The Future of B2B Marketing: AI, Execution, and Craft with Kieran Flanagan
The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)
Intro
This chapter explores the importance of email as a vital marketing tool while discussing the challenges faced with traditional enterprise marketing automation. The conversation highlights the advantages of Knack, a no-code email platform, and features a guest expert in AI and marketing.
#257 AI Strategy | Dave is joined by Kieran Flanagan, SVP of Marketing at HubSpot and former CMO at Zapier. Kieran is a rare blend of technical operator, creative strategist, and team builder. He’s spent his career pushing the edges of B2B marketing, most recently through his work leading AI transformation initiatives at scale.
Dave and Kieran cover:
- How AI is reshaping B2B marketing workflows, content creation, and team structure
- Why the best marketers will specialize at the “outer edges” of creativity or technical execution (and what happens if you stay stuck in the middle)
- Kieran’s leadership philosophy: how he manages 300+ people while staying deeply involved in creative execution
Whether you’re leading a marketing team or sharpening your own skills, this episode offers a clear look at how AI is changing the game and how B2B marketers can stay creative, strategic, and indispensable in the process.
Timestamps
- (00:00) - – Intro
- (02:08) - – Kieran’s marketing journey
- (04:08) - – His 2-year mission framework
- (06:08) - – Advice for early-career marketers
- (07:38) - – Why the grind still matters
- (09:08) - – Ireland’s SaaS and startup scene
- (10:08) - – Balancing operator vs. manager
- (12:08) - – AI-generated “How to work with me”
- (14:38) - – Kieran’s push-and-pull leadership style
- (16:08) - – Giving direct creative feedback
- (18:08) - – Why “collaborative brainstorms” fail
- (19:08) - – The value of strong opinions
- (20:08) - – Learning through tough feedback
- (21:08) - – ChatGPT as a creative partner
- (23:08) - – Claude vs. ChatGPT vs. Gemini
- (25:08) - – Prompting differences in GPT-3.5 vs. 4.0
- (28:19) - – Decision fatigue and AI loyalty
- (29:19) - – Where AI is taking B2B marketing
- (30:19) - – From answers to actions
- (32:19) - – Micro-audiences and personalization
- (34:19) - – The return of branded traffic
- (35:19) - – Why AI reignited Kieran’s spark
- (37:19) - – Avoiding AI-induced multitasking burnout
- (38:49) - – Deep work vs. whack-a-mole
- (39:49) - – Don Draper meets ChatGPT
- (40:49) - – Picking a lane: tech vs. creative
- (42:19) - – The value of podcasting practice
- (43:19) - – Building a prompt muscle
- (45:19) - – How Kieran trains GPTs
- (47:19) - – Prompting tips for marketers
- (48:19) - – The future CMO: part IC, part leader
- (49:19) - – How agencies will evolve with AI
- (50:19) - – In-person is back
- (51:19) - – Overrated AI use cases
- (52:19) - – Favorite tool: GenSpark
- (54:19) - – Mistakes marketers make with AI
- (55:19) - – Does anyone care if it’s AI?
- (56:19) - – Lessons from fatherhood
- (57:19) - – Final thoughts and wrap-up
Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com
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Today's episode is brought to you by Knak.
Email (in my humble opinion) is the still the greatest marketing channel of all-time.
It’s the only way you can truly “own” your audience.
But when it comes to building the emails - if you’ve ever tried building an email in an enterprise marketing automation platform, you know how painful it can be. Templates are too rigid, editing code can break things and the whole process just takes forever.
That’s why we love Knak here at Exit Five. Knak a no-code email platform that makes it easy to create on-brand, high-performing emails - without the bottlenecks.
- Frustrated by clunky email builders? You need Knak.
- Tired of ‘hoping’ the email you sent looks good across all devices? Just test in Knak first.
- Big team making it hard to collaborate and get approvals? Definitely Knak.
And the best part? Everything takes a fraction of the time.
See Knak in action at knak.com/exit-five. Or just let them know you heard about Knak on Exit Five.
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Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.
- They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
- Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
- Visit hatch.fm to learn more
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