Podcasts about rfp

Send us a textIn this episode of the AI Advantage series, Matt Brown sits down with Andy Ballard, CEO of Eastern Sports Management, to explore how AI is reshaping the $120 billion sports tourism industry. Andy shares his journey from teaching and coaching to building sports facilities that serve millions, and how technology now plays a central role in everything from RFP responses to referee audits. Together, they discuss the balance between efficiency and human connection, why AI should be seen as a “doer” rather than a “thinker,” and how exposure to AI in business and education can create lasting impact. Support the show

Send us a textAre you ready to dive into the world of AI and agents? Join us on the latest episode of the Exchanges with Hitachi Solutions podcast, where we explore the cutting-edge advancements in AI technology and how it's revolutionizing industries. Hosted by the dynamic duo, Joel Lindstrom and Marcus Raddatz, this episode is packed with insights, real-world examples, and a sneak peek into the future of AI.

In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Pandium CEO Cristina Flaschen speaks with Beth Beese, Director of Partnerships at Loopio, about her unique journey into partnerships, building an ecosystem from the ground up, and why cross-functional relationships are the secret weapon for success.From Fax Lines to Tech PartnershipsBeth's path to tech partnerships was anything but traditional. She started her career in sales, including door-to-door telecom services, before a chance meeting with Shawn Doyle of ReleaseTEAM opened the door to tech sales and partnerships. What began as a cold pitch turned into an informal interview and eventually a career-defining opportunity. That early experience taught Beth the power of relationships and the importance of saying “yes” to unexpected opportunities.Discovering the Power of PartnershipsAt Release Team, Beth realized that partnerships weren't just about closing deals, they were about bridging gaps between enterprise software vendors and customer success. By aligning IBM technology with consulting and training services, she saw firsthand how partnerships fuel customer outcomes. For her, sales provided the adrenaline, but partnerships became the “jet fuel” that scaled impact.Scaling Partnerships at LoopioWhen Loopio raised its Series B in 2021, Beth became the company's first partnership hire. Her mandate? Build out the alliances function from scratch. Today, Loopio's ecosystem spans professional services partners, technology integrations, and reseller relationships. By focusing on integrations with core systems like CRMs and working closely with services providers, Beth's team ensures Loopio's RFP automation platform connects seamlessly into broader sales workflows.Prioritizing a Small but Mighty TeamWith limited resources, prioritization is critical. Beth's strategy is to stay tightly aligned with company-level goals, currently expanding top-of-funnel growth. That means leaning into joint go-to-market efforts with partners, while also deepening integration work to meet enterprise customer demands. One standout win, a joint business relationship with PwC, which now includes Loopio as an approved enabling technology.Partnerships, Product, and CXBeth emphasizes that partnerships thrive when connected with both product and customer success. Alignment with product ensures integrations enhance (not compete with) the roadmap. Collaboration with CX provides unfiltered insight into customer needs, helping identify when partner solutions can fill gaps. For Beth, partnerships act as the “speakerphone” for both customer and partner voices within the organization.Advice for First-Time Partnership LeadersFor those stepping into their first partnerships role, Beth's advice is clear:1) Connect cross-functionally early. Talk to product, sales, and CX leaders to understand how partnerships can accelerate their goals.2) Align with executive sponsors. Know who pushed for the alliances function and what they expect.3) Set achievable milestones. Don't take on “Google + Microsoft + AWS” all at once, focus on wins that prove value quickly.4) Build relationships. As Cristina adds, investing in coffee chats (virtual or otherwise) can create the goodwill you'll need when partnerships depend on other teams' support.People Buy from People They LikeBeth closes by reminding listeners that partnerships, like sales, are rooted in human connection. In a remote-first world, building trust and rapport matters more than ever. A strong ecosystem isn't just about logos, it's about relationships that make technology adoption easier for customers.For more conversations on partnerships, integrations, and SaaS ecosystems, visit our site

Explore the upcoming TMAS 3 contract—a $916M follow-on supporting the U.S. Air Force Test Center. Learn about the scope, key incumbents, evaluation criteria, and strategies to prepare for the October 2025 RFP.Key Details:•Contract Value: $916 M•Estimated RFP Release Date: October 2025Listen to podcast to position your business for success.Contact ProposalHelper at sales@proposalhelper.com to find similar opportunities and help you build a realistic and winning pipeline.

Send us a textCT Turner is President of GED Testing Service and VP at Pearson's Enterprise Learning and Skills division. A recognized leader in workforce development, he champions equitable economic opportunities for underserved populations. CT supports adult education and workforce initiatives, holding degrees from Indiana University and Wichita State University.

What's really going on in today's produce and freight markets? Why are growers taking massive hits while carriers in Florida see rates spike overnight?  In this episode, Cody Koehler is back to break down the ripple effects from California's record harvest challenges, Florida's severe capacity shortages after new regulations, the Pacific Northwest's rate swings driven by onion and potato harvests, and why fraud prevention has become the number one competitive edge for brokers. We also discuss how capacity relationships, pricing transparency, and customer education create long-term trust, as well as how RFP strategies and Federal Reserve rate cuts may shape the next market cycle.   About Cody Koehler Cody is a 21-year veteran in supply chain/logistics. He has done just about everything in this industry minus holding his CDL (he did drive a yard dog though). In his current role, he oversees the sales and marketing teams for A&Z trucking, a 20-year old brokerage that specializes in produce and reefer freight, as well as cold storage and cross docking.   Connect with Cody LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-koehler-1a922b162/  Website: https://aandztrucking.com/  Email: info@aandztrucking.com  

Tent Talk has returned with a new series, Survive & Thrive! Before we dive deep into our scheduled content, we're sharing a quick preview of this season and a few reminders.   Tune in as we talk about: Next weeks episode featuring Dana DiPrima from the For Farmers Movement Our new online community, the Farmers Market Forum Early bird ticketing for the 10th annual inTents conference ends September 15th, 2025 RFP deadline for inTents 2026 extended to September 19th, 2025 Voting period for America's Farmers Market Celebration by American Farmland Trust closes September 30th, 2025 Interested in more Farmers Market Pros content? Subscribe to our newsletter at farmersmarketforum.com

Send us a textIvan Crewkov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Buddy.ai, the leading AI tutor for kids under 12, reaching over 20 million students annually from all over the world. Buddy is not just a chatbot. It's an AI-powered talking animated character in a mobile app teaching English as a foreign language to students all over the world.  Buddy is unique because it operates in a highly regulated environment where most off-the-shelf AIs like Chat GPT can't be used.

