The Enterprise GTM Podcast

Pavi Ramamurthy, the Global CIO and CSO of Blackhawk Network, shares over 20 years of security expertise. He discusses balancing security risks with business goals, urging startup founders to foster genuine conversations with CISOs. Insights on the true costs of vendor switching reveal that perception is crucial, while the rise of shadow AI mimics earlier IT trends. Ramamurthy emphasizes the power of CISO communities, challenges of vendor selection, and why 'best-of-suite' often prevails in decision-making. His mantra? "Know your CISO!"

In this episode, Diamond Bishop shares his fascinating journey through AI, machine learning, and enterprise software, from working at Microsoft (Cortana), Amazon (Alexa), AWS, and Meta (PyTorch) to founding Augmend, an AI-driven DevOps knowledge assistant, which Datadog later acquired.He dives deep into building AI-powered enterprise products, the challenges of selling into large organizations, and why AI-driven automation is the future of DevOps and security operations. Diamond also unveils Bits.ai, Datadog’s intelligent AI assistant designed to automate on-call incident resolution, debugging, and code error fixing.For founders, product leaders, and AI enthusiasts, this episode is packed with lessons on enterprise GTM (Go-To-Market) for Developer Tools, AI-driven automation, and the future of software engineering.Key Topics Discussed:1️⃣ The Evolution of AI & Machine Learning2️⃣ Founding Augmend: AI for DevOps Knowledge Sharing3️⃣ The biggest challenges for Dev Tool startups4️⃣ Bits.ai: The AI Assistant for DevOps & Security5️⃣ Lessons in building with Gen AI & GTM InsightsWho Should Listen?✅ AI/ML Engineers & DevOps Professionals – Learn how AI-driven automation is transforming workflows✅ Tech Founders & Enterprise GTM Leaders – Get real-world insights on selling AI to enterprises✅ Investors & AI Enthusiasts – Understand the next wave of AI-powered enterprise automationResources & Links:🔗 Follow Diamond Bishop on LinkedIn🔗 Datadog Bits.ai (Private Beta)📢 Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share! 🚀 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

Imagine walking into a digital store where the AI knows exactly what you want before you do. No more endless scrolling. No more generic recommendations. Just hyper-personalized shopping at lightning speed.In this electrifying episode of The Enterprise GTM Podcast, Vidya Raman sits down with two AI powerhouses:🔹 Sameer Singh, CTO of Spiffy, a startup rethinking AI-powered shopping assistants🔹 Anu Trivedi, Head of R&D at Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce marketplaceTogether, they pull back the curtain on the AI revolution that’s already reshaping how we buy, sell, and engage with products online.What’s Inside?❓ Why are today’s product recommendations so outdated—and how is AI fixing it?🤯 Are personalized AI shopping assistants finally here? And are they actually good?🚀 How is Flipkart handling AI at a mind-blowing scale of 600M+ customers?🔥 Is AI-powered e-commerce too smart—or not smart enough?If you’re curious about how AI will change the way we shop forever, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss!Links mentioned in today’s episode:Sameer SinghSpiffy AIAnu TrivediFlipkart This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

In this must-listen episode of the Enterprise GTM Podcast, I dive deep with two powerhouse AI experts:🎙 Manasi Vartak (Chief AI Architect at Cloudera)🎙 Shreya Shankar (PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley)We discuss the current landscape of GenAI in enterprises. We explore the challenges of productionizing AI applications, the importance of data privacy, and the evolving use cases within large organizations. Manasi shares insights from her experience at Cloudera, highlighting the slow adoption of GenAI in production and the prevalent use of internal applications. Shreya elaborates on her research at UC Berkeley, including how her work could transform data engineering.The conversation emphasizes the need for new tools and strategies to navigate the complexities of AI deployment and the significance of benchmarking in this evolving field. This conversation explores the evolving landscape of data engineering and the role of Generative AI (Gen.AI) in automating processes, simplifying data management, and enhancing user experience.The speakers discuss the importance of coding assistants, the need for new benchmarks in AI tools, and the critical role of user experience in designing AI applications. They emphasize the necessity of education and training to help users effectively leverage AI technologies in their workflows.Takeaways* The excitement about GenAI remains strong in enterprises.* Adoption of GenAI in production is still under 10%.* Internal use cases dominate the current landscape of GenAI applications.* The RAG pattern is a leading use case for enterprises.* Data privacy and security are major concerns for enterprises.* AI is becoming more democratized, allowing non-experts to build applications.* Productionizing AI requires significant effort and infrastructure.* Shreya's research focuses on optimizing database interactions with GenAI.* Accuracy in prompting is a complex and fuzzy concept.* Benchmarking in GenAI is challenging due to the lack of ground truth. The future of data engineering will involve more automation and less manual toil.* Gen.AI can simplify data management tasks significantly.* Natural language processing will make data access easier for non-technical users.* User experience is crucial for the success of AI applications.* AI tools should be designed for seamless human-AI collaboration.* Benchmarks for AI tools need to be redefined beyond traditional accuracy measures.* Education is key to helping users effectively utilize AI technologies.* Domain experts will benefit from tailored coding assistants in their specific environments.* The transition from creation to review in AI applications is essential for user engagement.* Accessibility of Gen.AI presents new opportunities for education and innovation.Chapters00:00 Introduction to AI Experts02:05 Current State of GenAI in Enterprises05:58 Use Cases and Adoption Challenges11:59 Parallels in AI Evolution16:02 Shreya's Research on GenAI and Databases22:41 The Future of Data Engineering and Automation24:11 Simplifying Data Management with Gen.AI27:20 The Role of Coding Assistants in Data Tasks30:47 Rethinking Benchmarks for AI Tools35:33 User Experience in AI Applications39:20 Designing for Human-AI Collaboration44:18 Education and Training for Effective AI UseLinks mentioned in today’s episode:Shreya ShankarShreya’s work DocETLManasi Vartak on Linkedin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

