based on audience fit, watching leading indicators before pipeline slips, and using AI to accelerate work without replacing human strategy. The result is a more focused marketing engine built around precision, context, and continuous learning. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz talks with Matt Lyman, Vice President of Marketing at Flosum, about building effective marketing engines for technical audiences. Matt shares how technical buyers shape messaging, why event and paid media strategy require focus, and what leading indicators reveal about pipeline health. He also touches on AI, community building, and mentorship.

Catherine Solazzo is the Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire, a leading provider of software applications that help developers optimize their efficiency on platforms like Jira, Salesforce, and monday.com. With over 20 years of experience in marketing and digital transformation, Catherine has led high-performing teams at global tech giants and was recently recognized on the CRN Women of the Channel 2026 list. Under her marketing leadership, Appfire reaches over a million users every quarter through its technical documentation site. In this episode… Marketing today goes beyond just awareness, demand generation, or a polished campaign. It extends into the product experience, customer feedback, partner enablement, and every handoff that shapes revenue. So what does it really take to build a modern CMO mindset? According to Catherine Solazzo, a seasoned marketing leader with deep experience across developer ecosystems, the answer lies in thinking beyond the traditional marketing boundaries. She explains that elements like technical documentation, release notes, product pages, partner programs, and customer feedback are not secondary functions; they are critical touchpoints that help buyers understand, adopt, and expand with a product. Catherine emphasizes that by taking ownership of this entire journey, marketing teams can move faster, use data more effectively, and create a more cohesive go-to-market motion. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz is joined by Catherine Solazzo, Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire, to discuss building a CMO mindset for modern marketing. Catherine explains the CMO+ model, how to align product and marketing, and why demand generation should go beyond lead volume. She also shares advice on partner enablement and creating repeatable operating models.

Alex Atkins is the VP of Growth and Operations at Sturdy.ai, an AI-powered customer intelligence platform that turns customer conversations across emails, chats, tickets, and calls into actionable insights for B2B teams. Drawing on a background in psychology, communications, marketing, business analytics, and growth, Alex helps teams better understand churn signals, retention risks, and expansion opportunities so they can act faster and more intelligently. In this episode… Customer churn is one of the most significant challenges in business, yet so many teams fail to pinpoint the exact reasons behind it. With all the data available, why do teams still miss the warning signs until it's too late? With experience spanning growth, operations, analytics, and customer intelligence, Alex Atkins brings a data-driven perspective to why teams often miss churn signals. He says the key to understanding churn lies in connecting the dots between seemingly disconnected signals. Alex points out that while teams often focus on isolated factors, churn is rarely caused by one issue. Instead, it's usually a combination of small, overlooked signals, like underutilization, executive changes, slow responses, or product confusion, that build over time. When teams miss those patterns, they end up reacting too late and lose retention opportunities that could have been saved with the right insights. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz is joined by Alex Atkins, VP of Growth and Operations at Sturdy.ai, to discuss why customer churn is often misunderstood. Alex shares insights on why traditional health scores and NPS often miss the mark, how signal combinations can predict churn before it happens, and why dashboards are not enough without ownership and action. He also talks about how real-time customer intelligence can transform growth strategies, retention efforts, and expansion opportunities.