RFP - 'Lesbian Friendships: For Ourselves and Each Other' by Jacqueline S. Weinstock and Esther Rothblum, discussed by Sheila Jeffreys and Elizabeth Miller.A live webinar recorded in 14th Sept 2025 at 10am UK time.On Sundays (10am UK time), our webinar series Radical Feminist Perspectives offers a chance to hear leading feminists discuss radical feminist theory and politics.Attendance of our live webinars is women-only, register at https://bit.ly/registerRFP

Hyperliquid's USDH ticker set off the most dramatic “RFP” in recent memory. The crew breaks down why Native Markets ran away with validator support, whether the process was theater or strategy, and how the Bake-off became a marketing masterstroke—and potential leverage on Circle. We dig into Polymarket odds, the last‑minute Paxos bribery allegation (denied), and what this means for future “native” stables on Solana, app chains, and beyond. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, we're joined by Guy founder of Ethena as a special guest, as a single ticker (USDH) sparked a weeklong spectacle: Hyperliquid's “Bake-off” to award the USDH stablecoin brand. Native Markets surged ahead as validators signaled support, Paxos rallied late with partners and incentives, and Ethena ultimately withdrew. Was this always a vibes‑based beauty contest, or a deliberate move to pressure Circle and re‑route bridge yield? We parse the incentives, the governance, and the market microstructure — and peek at what happens if every big chain/app tries the “native stablecoin” playbook. Show highlights

Hyperliquid's USDH ticker set off the most dramatic “RFP” in recent memory. The crew breaks down why Native Markets ran away with validator support, whether the process was theater or strategy, and how the Bake-off became a marketing masterstroke—and potential leverage on Circle. We dig into Polymarket odds, the last‑minute Paxos bribery allegation (denied), and what this means for future “native” stables on Solana, app chains, and beyond. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, we're joined by Guy founder of Ethena as a special guest, as a single ticker (USDH) sparked a weeklong spectacle: Hyperliquid's “Bake-off” to award the USDH stablecoin brand. Native Markets surged ahead as validators signaled support, Paxos rallied late with partners and incentives, and Ethena ultimately withdrew. Was this always a vibes‑based beauty contest, or a deliberate move to pressure Circle and re‑route bridge yield? We parse the incentives, the governance, and the market microstructure — and peek at what happens if every big chain/app tries the “native stablecoin” playbook. Show highlights

What makes a biotech-CRO partnership truly work? Claire Riches, VP, Clinical Solutions, Citeline, and Matt Simmons, Senior Director, Oncology Strategy, IQVIA Biotech, share the secrets behind winning biotech-CRO partnerships, covering collaboration, transparent budgeting, regulatory navigation, and recruitment strategies, with essential insights to help biotechs succeed from their first RFP to global trials. View the video series and find out more information here: https://www.citeline.com/biotech

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they break down the latest shifts in education technology, from Google's aggressive AI push to early childhood challenges and new federal initiatives.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:04:48] Google's AI surge disrupts Duolingo with gamified language learning in Google Translate[00:12:14] Google's edge in practical AI tools versus the AGI race[00:17:28] Competitive landscape across OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and predictions for Chinese challengers[00:22:14] Presidential AI Challenge invites students to showcase projects nationwide[00:24:01] 70% of parents oppose student data going into AI tools, raising regulatory concerns[00:33:29] AI shifting from “what it is” to “how it enables” daily tasks and learning[00:36:53] Uptake struggles in early childhood education despite universal pre-K expansion[00:38:52] Oak National Academy opens curriculum API and University of Phoenix prepares for IPO[00:40:53] Michael Horn highlights optimism for innovation inside and outside school systemsPlus, special guest:[00:41:15] Karim Meghji, Chief Product Officer of Code.org on the Hour of AI, AI-powered teacher tools, and CS education for all students

In this episode of Building Better Developers with AI, Rob Broadhead and Michael Meloche revisit their earlier discussion on “Estimation Essentials” and explore how AI helps sharpen project pricing. The theme is clear: estimation is less about numbers and more about setting expectations. Developers who learn to price with confidence gain credibility, avoid stress, and build long-term client relationships. Why You Must Price With Confidence Estimation impacts far more than budgets. A clear, honest number builds trust and predictability. Vague requirements like “integrate with multiple systems” can't be priced accurately—so instead of guessing, developers must clarify scope. Saying “not enough detail to price this yet” protects both sides from disappointment. Honest estimates strengthen trust. Don't guess—clarify. Common Pitfalls When You Don't Price With Confidence The hosts highlight mistakes that derail projects: Underestimating to win a contract, then burning out. Ignoring hidden costs such as meetings, testing, and documentation. Forgetting risk buffers, leaving no room for the unexpected. Leaning on gut instinct rather than repeatable methods. By failing to price with confidence, developers risk missed deadlines, blown budgets, and damaged reputations. Frameworks to Help You Price With Confidence Rob and Michael recommend proven approaches: Bottom-up estimation – Break work into small tasks. Top-down estimation – Use data from past projects. Three-point estimation – Balance optimistic, pessimistic, and likely outcomes. Risk-first sequencing – Attack uncertain features first. These frameworks bring structure, reduce surprises, and give clients realistic options. Choosing Models That Let You Price With Confidence Pricing isn't just about numbers—it's about risk allocation. Time & Materials (T&M) – Risk stays with the client, who pays for actual work. Fixed Price – Risk shifts to the developer; scope must be crystal clear. Beware hybrid models like “T&M with caps,” which push risk onto developers without fair compensation. The key is aligning incentives so both sides win. MVP Thinking: Another Way to Price With Confidence Defining a minimum viable product (MVP) early protects the project when scope changes or budgets tighten. By locking in must-have features at the start, you can deliver value even if time or resources run short. This approach ensures clients get results and developers maintain credibility. Practical Steps to Price With Confidence Callout: Break tasks down, add a 20–30% buffer, and communicate assumptions. Follow these steps on your next project: Clarify requirements first – No assumptions left unspoken. Break into small tasks – Accurate estimates come from detail. Add buffers – Protect against risk and scope creep. Track actuals vs. estimates – Learn and refine over time. Explain assumptions – Clients trust numbers when they know the “why.” Challenge: Practice Pricing With Confidence Review your last three estimates. Where did you miss hidden costs like testing or meetings? On your next project, add a 25% buffer to that category and track whether accuracy improves. Small tweaks create more reliable pricing habits. Closing Thoughts The path to better client relationships isn't perfect numbers—it's predictable delivery. Developers who price with confidence clarify scope, tackle risks early, and communicate openly. The result? Trust, repeat business, and less stress. Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting, there's always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at info@develpreneur.com with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let's continue exploring the exciting world of software development. Additional Resources Software Estimation: Improving Productivity, Quality, and Expectations Setting Realistic Expectations In Development A Project Management and Pricing Guide for Success Pricing Strategies – The Value Of Your Product Or Service The Developer Journey Videos – With Bonus Content Building Better Developers With AI Podcast Videos – With Bonus Content

