Harnessing Trust, Personal Branding, and AI To Accelerate Growth

Alex Gluz is the Founder and CEO of Digital Marketing at T.A. Monroe Digital, an agency that specializes in helping B2B and SaaS companies perfect every step of their sales funnel. With years of experience in the industry, Alex creates systems and frameworks for scalable, profit-driving B2B digital marketing strategies, frameworks, and executions to drive ROI. Alex is also the host of the Revenue Engine Podcast, a show highlighting the top leaders in technology and marketing. In this episode… Businesses today face the challenge of balancing rapid growth with the increasing demands of trust-building, personal branding, and AI-driven innovation. While these elements have the potential to significantly accelerate business success, missteps can hinder progress, especially when companies fail to effectively integrate them into their strategy. So how can businesses harness these powerful tools to drive long-term growth and success? From building authentic relationships to embracing AI technology, leaders in this episode share invaluable insights on how to navigate these challenges. Mark Stiltner explains how AI can optimize marketing strategies, particularly in account-based marketing (ABM), making campaigns more efficient and impactful. Patrick Ferdig emphasizes the importance of trust in business relationships, highlighting how consistency and reliability build the foundation for long-term partnerships. Sylvia LePoidevin discusses the shift in branding, where individual employees are becoming the face of companies, using their personal influence to elevate the brand's message and connect more authentically with audiences. Kristin Oelke highlights how combining financial insights with a strong customer base provides a clearer picture of a business's future trajectory. Meanwhile, Usman Sheikh dives into the world of agentive AI, exploring how intelligent bots can transform sales processes by automating key tasks and generating measurable outcomes. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz reflects on his insightful conversations with Mark Stiltner, Patrick Ferdig, Sylvia LePoidevin, Kristin Oelke, and Usman Sheikh. These industry leaders uncover the power of trust, personal branding, and AI in driving business growth. Together, they offer practical strategies for leveraging these tools to create scalable, sustainable success in today's competitive market.

Steven Peltzman is the CEO of FeedbackNow, a company that provides real-time customer experience monitoring solutions using physical sensors and digital platforms for spaces like airports, hospitals, and retail locations. Under Steven's leadership, FeedbackNow has deployed its technology in major US airports and leading healthcare facilities, helping organizations move from traditional surveys to actionable, real-time feedback, with proven impact on both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Steven's diverse career spans roles as an Air Force officer in stealth technology, CTO at the Museum of Modern Art, and Chief Business Technology Officer at Forrester Research. In this episode… Real-time customer feedback has become one of those ideas that everyone claims to value, yet few organizations truly know how to use. It's easy to gather opinions after the fact, but far harder to understand what's really happening while an experience is unfolding. What if companies could see issues the moment they emerge and fix them before customers even complain? According to Steven Peltzman, a longtime leader in technology-driven customer experience innovation, the answer starts with capturing what people feel in the exact moment they feel it. Drawing from his experience building systems that merge digital intelligence with physical-world interactions, Steven explains that real-time signals reveal patterns surveys will never catch. He shares how airports, hospitals, and convenience stores are transforming operations by reacting instantly to sentiment shifts and predicting problems before they escalate. And with multiple data streams working together, he believes companies can finally bridge the gap between insight and action. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Steven Peltzman, CEO of FeedbackNow, to discuss how real-time customer feedback is reshaping operations. They explore how sensor-driven insights outperform traditional surveys, how organizations can react and predict issues in the moment, and why certain industries are primed for transformation. Steven also shares how tying feedback to outcomes like revenue unlocks true operational change.

Brandon Rhoten is the Chief Marketing Officer at GroundTruth, an advertising platform that uses real-world location and purchase data to show how media drives store visits and revenue. As the former CMO at Wendy's, Papa John's, and Potbelly, Brandon was instrumental in building Wendy's groundbreaking digital and social marketing programs, contributing to 40 consecutive quarters of growth for the brand. In addition to his executive experience, he is a tech investor, advisor, and recognized trailblazer in blending art and science to drive marketing ROI. In this episode… Marketing was supposed to get easier once everything went digital, yet many teams feel more overwhelmed than ever. With endless dashboards and touchpoints to untangle, proving what actually drives revenue has become its own full-time job. So in a world where every impression is technically "trackable," why are so many companies still flying blind? According to Brandon Rhoten, a longtime marketing leader known for marrying creativity with accountability, the real issue isn't a lack of data; it's that most organizations still treat marketing like a black box instead of a measurable driver of business results. He explains that the shift begins with embracing both sides of the craft — the art that earns attention and the science that proves impact. He points to everything from funnel complexity to outdated buying habits as reasons leaders still struggle with attribution. But when companies learn to connect media exposure to real-world behavior, the fog lifts. The bigger payoff, Brandon says, is a marketing function that's finally seen as an investment rather than a cost. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Brandon Rhoten, Chief Marketing Officer at GroundTruth, to discuss how modern marketers can finally link advertising to tangible business outcomes. You'll hear why attribution is still broken, how to rethink media through an omnichannel lens, and what it takes to align marketing with the CFO's expectations. Brandon also shares practical advice on using AI to sharpen both strategy and creative execution.

