Builders Wanted

This episode features an interview with Dom Selvon, Global Chief Technology Officer at Apply Digital. Dom is a technology leader with 25 years of experience in the cloud-native and MACH communities. At Apply Digital, he is committed to employing technology for commerce and content, helping businesses succeed. Dom currently serves as a member of the MACH Alliance Executive Board, where he advocates for cloud adoption and agile methodologies.In this episode, Kailey sits down with Dom to discuss leveraging modern technology to create seamless customer experiences, the benefits of a hybrid architecture in digital transformation, and the ethical and sustainability challenges of AI.-------------------Key Takeaways:Effective digital transformations necessitate changes in communication, processes, and workflows within an organization.The modern enterprise architecture leans towards composable and flexible systems that prioritize interoperability.Human oversight remains essential to ensure AI complements rather than compromises business integrity and customer experiences.-------------------“ With a digital transformation, particularly a digital transformation to a more composable, flexible stack, the real meat of the work is the change that's actually going to happen to the business. It's a change that's going to happen to the communication within the business. How people talk to each other to get things done is going to change. That is something businesses don't accept, understand, believe, or are willing to take on.” – Dom Selvon-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:39) - Dom’s career journey*(07:10) - Trends impacting digital transformation*(24:54) - Practical applications of AI in business*(32:49) - Challenges in building great customer experiences‍*(43:56) - Dom’s recommendations for upleveling digital strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Dom on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

In this discussion, Tarun Dadoo, a VP at Discover Financial Services, dives into the nuances of balancing privacy and personalized experiences in banking. He explores the innovative approach of composable Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) for efficient data management. The conversation also highlights the crucial role of data governance in building consumer trust, especially in light of evolving regulations. Through addressing specific consumer behaviors, Tarun underlines how effective data strategies can boost satisfaction and loyalty in financial services.

This episode features an interview with Jennifer Peters, Director of DTC, Martech, and Digital Compliance at OLLY. Here, she drives their direct-to-consumer business growth and champions the fusion of technology and marketing for top-notch digital experiences. Jennifer is a passionate CPG expert with extensive experience spanning marketing, tech, and business development in eCommerce.In this episode, Kailey and Jennifer discuss the challenges of integrating AI in regulated environments, the implications of new legislation on data privacy, and leveraging omnichannel strategies effectively.-------------------Key Takeaways:By understanding and mapping out journeys across various channels, brands can design better experiences that cater to consumers’ evolving preferences.AI tools are used strategically to optimize consumer interactions and predict behaviors, helping to improve engagement and retention without infringing on data privacy regulations.The integration of data from multiple channels remains a challenge, but it's crucial for creating seamless consumer experiences.-------------------“Anyone in retail and eCommerce right now feels that weight of we've got to get the customer to convert for the first time. We have to think about cost of acquisition. We have to think about it from an advertising perspective. We have to think about it from a discounting perspective and, ultimately, long-term, what is this customer going to be worth to us? What is this customer's LTV? Maybe guessing what that might be for two years. We were guessing before and now you don't have to guess.” – Jennifer Peters-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:36) - Jennifer’s career journey*(07:32) - Trends impacting consumer experience in DTC and eCommerce*(12:59) - AI in regulated environments*(19:11) - Omnichannel strategies and digital channels*(30:57) - How Jennifer defines good data ‍*(38:12) - Jennifer’s recommendations for upleveling consumer experience journeys-------------------Links:Connect with Jennifer on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

This episode features an interview with Grammarly’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lena Waters, and Eric Weber, Head of Data. Lena leads marketing strategy, focusing on delivering the brand promise to customers, driving demand for products, and growing revenue to scale the company.  Eric leads teams of data scientists and software engineers who are responsible for improving how to measure and iterate on the product to create the best communication assistant. In this episode, Kailey, Lena, and Eric discuss their collaborative approach to aligning business and customer priorities, the implications of a cookieless world on marketing attribution, and the balance of data insights and human judgment to drive meaningful customer experiences.-------------------Key Takeaways:Leaders should have a clear understanding and conviction about their business goals and use data to test and refine their hypotheses, instead of relying solely on data to dictate actions.The key to navigating a cookieless world is to focus on fundamental marketing principles and broader customer understanding, rather than obsessing over the loss of precise individual data.Creating a culture where leaders and team members feel empowered to make informed decisions ensures that teams leverage data effectively to drive meaningful business outcomes.-------------------“I think as leaders, we have to think about that decision-making environment that we're creating for our teams so that they do have the right resources, but we're not overloading them with false expectations of we have to try everything. We would drown. We're looking for, I think, clarity. We're not necessarily looking for everything.” – Lena Waters“You're going to have to have conviction and a hypothesis and a belief about what is true, and you should still use data to try to refute that or gather evidence against it. But, you're going to have many fewer situations where the data's going to be like, ‘Here's the path forward.’ Guess what? That's not going to happen. I think the more that we embrace that, we're going to be more successful in one or two years when a lot of this visibility is actually gone.” – Eric Weber-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(03:14) - How data and marketing work together at Grammarly*(05:30) - Trends impacting customer experience*(22:45) - How Grammarly is measuring effectiveness in a cookieless world*(29:13) - How marketers can address the overreliance on data and dashboards*(36:34) - How Grammarly is using AI*(43:32) - Lena and Eric’s advice for upleveling marketing and data strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Lena on LinkedInConnect with Eric on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