Winning more of the right work starts long before the RFP. It starts with pipeline discipline, proactive positioning, and breaking down silos.Marketer turned business developer Lee Jarboe, FSMPS, CPSM of JE Dunn Construction, shares how accurate pipeline data, smart market mix, and account-based marketing shorten the path from first touch to real conversations about client needs. With examples from large, multi-market operations, Lee explains why sales is a leading indicator, how to time resources, and when to say no so you can win better.She also makes the case for cross-functional alignment. Include marketing and BD in strategic growth talks, communicate the “why” behind pursuits, and stop the silos. The payoff is faster trust, sharper go/no-go calls, and teams that are all in when it counts.Topics discussed in this episode:AEC marketingPursuit strategySales pipelineGo/no-go decisionsAccount-based marketingClient experienceJE Dunn ConstructionConnect with Lee Jarboe, FSMPS, CPSM of JE Dunn Construction:Website- https://jedunn.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leejarboe/Connect with Katie:  https://smartegies.com/ Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts:We hope you're finding value in our AEC Marketing For Principals.  Your feedback is important to us and we'd love to hear from you. Here's how you can help.  Scroll to the bottom, rate our podcast with five stars, and select “Write a Review.”  Let us know what you found most helpful from this episode!  And if you haven't done so already, give the podcast a follow, and you'll be notified when new episodes come out.

Send us a textIn this special episode, we speak with Daphne Li, CEO of Common Sense Privacy, alongside leaders from Prodigy Education, AI for Equity, MagicSchool AI, and ClassDojo—recipients of the Privacy Seal. Together, we explore how the edtech sector is tackling one of its biggest challenges: earning trust through responsible AI and data privacy practices.

Send us a textAbhay Gupta is the Co-Founder and CEO of Frizzle. He was Previously a Product Manager at Coinbase, where he drove $50M of incremental revenue, as well as Tesla, and Meta and helped scale an online e-learning platform to millions in revenue. He holds a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Send us a textChong-Hao Fu is the CEO of Leading Educators, a national nonprofit specializing in comprehensive instructional improvement. Over the past 14 years, he's worked to scale exceptional teaching and leadership in some of the country's fastest-improving districts while exploring how emergent technology like AI can bring new possibilities to instruction.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they navigate a week of heavy headlines in education technology—from AI risks and teen safety to global expansion moves by OpenAI and new research from Anthropic.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:02:20] AI panic in the headlines with concerns about teen mental health, suicide, and youth dependency[00:06:33] AI's impact on job opportunities for new college graduates[00:08:00] Comparing AI anxieties with past moral panics about video games, music, and social platforms[00:14:14] Why AI guardrails in school tools may be the edtech industry's biggest value-add[00:18:54] Bill Ackman's New York Alpha School fuels debate over AI-driven education models[00:22:20] The risk of Alpha School becoming the “face” of AI schooling for better or worse[00:25:28] OpenAI expands globally with a new Head of Education in India and a potential UK-wide ChatGPT deal[00:27:26] Anthropic's higher ed report shows educators using AI more to augment than automate 

If you're a cleaning or facility maintenance CEO chasing multi-million-dollar contracts, you already know the pain: RFPs are time-consuming, confusing, and often stacked against you.In this episode of The Profitable Cleaner, sales leader Nathan (Nate) Pavelka (CBRE Network Advisory Services) breaks down a smarter way to approach RFPs and complex sales cycles. With 20+ years in enterprise sales, Nate has helped Fortune 1000 companies uncover 7–8 figure savings and close deals others thought impossible.Now he's sharing the RFP playbook tailored for the cleaning industry — the exact strategies to qualify faster, message to the right stakeholders, and stop wasting time on bids you'll never win.In this episode, you'll learn:✅ Why 20–35% of RFPs never even get published (and how to spot red flags fast)✅ The 3Ps Framework: People + Process = Performance for sales success✅ How to talk differently to CFOs, Ops, and Procurement during the RFP process✅ Why most vendors lose before the bid even starts✅ How to use AI tools to simplify RFPs and proposalsIf you're tired of spinning your wheels on RFPs — and ready to land $1M+ cleaning contracts — this episode is your competitive edge.

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Akash Ganapathi, CEO of Opine, to discuss how AI strategies differ between startups and enterprises in the presales space. They explore the myth of AI replacing SEs, the importance of specialization vs. generalization, and how AI can help presales teams manage more revenue per team member while focusing on strategic, relationship-building activities. Follow Us Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/ Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/ Connect with Akash Ganapathi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akash-ganapathi/  Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack Opine: https://tryopine.com/ Contact Akash directly: akash@tryopine.com Timestamps 00:00 Welcome 04:35 Why AI strategy differs for startups vs enterprises 09:27 Debunking the myth of AI replacing SEs 18:35 The human element in buying and selling 24:35 How enterprises can leverage existing knowledge bases 28:12 The paradox of considering AI for every task 32:14 Future predictions for 2026-2027 Key Topics Covered Startup vs Enterprise AI Strategy Startups benefit from generalist approaches and bottom-up experimentation Enterprises need specialized, top-down AI strategies to avoid redundancy The role of specialization vs wearing multiple hats The AI Replacement Myth Why the "AI SE" that replaces human SEs doesn't work SEs do much more than just answer technical questions The importance of relationship building and strategic thinking Current AI Limitations Context window constraints (around 1 million tokens currently) Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) accuracy at ~75% Why breakthrough improvements are needed for true automation The Future of Presales with AI More revenue managed per team member Shift toward hiring less experienced SEs with AI enablement Focus on strategic consulting rather than administrative tasks Practical AI Implementation Draft-and-approve workflows for deliverables Automating account research, meeting prep, and RFP responses Using AI for onboarding and knowledge enablement Mid-Market Recommendations Lean toward enterprise-style, forward-looking strategies Enable not just current team but future hires Focus on cross-organizational enablement (AEs, product, marketing)  

Send us a textWhile you spent thousands of hours studying math in high school, odds are you never use any of it. There is math that really matters – it's just not covered in school. Just as Freakonomics made us rethink economics, Aftermath does the same for math. Today's guest, Ted Dintersmith, is a bestselling author, education advocate, and former venture capitalist who believes math has been weaponized—and it's time to set things right. If you're curious about the math you missed, and how it can empower you, you won't want to miss this conversation.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they dive into the biggest headlines shaping the future of education technology, from AI breakthroughs to new models of learning challenges.✨ Episode Highlights: [00:03:23] GPT-5 fallout and Altman's vision for GPT-6[00:08:14] AI risks: AGI fears, scams, misinformation [00:14:37] Post-COVID learning gaps and inequities [00:18:33] Students solving problems with AI [00:21:42] AI updates from Google, Meta, Microsoft, Grammarly [00:25:29] Higher ed: Minerva's rise, enrollment, dropouts [00:27:45] Micro-innovations from Stanford and student startups [00:29:14] Funding shifts: early-stage gains, PE stress, Nintendo schools [00:33:19] Cutting through AI hype cycles [00:39:20] Schools banning phones for student wellness [00:43:04] Big tech vs. local edtech visibility [00:45:07] Blackstone exits $6B Cognita deal [00:46:33] Pearson launches AI Study Prep Plus, special guests: [00:47:43] Brittany Miller, CIO and Executive Director at the Center for Outcomes-Based Contracting, on edtech-school partnerships[01:10:31] Jahque Bryan-Gooden, Founder of My CRE Buddy on culturally responsive teaching with AI[01:20:00] Jim Marggraff, CEO and Founder  of Kibeam Learning on screen-free AI reading and learning tools