In today's episode, we sit down with Jerry Ting to delve into his experience of founding and scaling a startup in the world of AI-powered contract management. Jerry is the Founder and CEO of Evisort, a cutting-edge AI-powered contract management platform transforming how organizations manage, analyze, and automate their legal documents. Jerry's vision has been instrumental in establishing Evisort as an innovator at the intersection of law and technology.In our conversation, we discuss Jerry’s transition from sales to law, the early days of Evisort, and how he overcame skepticism to secure the company’s first clients. We also unpack the steps to identifying the right time to build sales and marketing teams, determining pricing, and the importance of a customer-first approach. Explore Evisort’s mission-driven innovation approach, the strategy of “land and expand,” and the advantages startups have over larger competitors in delivering user-focused solutions. Join us for a detailed look at the challenges and successes of building a transformative legal tech company from the ground up with Jerry Ting.Key Points From This Episode: * Introducing Jerry and his background in law and journey into entrepreneurship.* Jerry explains Evisort's product-led approach to its enterprise selling motion.* Why working with large enterprises is sometimes a curse for smaller companies.* Making the first Sales hire for Evisort and what he would do differently.* Discover how he determined Evisort's initial offerings and associated pricing.* How Evisort's mission to make peoples' lives easier catalyzed its growth. * How do you go from departmental sales to enterprise sales.* Jerry shares advice for budding founders of AI-native companies.Quotes:“[Evisort] really early on took a product-led approach in our enterprise selling motion.” — Jerry Ting [0:06:45]“My advice to the founders listening out there is that sometimes it is a curse to actually get big enterprises [interested] in the beginning.” — Jerry Ting [0:07:55]“If you really focus around the customer from a 360 [degree] company perspective, how you sell, how you support, how do you build your product, over time they become a great sounding board for the company strategy.” — Jerry Ting [0:18:18]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Jerry Ting on LinkedInEvisortTim Zonca on LinkedInTim Zonca on XVidya Raman on LinkedInVidya Raman on X This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

Bharathi Rajan, Vice President of Enterprise Data and Analytics at Swire Coca-Cola, shares invaluable insights for founders looking to sell to enterprises. She emphasizes knowing your customers and their KPIs for tailored solutions. Bharathi discusses the relevance of transferable KPIs across industries and the pivotal role of continuous engagement with clients. She also highlights the power of reference selling and the complexities of the competitive landscape, including decision-making factors like pricing and ROI. Her perspective on vendors as partners is a game changer.

