The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

SaaStr 825: How the AI Era Has Directly Impacted Marketing and Sales with Snowflake's CMO and Founding CRO

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Oct 15, 2025

Guest

Chris Degnan

Guest

Denise Persson

Denise Persson, CMO at Snowflake, brings extensive experience in scaling marketing teams, while Chris Degnan, Founding CRO, is a seasoned sales leader. They discuss how AI is reshaping marketing and sales, emphasizing the need for a strong data foundation and company culture to support AI initiatives. Insightful use cases include AI-driven lead scoring and ad optimization. They also explore the role of a centralized intelligence team and the impact of AI on hiring practices, highlighting the importance of curiosity and adaptability in candidates.

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INSIGHT

Culture + Exec Mandate Drive AI Success

Company culture and executive mandate make or break AI adoption.
Embed AI into core products and customer experiences for real transformation.

INSIGHT

Data Foundation Is A Prerequisite

A secure, centralized data foundation is essential before applying AI.
Enterprises avoid sending sensitive data to external models without governance.

ADVICE

Create An AI Council And Quarterly AI Days

Build cross-functional AI councils and host regular AI days to scale learnings.
Let expert volunteers test tools; then roll validated use cases to the broader team.

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SaaStr 825: How the AI Era Has Directly Impacted Marketing and Sales with Snowflake's CMO and Founding CRO

Join us for an insightful episode discussing the impact of AI on marketing and sales at Snowflake. Hosts Chris Degnan, founding CRO of Snowflake, and Denise Persson, CMO at Snowflake, delve into how AI has revolutionized their operations. They share key learnings from Snowflake's data cloud market strategies and their record-breaking IPO. Discover the significance of company culture, security, and a centralized data foundation in leveraging AI. Hear about Snowflake's AI Council, customer use cases, task automation, and the consolidation of intelligence teams. Don't miss this comprehensive discussion on the transformative role of AI in the enterprise and valuable hiring insights for staying ahead in the AI era. 00:00 Introduction and Speaker Backgrounds 02:05 Impact of AI on Company Culture 05:09 Snowflake's AI Strategy and Data Security 08:03 AI Use Cases in Marketing 21:26 AI Use Cases in Sales 29:42 Governance and Security in AI Implementation 32:10 AI's Influence on Hiring and Company Growth 34:58 Closing Thoughts and Resources

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