Send us a textArun Saigal is the Co-Founder and CEO of Thunkable, the no-code platform where anyone — from students to startups to enterprise teams — can build powerful, native mobile apps. With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and integrated Gen AI tools, Thunkable empowers creators to go from idea to real, publishable app without writing a single line of code. Arun has an S.B. and M.Eng. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT and has held various leading roles at technology companies, including Quizlet, Khan Academy, Aspiring Minds, and Google.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin, Ben Kornell, and guest co-host Matt Tower from Whiteboard Advisors for a back-to-school edition of Week in EdTech, covering market shifts, Big Tech's push into education, the GPT-5 rollout, and the rising challenge of deepfake abuse in schools.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:03:40] Back-to-school funding uncertainty and “back-to-basics” mentality[00:06:40] B2C vs. B2B: consumer learning grows while institutions tighten[00:09:31] Big Tech moves from infrastructure to competing in applications[00:13:40] GPT-5 rollout backlash and prioritization of B2C users[00:17:34] Rethinking schools' role: raising the floor vs. raising the ceiling[00:19:52] School choice and flexible student pathways through ESAs[00:20:58] Proposal for an AI user Bill of Rights[00:27:36] Media panic: critiques of AI in education from major outlets[00:34:19] SoftBank executive buys stake in UK university[00:38:10] Workforce training gap: Google and Microsoft invest billions[00:39:12] Google's Gemini leads in image and video generation Plus, special guests:[00:49:18] Evan Harris, President of Pathos Consulting Group, on deepfake abuse in schools and crisis response[00:56:02] Becky Keene, author of AI Optimism, on AI literacy for teachers and classroom integration[01:03:47] Max Spero, Co-Founder and CEO of Pangram Labs, on building future-ready schools with emerging tech