This episode features an interview with Robert Gash, Chief Consumer Commerce Officer at Hearst. Robert is a software and product development executive with extensive experience leading software development, product strategy, research, and design. Prior to joining Hearst, he served as VP of Engineering at Nurx and Symphony Commerce, and as the VP of Operations Technology at Grove Collaborative. In this episode, Kailey and Robert discuss strategies for making purchasing decisions easier for consumers, reducing informational friction, and how AI is redefining consumer experiences.-------------------Key Takeaways:Incremental improvements with AI can help to provide context and personalized recommendations to consumers.Recording as much contextual data as possible enables deeper insights and helps create a flexible and adaptive data strategy that can respond to evolving consumer needs.Marketers have to earn and maintain consumer trust by offering valuable and reliable guidance through transparent practices.-------------------“Everybody knows in commerce, the easier it is to purchase something, the higher your conversion rates typically are. But, that works mid funnel too. Going from moment of inspiration into lower funnel research and doing that as seamlessly as possible with fewer open tabs and fewer searches, maybe in the middle, is a key way we can play a real role in making that journey easier and faster for folks.” – Robert Gash-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:23) - Robert’s career journey*(07:36) - Trends impacting consumer experience*(13:37) - Hearst’s shoppable media model*(22:04) - AI in commerce*(32:16) - How Robert defines good data ‍*(38:34) - Robert’s advice for his younger self-------------------Links:Connect with Robert on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

In a fascinating discussion, Alex Levin, Co-founder and CEO of Regal.AI, dives into the future of contact centers by emphasizing the blend of AI and human interaction. He highlights the importance of creating personalized customer experiences, noting that human touch remains vital even in a digital-first world. Alex warns that up to 90% of contact center roles may shift to AI over the next decade. He also advocates for cross-functional collaboration to meet evolving market demands, ensuring organizations foster a customer-centric culture.

This episode features an interview with Des Cahill, Chief Marketing Officer at Tipalti. Des has served as CMO at multiple startups, such as Ensighten, Samepage and BridgeSpan, while also having successful experiences at companies like Apple and HP. Most recently, he drove global product marketing strategy for Oracle's Advertising & Customer Experience as Group Vice President.In this episode, Kailey and Des discuss the importance of foundational experiences and adapting to different company environments, crafting a solid messaging framework, and the evolving role of content marketing in the age of generative AI.-------------------Key Takeaways:A well-defined messaging framework is foundational, informing content across various channels such as websites, marketing collateral, sales pitches, and internal communications. Organizations can effectively tailor their communications and improve customer engagement through a phased approach to personalized marketing. Starting with a strong foundational messaging framework and then expanding it to specific personas and behaviors.Training AI tools like Grammarly to maintain brand tone and partnering with specialized AI vendors to leverage data in impactful ways can improve efficiency and ensure company communications remain aligned with brand messaging.-------------------“A lot of people think customer experience is about delighting the customer and I disagree. I think most of us, in our day-to-day lives, what we're trying to achieve is we're trying to get the information we want and we're trying to move on to the next thing. If you're marketing correctly, you've captured that signal, you've given them a message and you can always follow up with a nurture.” – Des Cahill-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:35) - Des’s career journey*(06:21) - Trends impacting customer experience*(12:02) - Personalization strategies*(22:24) - How Tipalti is building practical AI strategies‍*(35:04) - Des’s recommendations for upleveling customer experience strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Des on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