Jona Youdeem is a Senior Product Marketer at Xero, a global platform that helps small businesses manage their finances more efficiently. He focuses on helping entrepreneurs leverage AI to reduce inefficiencies and eliminate what he calls the "coordination tax." With over a decade of experience in product marketing, Jona has specialized in positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy across SaaS and AI-driven products. Jona blends customer insight, data, and creativity to build products that solve real-world business challenges. In this episode… Product marketing often sits at the crossroads of strategy, storytelling, and sales. But it's also one of the most misunderstood roles in B2B SaaS. Too often, it's boxed in as "launch support" or a "content engine," missing its deeper, strategic influence on growth. Does the real impact of product marketing come from how it connects insights, people, and processes across the entire business? According to Jona Youdeem, a product marketing leader focused on B2B SaaS and AI-powered go-to-market strategies, product marketing is a full-system discipline, not a single function. He believes its strength lies in connecting intelligence, positioning, launch execution, and enablement into one continuous loop that evolves with the product and market. Drawing from over a decade in SaaS and AI-driven products, Jona explains how real success comes from synthesizing signals to uncover insights others miss. He cautions against quick-fix consulting approaches that treat positioning as a one-time deliverable rather than a living process. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Jona Youdeem, Senior Product Marketer at Xero, to discuss the real impact of product marketing in B2B SaaS. They explore why the discipline is so often misunderstood, how demand generation acts as a reality check for messaging, and why consultants often miss the bigger picture of positioning. Jona also shares his perspective on the future of marketing, explaining why human skills will matter even more in the age of AI.

Alex Tinsley is the Director of North America Field Marketing at SUSE, a global leader in open-source enterprise software solutions. Under his marketing leadership, SUSE has driven significant revenue growth and deepened collaboration between sales and marketing teams, bolstering their position in the enterprise software market. Alex's career spans roles in both software vendors and resellers, and he is known for championing innovative segmentation strategies and uniting cross-functional teams to accelerate business outcomes. In this episode… Bridging the divide between sales and marketing remains one of the toughest challenges in B2B organizations. Too often, these two departments operate in silos — each chasing different goals, using different metrics, and misunderstanding what truly drives the other. But what if aligning them could unlock faster revenue growth, deeper trust, and a more predictable sales pipeline? According to Alex Tinsley, a marketing leader with deep experience across sales, operations, and field marketing, the key lies in empathy and shared understanding. He highlights that misalignment often stems from false assumptions: sales thinking marketing just plans events, and marketing assuming sales ignores their leads. Alex emphasizes that when both teams take the time to learn each other's motivations and constraints, they realize they're chasing the same outcome: revenue. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz speaks with Alex Tinsley, Director of North America Field Marketing at SUSE, to discuss how uniting sales and marketing can supercharge B2B revenue. They explore the impact of removing internal silos, improving the sales-to-marketing handoff, and aligning goals around shared outcomes. Alex also shares how empathy, structure, and data transparency build trust that drives long-term growth.

Jeff Baker is the Senior Director of Global Marketing at smartShift, a company that helps enterprises accelerate and automate SAP custom-code transformation. With more than 20 years of experience in enterprise software, he leads global efforts in strategy and branding. Jeff plays a key role in driving awareness and demand for smartShift's AI-powered solutions. In this episode… Marketing is often seen as a creative function or a cost center, but what if it could be reframed as the engine that drives growth? In a world where buyers control their own journeys and retention is the new acquisition, how can companies shift their perspective and prove marketing's real impact? According to Jeff Baker, a marketing leader with nearly three decades of experience, the key lies in connecting every activity directly to revenue outcomes. He highlights that today's customer journey is no longer linear — it's dynamic, unpredictable, and shaped by peer reviews, research, and digital touchpoints. Retention, he stresses, is now just as important as acquisition, with loyalty and advocacy fueling long-term growth. By focusing on ROI, aligning with sales, and proving financial impact to boards, marketing can evolve from being dismissed as a cost to being recognized as a true growth engine. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz speaks with Jeff Baker, Senior Director of Global Marketing at smartShift, to discuss turning marketing from a cost center into a growth engine. They explore why the old funnel is dead, how post-sale experiences build advocacy, and what boards really want to see from marketing. Jeff also shares the biggest challenges facing B2B SaaS leaders in 2025 and how to overcome them with a value-first approach.