According to research from Salesforce, 69% of sales reps say they’re overwhelmed by the number of tools they must use. So, how can you reimagine your tech stack and GTM strategy to maximize efficiency across your teams?Riley Rogers: Hi, and welcome to the Win-Win podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic is Kate Curtis, senior product Marketing manager of Enablement at Kevel. Thank you so much for joining us. Kate, I’d love if you could start just by telling us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your role at Kevel. Kate Curtis: Great. Yeah, so I’m Kate Curtis. I’m based out of Boston and working with enablement here at Kevel, which is a retail media cloud service platform, and I just recently came on, but I’ve had a very diverse background in terms of working in different companies in different verticals. I actually got my start out of college working in a box office for nonprofit arts, anywhere from opera, theater, dance, you name it. I think it was a masterclass in doing everything with nothing and it. Gave me the ability to think about how to sell things in a way that aren’t naturally able to sell when you can actually sell artistic creativity by showing people the possibility. That was one of the first lessons I got that got me hooked into enablement, and so how do we talk about things? Whether it’s about a product you’re selling or something, you’re convincing somebody to read a book. How do you talk about things in a way that catches them, that enlightens them, that brings value to them? It was a grassroots kind of situation where you had very little, very little money and had to get creative, and so I took those skills and. Started making my way into advertising, working for other ad tech companies like Criteo, Amazon, and now here at keval. And the uniqueness of it is everybody struggles with the same things no matter what your business is. RR: I love how you connected the dots from beginning to end working in a nonprofit initially and an arts focused nonprofit. You learn to be scrappy. You learn how to communicate with people well. You just have to. So I think part of the reason we’re excited to have you here is you have a really great wealth of experience. Kind of across a lot of different disciplines that we’re very excited to dig into. And on that note, we kind of have a lot of ground to cover today. So excited to jump right into it. So first question for you, as a marketing leader, what are some of the key go-to-market initiatives that you’re focused on driving for your business? KC: Yeah. If you ask any enterprise leadership, they’re going to say, sell, sell, sell. Get it out there. Get it in front as many people as possible. Get those dollars. A, B, C. Always be closing to me as somebody who comes from a background, particularly I am a child of two public school teachers. It starts with education. You can’t sell unless you believe in it yourself, unless you understand how it works. And that gives you the capability to be able to take a story to the table and solve for a customer. Tell them not just how the features and functionality work, but so what? What is this gonna do at the end of the day? So the real priorities for go to market is let’s start with educational foundation, and that’s whether you are building something out yourself internally, whether it’s coaching or you’re building out playbooks. Finding something to be able to reach a myriad of learning personalities so that they feel confident. Being able to understand themselves and tell their own story versus read off of let’s say a sales script or speaker’s notes on a deck. From there, it’s being able to give them something that they can take to a customer that isn’t built from within. And I say that by meaning. How do we keep whatever our content is, whether it’s a video, it’s a one pager, it’s a deck, what have you, how do we ensure that we are showing the value of product? But that’s not where the conversation starts. The conversation should start from how do we. Have those conversations with people to find out why we’re actually meeting today, and then being able to work backwards into the functionality of the platform where that. We bring in the education layer, right? That’s where we bring it in. We can sit here and talk hypotheticals of what you can solve for for a customer, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta be able to show the proof. So if being able to allow people to feel confident to talk about something that they can solve for understanding a customer’s needs, and then being able to provide them that proof. Is something that we’ve really focused on. So how do we make sure they have the education? How do we make sure they have the go-to market right materials? And how do we make sure that they stay aligned and then continuously learning from them, from the data of did it work? ’cause we’re all making assumptions about what the market is like and who our customers are and what they’re struggling with. But if you don’t lean into the data and validate and challenge things, then it that go to market time is just gonna get longer. And less impactful. And at the end of the day, that dollar is gonna take much longer time to come in the door. And so really starting from the basics. RR: Yeah, I really admire that education first approach. I think that’s a great philosophy, but I know that it’s also kind of, it’s hard to drive at scale. You’re trying to do a lot of things to build confidence, to build that alignment, to get reps ready to go and sell meaningfully. And so I know that’s a big challenge that I’m sure you and literally everyone else is dealing with. So I know that one of the ways that you’re kind of combating that challenge is through. Go to market efficiency. I’ve seen you frame it as operating leaner, faster and smarter. So I’d love if you could walk me through the building blocks that you and any other GTM team would need to kind of bring that philosophy of efficient execution to life. KC: Yeah. Again, starting from. Getting it right from the start. So we started off, we’ve had enablement surveys running for the past couple of quarters internally to be able to understand where people are struggling, not just with content needs, but where they are lacking in feeling confident about certain messaging or products or ICPs. Really understanding across the board what are the big gaping holes, what are the areas that we can lean on the little less into, and. Starting off with something like that, to be able to kind of add that data to again, be able to not only just understand, but measure quarter over quarter is incredibly helpful to how we kinda got started in isolating what’s the biggest areas of opportunity versus long-term goals. And from there it was about, I heard loud and clear when I came in. I can’t find anything. I don’t know if it’s up to date. I don’t understand how to talk about it. I can’t find answers to my questions. And again. Tale as old as time. Everybody has that problem no matter how big and how much money you have in the bank. And so that’s where I lean into tools and that’s where I brought in Highspot, is the idea is like we need to start from a clean slate before we can even go to market. Otherwise we’re just gonna keep repeating the same issues over and over. So this was a great opportunity for us to kind of start clean and enter into a tool. I know that everybody and their mom has a thousand tools across the business, and the names just get funnier and funnier the more you adopt them. But the idea of this is what I was trying to impress upon them is we have so many rich channels of content, whether it’s discussions happening in Slack or it’s things that are happening in HubSpot, or you know, all this rich content built by multiple different departments living across the ether. And they’re so rich in what they can provide and insight and education and just quick answering of questions and being able to help our teams become strategic advisors versus salespeople. And so being able to ingest that into one tool rather than replicating another tool was a great opportunity to say, I’m gonna help you find what you need faster. That, and then as my customer got ’em. They said fantastic. And I’m not saying it’s easy as that to get a hundred percent adoption, but that the fact of the matter is of being able to give them back time into their week to do their job was problem one that we were solving for. The next was finding my champions. So finding those people. That’ll drink the Kool-Aid with me, and so I had a lot of one-on-ones, which is exhausting at first, but as we say in sales juice, it’s worth the squeeze. After we got started doing the one-on-ones people, it was like they saw the light, specifically looking at digital sales rooms, being able to have something that didn’t just benefit the salesperson but became an effective tool to help them. At when the deal was closed, to be able to hand that over to the existing business team and everything’s there, and they’re able to then build upon that and it becomes this one stop shop for a customer lifecycle versus these different stages that we see customers in. It becomes a partnership versus just a deal commitment. And then. I’m a mom, I realize I get my kid to do things when I, you know, reward them. So I actually started building out some spotlights. So most recently called out some of the, the salespeople that got really creative in the digital sales rooms about not just taking the. Templates I built out with some of our standard content, but really thought about it and really engaged with the tool. And out of the digital sales room was the first one they built 60% of the material was engaged with by customers. And to be able to see something like that where we’re still building materials in real time was incredibly. Informative and helps like to feed how we should start rebuilding these rooms. So showing their other sales team members look what they’re able to do and look at the conversations they’re able to elevate. Cited that little bit of competition with their other salespeople. But I, the, I created an award called, I Got 99 Problems, but a Pitch Ain’t Won. And now that is my enablement award I give out for spotlights that are all hands when I’m calling out people for certain things. And as cheesy as it is, you know, it brings people back into the conversation and people actually text and said, how can I get the next one? So it’s, it’s a lot of different ways of looking at it. Again, at the end of the day, yeah, they’re my teammate, but they’re also my customer. How am I gonna make them successful? What are the same discovery questions we ask? And then as I’m doing that, being able to champion that out. It’s being seen by other members of the business and they want their stuff seen too. So you’ve got product in there with like release notes, which, so we build out an RSS feed, so all the release notes are constantly feeding in there. Everybody is getting a benefit from it, depending on what. How they’re engaging with Highspot and we’re unsiloing all of this information and helping people find the answers, speak more confidently in real time, using AI to help make things faster and learning with data. ’cause data doesn’t lie. RR: Amazing. I love that you’re kind of marrying the functionality with the fun part of it, because that’s how you kind of drive adoption is you need to prove, hey, this helps your workflow and then also. You get a benefit by using it, and maybe it’s a little silly, but it’s also fun. I kind of wanna touch on something interesting you said, which is the struggle that so many teams face of dozens of tools with increasingly ridiculous names that your sellers all need to keep track of, click into, figure out. So I’d love to know a little bit more about what. The difference a unified platform makes for your team. So could you talk to me a little bit about how that centralized source of truth is improving efficiency and helping you better drive your initiatives? KC: Yeah. Great example is we have another tool that we use for our RFPs. So whenever a request for proposal comes in, there’s a whole other separate tool that most people don’t even know about and it actually is managed by a team of some of our engineers and it has over 2, 400. Questions asked by customers and RFPs with validated answers anywhere from the high level down to the nitty gritty. And so what I’ve done is I’ve connected that tool into Highspot, and so using copilot. People can go in and say, you know, what kind of ad formats can I use? And that’s probably not in a deck. It’s probably not in a one pager or maybe not into the detail or granularity you