Founder-led sales are common in early-stage startups. But, they could be much more effective with a deeper understanding of sales fundamentals. Joining us today is Leslie Venetz, founder of The Sales-Led GTM Agency to discuss how founders can level up their skills and transform their sales. Drawing on her extensive history in B2B sales, which includes over 250,000 cold calls, Leslie covers everything founders need to know, from earning the right to your prospect’s attention to efficiently managing your time during the sales process. She shares her top tips on crafting concise, value-driven emails, how to use AI in sales without over-relying on it, and how to strategically time your demos. Leslie also shares her unique perspective on objections, including how to figure out which objections are worth addressing, and why you should always lead with curiosity.Key Points From This Episode: * Some background on Leslie Venetz and her extensive background in sales.* Improving founder-led sales, especially in early-stage startups.* The key to developing active listening skills and why it is essential in sales.* Cold emails: best practices and common mistakes.* Key components of highly relevant messaging and how to audit your emails.* What your initial email outreach should look like.* Why you need to earn the right to write longer emails.* Leslie’s advice on how to use AI in sales – and how not to use it.* The importance of personalized outreach in the age of AI.* How to strategically time your product demos in a prospective customer call.* Recognizing different types of objections and how to address them.* Utilizing events as part of a multi-channel marketing approach.* Leslie answers our rapid-fire questions on AI, cold-calling, and more!Quotes:“Founder-led sales, which is usually the norm for early-stage startups, can be so much more effective if only founders could better understand some of the foundational aspects of sales.” — @veenormous [0:04:17]“It is your responsibility to earn the right to your prospect's time” — @LeslieVenetz [0:11:41]“We want to do everything that we can to reduce the cognitive load – and make it easy for them to scan and digest that email.” — @LeslieVenetz [0:15:16]“Especially for early-stage founders. You all are busy. – You do not have the time to spend an hour sending an email to a prospect that doesn't actually want you to email them.” — @LeslieVenetz [0:34:05]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Leslie VenetzLeslie Venetz on LinkedInJill KonrathSnap SellingTim Zonca on LinkedInTim Zonca on XVidya Raman on LinkedInVidya Raman on X This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

Barry Dauber is the VP of Sales and Business Development at MosaicML (recently acquired by Databricks) which is centered on making generative AI easy to use and widely accessible. Today, Barry joins us to discuss the role of sales, marketing, and business development in early-stage startups with a specific emphasis on MosaicML. Key Points From This Episode: * Barry Dauber walks us through the evolution of MosaicML's core offering. * His thoughts on sales and in particular, how to know when it's time to scale. * Barry's protocol for when the scaling plan includes bringing in new partners.* How to stay in your lane as a startup with great ambitions, and why this matters. * Our guest unpacks the differences and similarities between market adoption of big data and generative AI. * The major roadblocks that slow and prevent the evolution of ML and GenAI.Quotes:“As we learn in sales, especially in the startup world, 'no' is almost as exciting as ‘yes.’” — @barrydauber [0:15:07]“The easiest way to drive a partnership, especially as the small company, is you need to bring a customer.” — @barrydauber [0:19:27]“If an early-stage startup positions themselves as a platform, it would be disqualified by enterprises” — @barrydauber [0:23:31]“Gen AI SaaS will win over DIY efforts in large enterprises.” — @barrydauber [0:42:32]“Business users will be the primary users of ML/AI tools 5 years from now.” — @barrydauber [0:48:38]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Barry Dauber on LinkedIn Barry Dauber on XMosaicML Databricks Tim Zonca on LinkedInTim Zonca on XVidya Raman on LinkedInVidya Raman on X This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

In this episode, three-time tech company founder Chet Kapoor joins us to offer his insights on finding the right tech waves to ride and timing them well. Chet shares the principles that underpin his professional identity and decision-making process and highlights the importance of creating and maintaining momentum. Chet provides some timeless advice on how to approach enterprise sales for developer tools, the right kinds of partnerships to prioritize, his outlook on competition, and so much more. He also answers a number of rapid-fire questions that reveal his predictions for the future of data infrastructure, LLMs, data engineering, and more!Key Points From This Episode: * Introducing Chet Kapoor and his experience launching three tech companies. * Experiences that have defined his professional identity, from growing up in Calcutta to working alongside Steve Jobs.* The two key principles that inform all of Chet’s decisions.* Why momentum is so important in startups. * A simple yet powerful framework to create a large company.* Datastax’s place in the current AI landscape and what it aims to do. * Why Chet looks most forward to transformative use cases. * Advice for approaching enterprise sales.* Two ways that Chet classifies partnerships. * Applying caution to partner relationships.* Chet's evolving relationship with competition. * The importance of leaning into your uniqueness and modifying your approach as needed.* Predictions for how data infrastructure will change in the next five years. * Why he believes that LLM agent-based applications are geared to reinvent most of the enterprise software landscape as we know it. * Perspectives on which players stand to gain the most with the development of AI. * Whether or not the demand for data scientists and engineers is going to increase. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Chet Kapoor on LinkedInChet Kapoor on XDatastaxTim Zonca on LinkedInTim Zonca on XVidya Raman on LinkedInVidya Raman on X This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veenormous.substack.com

Adam Frankl, a seasoned marketing strategist and former VP of Marketing at multiple developer-facing unicorns, shares valuable insights on navigating the tech startup landscape. He discusses the unique mindset of developers and why traditional marketing fails to resonate with them. Frankl emphasizes the importance of addressing real pain points and leveraging social proof in marketing strategies. He also critiques conventional sales funnels, introducing the DREAM sequence to better engage developer audiences. This conversation is a must-listen for startup founders aiming for success in the development tool space.