This episode features an interview with Jim Jackson, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He oversees all aspects of marketing for HPE with an emphasis on accelerating the digital transformation of the company to be the Edge-to-Cloud Platform-as-a-Service company. Jim has more than 25 years of IT industry experience and is passionate about the use of technology to inform a customer-centric, data-driven, and digital-first marketing approach across all areas of the business.In this episode, Kailey sits down with Jim (who subsequently announced his intention to retire from HPE at the end of October 2024) to discuss the importance of a customer-first approach, principles for responsible AI adoption, and implementing the right infrastructure for a seamless customer experience.-------------------Key Takeaways:Improving productivity and enhancing customer interactions requires extensive customer data and AI to create predictive models for targeted marketing.HPE follows core principles for ethical AI, focusing on privacy, human rights, inclusivity, responsibility, and robustness to guide their AI initiatives.Marketers can enhance customer experience through personalized, seamless interactions and leveraging real-time data for efficient communication across all touchpoints.-------------------“It's like going to the doctor's office and you fill out the forms and it's like, ‘Come on. It's a digital world, I should be able to give you all of this one time.’ At the end of the day, our enterprise customers want a lot of the consumer experience that they get in their daily lives. They want it more automated. They don't want to have to integrate multiple different ecosystem partners. They expect that the experience from HP will be as simple as their everyday lives.” – Jim Jackson-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:40) - Jim’s career journey*(05:49) - Trends impacting customer experience*(09:12) - HPE’s AI principles*(24:17) - Challenges on the customer engagement journey*(34:41) - Who Jim thinks is doing it right in terms of customer engagement‍*(39:25) - Jim’s recommendations for upleveling customer experience strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Jim on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

This episode features an interview with Dan Levi, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Clear Channel Outdoor. He leads the organization’s marketing strategy and connects brands and consumers through innovative advertising insights and solutions. Prior to joining Clear Channel Outdoor, Dan held positions at Captivate, Zoom Media, Monster Worldwide, and MTV. He has a proven track record of driving significant revenue growth, developing brands, and creating opportunities for B2B and B2C organizations.In this episode, Kailey and Dan discuss understanding consumer journeys, the role of out-of-home advertising in driving conversions, and the need for adaptability to optimize brand performance.-------------------Key Takeaways:Balancing technological advancements like AI with the inherently human aspect of marketing, ensures that relationships and trust with customers remain central to marketing strategies.With consumers now relying on digital tools for navigability, advertisers should consider journeys and audience behaviors rather than just proximity to locations. When out-of-home advertising is combined with other channels, marketers are able to drive performance, brand awareness, and direct conversions.-------------------“Advertising, especially one that is such a local business, people, relationships, they're really important. I think there is a very big risk in trying to move too fast to embrace automation in a way that undermines the strength that we have. Which is we have people on the ground, in our local markets, working with our customers.” – Dan Levi-------------------Episode Timetamps:‍*(02:49) - Dan’s career journey*(05:38) - Trends impacting customer experience*(21:05) - The role of AI in Clear Channel’s strategy *(30:21) - Challenges on the customer engagement journey*(35:33) - How Dan defines “good data”‍*(42:14) - Dan’s recommendations for upleveling customer experience strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Dan on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com

This episode features an interview with Mark Boothe, Chief Marketing Officer at Domo. Previously, Mark spent more than a decade working in Customer Relations and Marketing at Adobe, and worked at Instructure as the Senior Director of Customer Marketing. At Domo, he is responsible for driving business growth through marketing initiatives.In this episode, Kailey sits down with Mark to discuss how community can improve LTV and your bottom line, the role of AI in ensuring customer data security and privacy, and the importance of listening to customer feedback.-------------------Key Takeaways:Investing in customer-centric initiatives like community engagement and customer success programs is pivotal to reducing churn.AI can provide quick insights to business users without requiring deep technical expertise, but it’s important to use data responsibly and securely to drive business decisions.Building a strong community is a critical element of the customer experience strategy.-------------------“At the end of the day, it all comes back to are your customers successful and are they getting value out of your product? I think that too often, not only marketers, but companies in general can get shortsighted by the sale. You get them to a deal and then you're good. No, that's when the real work actually happens.” – Mark Boothe-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:32) - Mark’s career journey*(07:36) - The importance of community in customer retention*(16:22) - Leveraging AI and data for business insights*(21:24) - Challenges in creating great customer experiences*(29:46) - How Mark defines “good data”‍*(35:10) - Mark’s recommendations for upleveling customer experience strategies-------------------Links:Connect with Mark on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorGood Data, Better Marketing is brought to you by Twilio Segment. In today’s digital-first economy, being data-driven is no longer aspirational. It’s necessary. Find out why over 20,000 businesses trust Segment to enable personalized, consistent, real-time customer experiences by visiting Segment.com