need. But because it can scrape that, it is able to scrape that data, give the information the answer back to the person in real time, and then point to the source. So if they need to dig in a little bit deeper, and what I like about that is the recommendations as well. So even if they’re answering a question, if I’m on a call with a customer. I guarantee you, no one on this team, unless they’ve been here for a while, could be able to answer that spitfire. The idea is that I’m enabling that person to find that question without having to go to a Slack and give that little intermission of time. That could be more conversation with the customer. They can find it in real time. They can provide the answer of the most basic level, and because it makes recommendations of other content that’s related to it, it helps them continue and evolve on that conversation In terms of discovery. So, okay, you’re looking for the different formats. Where do you typically like to serve your ads? What kind of ads do you like to serve? How do you like to do targeting? It helps to really drive the conversation and then at the same time, give you those things that you could put into the digital sales room. ’cause you know that that was impactful and maybe informative to them. So really thinking about where would I go for certain things that. Either people know about. So Slack, we are getting a little hacky and we are exporting some slack threads that are specifically around questions that come to our support teams. And so. As we can get that content in. It’s a little dirty because it’s an export from Slack, but the amount of conversations that are happening in there and dialogues about our customers and things that they’re asking about or struggling with, it’s such rich information that standardly wouldn’t exist in an enablement platform. And while it is not a deliverable, it is a resource. And so, you know, as people are having conversations, they’re able to find answers. They’re able to at the same time, educate themselves. Uh, in a self-service fashion, and it’s interesting to us to be able to go into those search channels and be able to see what people are asking so that we, it again helps us better understand where our content gaps are. Being able to reduce the amount of things that are open for you to be able to find what you need in a way that we keep it in controlled chaos, as I like to say, has been incredibly helpful. We were able to get answers to an RFP within the first week of launching Highspot. So it’s the idea of thinking out of the box of what this tool is meant to do in standard form of how we make sure people find content. I think it’s about how we make sure people find what they need. In real time and ensure that they’re confidently able to understand it and that we’re constantly looking for other areas to help feed into the platform and give them something that maybe they didn’t even know they were looking for. RR: Those are such great examples. I really enjoyed hearing about how you have created a space for so many conversations. That maybe would just happen in a little bubble, but now the entire organization has visibility into that, which is just incredible and I’m sure saves your engineering team and your support team a lot of time and a lot of slacks we’re working on it. I think that actually feeds very well into the next question, which is, you know, a key part of efficiency is alignment and synchronized collaboration. So I know you’re working closely with, like you said, product engineering, sales teams all across the organization. So beyond maybe what you’re doing so far in the platform, what are some best practices that you have for aligning GTM KC: teams? I think a really specific thing is kind of going back to what I mentioned at the beginning, is I did a road show before we signed and after we signed with key stakeholders from these teams, and none of them knew what Highspot was. So I was able to come in from an approach of what keeps you up at night, what are you struggling with, what can I help you with? What will make you look good? Again, the same thing. I would go to a customer. It doesn’t matter if it’s a car, if it’s hammer, if it’s software. The only reason I will come on board if it’s something that provides value or impact to me. So it was going to those teams and finding out. What are they struggling with? And a lot of it was they have so much documentation and so many things they want to get to everyone. But much like everybody, it lives on Google Drive or it lives in a doc portal that people don’t log into. It doesn’t give room for context or clarity. So again, like going to product and, and them saying, we have all of this stuff that’s out there that. Roadmaps and release notes that really could impact renewals or really could change the game in terms of customers that maybe didn’t think we were in the place right for them previously. But now we have all these things that we didn’t imagine. It’s being able to have those kind of things out there that help elevate the products and work that they’re doing. Going to our marketing team. I mean, you know, marketers, they are content churning themes. They are writing and delivering so much stuff and it just, you know, unless it’s through social channels or through campaigns, you don’t really have any data on that. So how can we start leaning into what’s working in marketing and not just elevate that to make sure it’s getting used, but get that feedback and more importantly. These are often the unsung heroes, right? The, the people who are creating content. There’s never a name on there that says Kate created that. They churn out the piece of content. It goes out there, it does what it does. And if it does well, then we celebrate as a team, which is great. But at the end of the day, I think we all like the validation of the work we do. And so I started another award called, um, I’m not just a Player. I crush a lot. And that’s for our content creators. And so it’s being able to go in and look at the content that, specifically I’m looking at digital sales rooms right now. One piece of content is being used very frequently and it’s being engaged with majority of the time. And it’s something that’s not even new and it’s actually a URL from our site, but it’s a blog post. And so being able to. Elevate that to that person who did that work a while ago that was probably long and forgotten and say, Hey, it’s still kicking and it’s doing well, is a really great opportunity for me to have that kind of buy-in from them too. Then the sales side. Honestly, getting that reporting metrics with pitches in digital sales rooms was the carrot on the stack. We are, you know, we’re in our, our business specifically is remote first, so we don’t have a sales floor. We have basically a tight network of salespeople that are extremely talented and very close knit, but they are across the world, and so being able to have. Something that they could learn off of each other and be able to get a little bit of a better understanding of how to direct their conversations. A better understanding of what works for different personas or markets to expedite that go to market and closing, uh, of deals faster that, I mean, it’s something they’ve never had before. It’s something that helps them become leaders within their own groups and being able to show them that value again, like. What keeps you up at night? The deal you’re struggling to curl? Yeah, let’s work on that. Let’s give you some space to be able to create a unique environment for your customer that becomes a collaboration and gives you insight and intel to how to better gauge the next conversation or prioritize your book of business. So really at the end of the day, it wasn’t about selling Highspot itself as a platform. It was about starting from how can I help you do better? What are you struggling with? And then mapping it back to the functionalities of Highspot and building out use cases for them and being able to say, we can deliver on this. And we do. And we are. RR: I gotta say, I love, as you’re explaining this, hearing the marketer brain churning of like, what stories am I gonna tell these folks to get them bought in? What is the value for you? How am I gonna tell this story? I see how it works. KC: It’s, it’s not rocket science. I wish I could come with a magic secret, but really we’re humans at the end of the day, and really, we are looking to, to prove our value and to excel at what we do. And so how can we find the unique ways to help people do that? RR: Yeah, and I think it’s that kind of empathy, that human first approach of like, I know that you’re just, you just wanna do a good job, and I’m here to help you do that. That’s gonna win. You buy in every single day more than any other strategy. KC: It’s the credit. I’m not coming here. To try to force this down your throat or make you do another tool. Let’s think differently about this. This is a partnership with us because when you do well, we all do well, which is cheesy as it sounds, but it’s true. RR: Yeah, absolutely. Switching gears a little bit, you kind of touched on this a little earlier, but I’d like to kind of dig into it because you know it wouldn’t be the Win-Win podcast if we didn’t talk about ai. So I’d love to know, a lot of businesses are, of course, using AI to improve efficiency, and I know that you’ve started to dabble in that a little bit with Highspot. So I’d love if you could kind of walk us through your current AI strategy and some of the ways that you’re using AI in Highspot to support your teams. KC: Yeah, we’ve just started again. We launched about end of June and then I went on vacation for two weeks ’cause that’s how you successfully kick off a new software. Um, but we launched in June and we launched with a very big launch event of a new product that we were rolling out with. So the timing was quite nice. And the idea behind this was, again, trying to, to show to the team that this isn’t a. Content repository. It’s not a dam, this is not a folder. Like this is going to be something that is we’re going to build on and teach as well. At the same time you’re gonna teach it. We started with leaning into, uh, just the search bar functionality, and that’s where I came in and started asking people in the surveys like, where do you go when you have a question? Don’t tell me a person’s name. Where do you go when you have a question? And really starting to source that kind of information to, to live out there. And sometimes it was. As we’d mentioned before, another platform that maybe this content lived in our support software, what have you, or maybe it was a Wiki, how do we start finding that information to be able to provide at the same time and answer those questions? And so starting really simplistic with that, it really is you got to breadcrumb people into a new platform. Otherwise they’re drinking from the fire hose and they’re not absorbing anything. To be able to solve for X pretty quickly. Was a nice way to start in. A, getting people to adopt the AI functionality of being able to surface information or content. B. Start teaching it. Vernacular and start giving the feedback of whether answers were right or not and start building that at scale. I then opened up into the full copilot feature and started showing them it’s smarter than chat GPT, because it’s really honed in only on us. So you know that your messaging is in there. And I was, don’t just ask a question of saying, what is yield forecast? Get that and say, okay. You can also do this, you can say, write a message to a retail persona, because we have our personas built into the platform, content across the board with bullet points of what the value props that are important to their outcomes. And in real time during the demo, it built the template for it. It was completely on point. I said, copy, paste that. Go BDR, go. And then from there it’s, it’s about leaning into where the AI copilot is within the tools itself. So. You know, if I am coming on board to Keble and I’m starting off, oftentimes people are gonna point you go look at these slides, go look at these PDFs, da, da, da. But having that copilot feature there to be able to ask a question rather than have to go to my manager and ask questions and it scrapes the content to be able to provide me an answer, is such an efficiency for that person to be, again, like self-service enabled, but also takes that kind of. I don’t wanna call it low value opportunity for a manager. It’s, it’s obviously they’re there for questions, but this gives it space for when they do have their one-on-ones to go into really distinct questions and really distinct trainings and coachings