Kirti Sharma (Adobe) on Original Content AI Can’t Copy — and Buyers Remember
The Animalz Content Marketing Podcast
Bridging Content and Product Marketing
This chapter explores the crucial overlap between content marketing and product marketing, emphasizing the need for an audience-first approach to engage effectively with target demographics. It highlights the importance of understanding customer insights, measuring content effectiveness, and the role of AI in content creation.
Kirti Sharma runs marketing for Adobe Learning Manager and Captivate. She starts every plan with product marketing insights, treating them like a sixth sense. A 2,000-person survey feeds reports, keynotes, and posts that AI tools cannot copy, while channels follow, not lead.
Her two-tier workflow lets Copilot and Firefly draft low-risk pieces and keeps thought leadership human. Kirti also flips the scoreboard. Keyword ranks matter, but she now tracks softer signals such as brand mentions in LLMs, event buzz, and influencer shout-outs. Those cues prove that her message sticks long before a deal closes. Hear how this mix of research, AI, and sharp positioning drives real revenue.
👤 About Our Guest: Kirti Sharma
Kirti Sharma is the Director of Product Marketing at Adobe Learning Manager and Captivate. She steers product, demand, and content marketing for a 250-person unit at Adobe. Before Adobe, she helped Whatfix win early SEO gains with a tight content plan and later led a 25-person content and design crew at Sprinklr.
Kirti blends SEO with thought leadership instead of treating them as separate jobs. Every piece of content maps to clear business goals like product adoption and customer retention. Her hands-on work with AI, modular assets, and team workflows shows how big companies can scale content without losing relevance or results.
📻 About This Season of the Animalz Podcast: Enterprise Content Marketing
This season on the Animalz Podcast, we’re pulling back the corporate curtain to show you how the largest, most complex B2B SaaS teams actually get content out the door. Our mission: demystify these hidden machines and reveal what it really takes to run content at scale.
Hear from content leaders of some of the biggest names in SaaS sharing the systems they've built, the battles they've fought, and the lessons they've learned along the way.
⏳ Timestamps
- 00:00 – Intro: Why enterprise content engines confuse marketers
- 03:45 – Kirti's path: Building teams from Whatfix to Adobe
- 07:18 – Early lessons from Freshworks and Rand Fishkin
- 10:05 – Scaling global ops at Sprinklr: Structure and politics
- 13:07 – Adobe playbook: Positioning, research, modular content
- 17:25 – Category SEO: Outranking WalkMe and Appcues
- 20:02 – Quote: “Product marketing insights can be your sixth sense”
- 25:52 – Match content to each industry's digital maturity
- 26:47 – How early SEO still fuels Whatfix demand
- 29:05 – New metrics: LLM mentions, event buzz, influencer talk
- 34:25 – Content barbell: Entertainment top, insights bottom
- 36:03 – Brand bets: Why long plays get cut
- 40:01 – AI as leveler: Raising bar for veterans
- 41:40 – Tiered workflow: Copilot vs. human-led content
- 44:06 – Quote: “If learning is for everyone, it’s for no one”
- 46:45 – Where to follow Kirti
🌐 Mentioned Links & Resources
- Adobe Learning Manager (13:07): The enterprise learning management system that Kirti markets, central to Adobe’s B2B training platform strategy.
- Adobe Captivate (17:50): Content-creation tool paired with Learning Manager, enabling the development of interactive learning experiences.
- Whatfix (13:07): Digital adoption platform where Kirti was the first Product Marketer and Head of Content. Discussed as a case study in early-stage SEO and category creation.
- Sprinklr (10:05): US-listed social-listening SaaS where Kirti built a 25-person India-based content organization focused on global content operations.
- Freshworks (07:18): Indian SaaS unicorn where Kirti previously worked in marketing, providing early exposure to enterprise content marketing.
- WalkMe (17:25): Incumbent digital adoption vendor mentioned for category context and competitive landscape insights.
- Microsoft Copilot (11:48): Generative-AI tool used for first-draft writing and research in enterprise content workflows.
- Adobe Firefly (41:54): Generative-image tool used by the team for creative prototypes and visual content experimentation.
- Rand Fishkin (07:18): Industry thought leader whom Kirti follows closely on LinkedIn for insights on content, SEO, and marketing trends.
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (07:22): Non-business book currently influencing Kirti’s thinking on longevity and “health-span.”
- G2 & Software Advice (29:15): Review sites that Kirti monitors to gather brand perception signals and customer feedback.
- Scrunch (38:52): AI search-visibility tool Ty recommends for tracking Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) placement.
- peak.ai (39:25): Another tool mentioned for monitoring LLM (large language model) visibility and AI-driven search performance.
- Gartner (12:19): Analyst firm whose relations team remained US-based while Kirti ran Sprinklr’s India content organization.
Connect with Kirti Sharma to follow her enterprise content insights and leadership at Adobe.
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