Derek Weeks is the Chief Marketing Officer at Katalon, a company that provides an AI-augmented software quality management platform for automating testing and improving software development workflows. He brings over 30 years of marketing experience, including leadership roles at Sonatype and the Linux Foundation. Derek co-founded All Day DevOps and has pioneered efforts in open-source software supply chain security. He is also the author of Unfair Mindshare: A CMO's Guide to Community-Led Marketing in a Product-Led World.  In this episode… Building a loyal audience is harder than ever in the crowded B2B SaaS landscape. Traditional marketing tactics can struggle to break through, and customer acquisition costs continue to rise. How can companies create authentic connections that lead to long-term growth? According to Derek Weeks, a seasoned marketing leader and pioneer in community-led strategies, the answer is to put audience needs first and consistently provide value before selling anything. He highlights that trust is earned by creating spaces where people can learn, share, and engage without feeling pitched. By leveraging user-generated content and empowering practitioners to create authentic conversations, he has seen communities grow to hundreds of thousands of members. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz sits down with Derek Weeks, Chief Marketing Officer at Katalon, to discuss how community-led marketing drives sustainable B2B SaaS growth. They explore strategies to scale a product community from 60,000 to 117,000 members, why user-generated content lowers acquisition costs, and how to adapt content for the age of LLM search. Derek also shares lessons from building the All Day DevOps community and keeping audiences engaged over time.

Christine Royston is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike, an intelligent work management platform that helps teams build, connect, automate, and scale workflows. She joined in June 2024 after more than 20 years in B2B enterprise marketing. Before Wrike, Christine was VP and Global Head of Marketing at Udemy, where she helped grow annual recurring revenue from $100M to over $450M and led initiatives including an IPO and rebrand. She also held leadership roles at Bitly, Dropbox, Imperva, and Salesforce. In this episode… In today's marketing landscape, every dollar spent is under a microscope, and leaders are under pressure to prove impact faster than ever. How can CMOs align their budgets, metrics, and customer strategies to show real business value while navigating constant change? According to Christine Royston, a seasoned B2B marketing leader with global experience, the key is balance. She emphasizes that marketing must be both data-driven and customer-focused, ensuring pipeline and bookings remain at the center of conversations with executives. She highlights how aligning budgets with measurable outcomes builds trust across the business and creates room for innovation. By focusing on efficiency, clear communication, and proactive performance tracking, marketing leaders can demonstrate value early and often. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz sits down with Christine Royston, Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike, to discuss how CMOs can align budgets, metrics, and customer value. She explains why data transparency builds stronger executive relationships, how to balance brand and demand generation, and the role of customer-centric thinking in growth. Christine also shares insights on adapting to AI-driven changes in marketing.

Usman Sheikh is the Founder and CEO of Agentive, a next-generation AI platform that helps B2B companies generate pipeline, identify quality leads, and accelerate sales outcomes. A serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, he specializes in building businesses at the intersection of AI and enterprise sales and marketing. Agentive envisions AI agents seamlessly collaborating to support revenue teams with a measurable, results-focused impact. This is Usman's fourth startup, reflecting his deep experience in creating and scaling innovative technology ventures. In this episode… Too many sales teams struggle with missed quotas, inconsistent pipelines, and wasted hours on administrative tasks. Even with AI tools at their disposal, companies often see little improvement in outcomes. Is the problem with the technology or with how it's being applied? According to Usman Sheikh, a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple ventures at the intersection of AI and B2B sales, the core issue is that most companies use AI to replicate human tasks instead of reimagining entire sales processes. He highlights that focusing solely on task automation leads to fragmented workflows and lost opportunities, while an outcome-driven approach can transform the entire sales cycle. By building systems that integrate ideal customer profiling, opportunity identification, and daily recommendations, sales teams can spend more time engaging prospects and less time bogged down in admin work. This shift not only increases efficiency but also improves conversion rates and revenue predictability. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz sits down with Usman Sheikh, Founder and CEO of Agentive, to talk about fixing broken B2B sales workflows with AI-powered strategies. They explore why traditional sales processes fail, how to build and maintain a rolling pipeline, and ways AI can enhance sales performance without replacing human judgment. Usman also shares key KPIs for measuring the impact of AI in sales organizations.

Kristin Oelke is the Managing Director for Growth Services at Brightrose Ventures, an enterprise software advisory and investment firm that provides strategic guidance, fractional executive teams, and execution support to mid‑market business software companies. In 2024, her firm Green Street Advisors merged with Brightrose to expand its reach and deliver efficient, trust‑driven marketing capabilities to investors and management teams. At Brightrose, Kristin leads go‑to‑market advisory services and is the author of Trust: Unlocking B2B Growth in Today's AI World. In this episode… Trust is the invisible force that drives B2B growth. But in an AI-driven world flooded with content, automation, and noise, earning that trust is more difficult than ever. How can companies prove their value and credibility when buyers are skeptical and overwhelmed by options? According to Kristin Oelke, a B2B growth strategist and marketing expert, trust is built through validation — not volume. She highlights that companies struggling to move prospects through the funnel often lack the third-party proof, consistent messaging, and real-time feedback mechanisms that signal credibility. The result is a stalled pipeline, even when product-market fit exists. Kristin emphasizes that building a "public trust profile" is essential, especially in complex B2B sales, and that trust can only be earned when happy customers, aligned teams, and transparent data come together to support the brand promise. In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Kristin Oelke, Managing Director for Growth Services at Brightrose Ventures, to talk about why trust is more important than ever for growth in today's AI-driven world. They discuss how companies can actively manage their public trust profile, align cross-functional teams around shared goals, and use AI without losing the human element. Kristin also shares insights on helping companies navigate strategic pivots.