they need to be focusing on versus understanding a platform solution. And then from there that having that knowledge check that’s in there as well. Like that’s to me, another thing I don’t have to build out. As another training tool, like that’s a just off the bat kind of training tool. Those are the kind of things we’re currently leaning in. Again, we’re only almost two months in, but the fact of the matter is, is it’s already proving its value in terms of elevating what we are ingesting into the tool, into something that is solving for a problem. That has been on every single enablement survey since it started as one of the biggest issues is I need an education I can’t find. What I’m looking for. RR: Well, as you’re kind of iterating down the line, ’cause I know as you said, only like two months or so into this and there’s always room for improvement, figuring things out, all of that fun stuff. I’d like to know if you could share where you’re going. What do you think may be the next step in you and your AI vision, and how do you think that strategy might evolve over time? KC: It’s a really great question. We, as a company use AI to drive efficiencies at scale without taxing our teams. So finding business efficiencies, being able to build something more into AI within Highspot, that becomes almost like another me or another presence of a product engineer or you know, a sales. Guidance tool, which I know you guys are working on, I think soon we’ll be delivering. But how do we replicate support networks or feedback or guidance or recommendation? How do we elevate that and again, iterate? How do we constantly build on the value of this tool and how we are creating a smaller gap between the first start of a customer conversation? To not just closing of a deal, but how do we get smarter about what we’re saying? How do we get smarter about discovery questions? What are the hidden gems of things that we should be bringing up? How, how are we using AI to elevate our conversations, to onboard people faster, to really make sure that we are leaning in the right direction with the customer? And at the end of the day, showing the value. And you know, it’s sometimes hard in these situations to show value. It takes time, but what are the ways that we can show value? And I think a lot of the features that the AI even currently are doing are really starting to check that box. But I’m constantly, I am a self-proclaimed nerd. What more can we do? How can we get hacky with it? What are things that we can think about that are existing that we could think about from a different lens? And I really do think it’s about. Thinking in a world where I think a lot of us are still working remote or hybrid and we don’t have that sales floor, we don’t have our manager sit in two seats down. Product is not, you know, on the second floor, how do we create a situation where we can create a digital office or digital network where we’re able to have whatever content or information or what have you. ’cause we all know you can pretty much put darn near everything into a Highspot. How do we make it so that. It takes it off the paper. And how can AI help us with that? RR: Well, I really enjoyed that vision. I think you’re thinking about it from like every angle. I think you and the team are obviously doing some really cool things with Highspot so far that I feel like I haven’t heard from too many of our customers. You’re creating a really wonderful digital office, and so I can’t wait to see kind of how it evolves and gets more connected over time as you bring more things in. I would like to maybe, you know, we talked a little bit about the future and we jumped ahead. Maybe walk back a little bit into the past because. You know, you’re still early in your journey, like you said, but we’ve heard some really great things from your account team so far. For instance, after launching Highspot, you had it just one week. You had already driven 83% adoption. So I’d love to know, and I’m sure our listeners would love to know too, how did you do that? How did you drive such early adoption? How did you get reps excited? I know you touched on it a little bit, but if you have maybe like a, a step by step or anything for us. KC: So I will be completely honest that this is not my first rodeo. I actually, in working at Criteo, which is another ad tech company, I started off in sales there. I was an account strategist and we were working with large books of business and we were working with complex software that was constantly evolving and. Again, tale as old as time. Oh, this deck is outta date. God, you know, it’s, it’s that same thing, and I worked my way up into creating a head of enablement role for the idea that the same premise I began with is we need to declutter. We need to lean in technology that doesn’t duplicate, that uns silos and provides that layer of education, provides the clarity of the message and provides the trust in what you are sharing is accurate up to date and you feel confident in doing it. And so I rolled it out there. I think we had like 1200. People using it at that space that included more than sales. ’cause I will say I don’t see this as just a sales enablement platform. This is a unified space for a business. As I said, the adoption goes beyond the salespeople using it. It goes into the business. Aligning and using this as a single source of truth for how people are going to be approached with information or finance answers. And so that started there as well. And then, uh, my most recent company I work with was a company called Tulip. They are into another services software, and they had the same, it’s the same issue. It was a very complex product that was very niche for each customer, and it was a little wild west in terms of what content was being built. It wasn’t that it was wrong, it was just how are we learning from it? What if so-and-so’s got a deck that’s killing it and we’re not using it? And so being able to come to them and say, let’s create this as a collaborative space versus let’s, you know, it was a much smaller organization, so less of like wrangling the cats and more of like, let’s learn from each other and let’s, then that’s where the digital sales rooms really became key because there was so much information provided. How do you keep tabs on that? And again, here at Kevel it was, we’ve got a lot out there we’re, it was kind of a combination of the two actually. We’re a very niche platform that is wonderful in the fact that it’s flexible and allows the customer to do a thousand different things to solve for their problem, but that also means there’s a thousand different things you need to understand. So how do we get our hands around the thing and how do we learn from each other because we’re a smaller group. And so I think both from a background of sales. From a background of learning, those were the situations very different in terms of what we were going against. But at the end of the day, it really came down to that value prop is what keeps you up at night. And I know it sounds really simple, but I will constantly lean into that. It’s hard to do at scale, but I think you can find a couple of things, particularly looking at the larger business working at Criteo. It’s not different. How much money is in your bank, how, how, you know big your business is. We’re all going to try to service the same customers and we’re probably all struggling with similar things. So what can I do for you? That’s primarily been, and it’s, it’s, it’s a lot of upfront work, but once you get ’em, you get ’em and they believe in it, and then they become your champions. You’ve got a product that’s there for life. RR: Yeah. Well, thank you for breaking that down for us. I think, you know, sometimes with problems like these, it’s like this is such a big issue. I have no idea how I can even wrap my head around it. But just having that, what am I dealing with? Why is it an issue? Where do I wanna go? And just being able to walk through that kind of thought experiment is so helpful. KC: And don’t do it alone. Get that champion. I’m a one woman team and I have a kid, and she’s, she’s needy, so don’t do it alone. Find those champions, find those people that you know are trusted in their internal teams and have them be boots on the ground. RR: Absolutely. Aside from, you know, one week immediate, it feels like success for you guys. I’d love to know, since implementing Highspot, what. Business results have you seen, do you have any wins that you could share or accomplishments that you’re particularly proud of? KC: Yeah, our sales cycles are a little long, so it’ll be a little bit before we actually see kind of attributed revenue to things. But what I can see in looking at the data is I am seeing that people are engaging with multiple pieces of content that has never been engaged with before. We’re learning a lot from it. Primarily, I’ll say, being able to see the information from certain digital sales rooms of what customers are engaging with. And so we’re looking at those, not just the view through rates, but the multiple times viewing and the downloading. It’s giving us the ability to move faster in terms of, okay, they’re at stage one. This is what was impactful at stage one, everybody. Stage one. Let’s use these pieces of content to have these conversation. Okay, stage two, these are really helpful here and. Perfect for emea. I think without being able to present numbers quite yet, I can physically see these sales teams collaborating more and understanding what’s impactful at each stage to each customer to be able to. Streamline their conversations a little bit better to be able to have a little more outcome focused or feature focused ways of what’s important to them right now and what kind of collateral do they want to ingest at this point in the sales cycle. And I think ultimately my prediction is that this is going to help expedite the time to close of sale is because we’re going to get smarter about who cares about what. How they want to see that information. And then from there, being able to lean more into what actually moves along to a sale. Additionally, we’re from at least an internal standpoint, we’re seeing the engagement by the teams in terms of the content and how often they’re logging in. And we’ve seen a 25% increase in time spent in Highspot month over month. At this point. We know that there will be business results. But we know it’s not just about that. So we’re working our way there, but at the same time, while people are adopting it and we’re seeing that, we’re also still able to get those little learning insights that are going to help drive the business in incremental ways. And that’s been incredibly helpful to show to leadership as well, to be able to show them that they’re using the tool, customers are engaging in the tool, and we’re able to get that intel and be able to have these more fruitful conversations. And we’ll start seeing the benefits of this. The more we engage, the more we sound, the more we we dig in. RR: Well, I’m really glad to hear that you’re seeing those early wins that will over time compound into some of those things that you’re looking for, and you’re seeing those successes that you can take back and be like, look, we’re doing what we want to. It just takes a little time to build there, so we’ll have to check back with you down the line and see how things are going. I’ve just got one last question for you, which is that I’d love to know if you could share the biggest piece of advice you would have. For other marketing leaders who are looking to improve GTM efficiency and maybe find those hacky solutions for it. KC: Again, I’m not gonna blow your minds with this, but I think a lot of us tend to not engage with people so much as more as we used to when we were in offices, and I found that. People are most often, I mean, we’re always willing to talk about ourselves, right? And we most often will go to the negative of things that we are struggling with. And it really was sitting down with these either key stakeholders or these who I consider the sales team my customers. It’s really sitting down and having conversations with them. RR: Amazing. Well, I think, you know, you said it’s not mind blowing advice, but I think sometimes that’s what you need. You need the reminder that these are the things that work. Do them. Yeah. So I think that’s fantastic advice to close with. I have to say thank you so much for joining us. It has been such a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you. To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win-Win podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize anything that success with Highspot.

Send us a textDrew Bent leads Education as part of Anthropic's Beneficial Deployments. He also co-founded the tutoring non-profit Schoolhouse.world with Sal Khan. Prior to that, he wrote code at Khan Academy, taught high school math, and has been tutoring students for over a decade. Drew has degrees in physics & CS from MIT, and an education master's from Stanford.

In a couple of months, the American Association of Municipal Executives will be launching an online directory that will allow candidates to rate and review executive recruiters and recruitment firms. Under the current system, there is no mechanism or vehicle in place to give candidates a voice or to allow their concerns to be raised or addressed. By creating this directory, the AAME will be able to communicate the concerns of its members to HR directors and elected officials as they go through the RFP process and help influence their decision making process. The ultimate goal is to help create a recruitment process that compels the recruiters to treat candidates better and punish those that do not give the candidates the respect and professional courtesy they deserve. SHOW NOTES Link to fundraiser and benefit auction Facebook page for Roxton, Texas city manager Janet Wheeler. Flyer includes QR code for Venmo donations being collected by Monica Helm or you can Venmo here: @monicahelm Link to GiveSendGo fundraiser for Scott Whitaker's legal fund. He is the former town manager for Summerfield, North Carolina. AAME MEMBERSHIP: To join the American Association of Municipal Executives (AAME), sign up at this link: https://community.aame.org/ AAME JOB BOARD: The AAME has a free job board exclusively focused on executive and senior level local government recruitments. To post a job, go to: https://jobs.aame.org/ SUPPORT THE PODCAST: Subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter hosted on LinkedIn. It is called the "City Manager News & Job Board" newsletter and can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/ If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms. Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   In this episode, Justin interviews David Neikrug, CEO at Optimatum Solutions, about managing vendors of employer-sponsored healthcare and a recent Optimatum Solutions report, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. David explores with Justin the topic of applying risk management tools to HR programs and plans, an area that risk managers rarely visit. They touch on ways for risk managers to contribute at the table using the risk management skills and tools that they have applied to recognized risk areas for years.   Listen to learn about the benefits of managing benefit plan vendors.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is vendor management. We will dive deeply with Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug. [:40] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! The next Virtual RIMS-CRMP exam prep, co-hosted by Parima, will be held on September 2nd and 3rd. [:50] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED virtual workshop will be held on November 11th and 12th, and led by Joseph Mayo. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:07] RIMS Virtual Workshops! RIMS has launched a new course, “Intro to ERM for Senior Leaders.” It will be held again on November 4th and 5th and will be led by Elise Farnham. RIMS members enjoy deep discounts! [1:24] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes. [1:35] The next RIMS Webinar will be held on September 4th and will be led by AXA XL. It is titled “Lockdown & Level Up: Turn Up Your Cyber Security Game Against Creative Cyber Criminals”. [1:48] On September 18th, Origami Risk will present “Driving Better Incident and Claims Management with Data, Technology & Strategic Collaboration”. [1:56] On October 30th, Swiss Re will present “Parametric Insurance: Providing Financial Certainty in Uncertain Times”. [2:05] On November 6th, Hub will present “Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World”. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. [2:17] Mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is jam-packed with educational sessions that will resonate with risk practitioners in all stages of their careers. [2:38] See the full agenda at RIMS.org/ERM2025. [2:44] RISKWORLD 2026 will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 3rd through May 6th. RIMS members can now lock in the 2025 rate for a full conference pass to RISKWORLD 2026 when registering by September 30th. [2:58] This also lets you enjoy earlier access to the RISKWORLD hotel block. Register by September 30th, and you will also be entered to win a $500 raffle. Don't miss out on this chance to plan and score some extra perks. [3:11] The members-only registration link is in this episode's show notes. If you are not yet a member, this is the time to join us. Visit RIMS.org/membership and build your risk network with us here at RIMS. [3:26] On with the show! You wanted to hear about vendor management, and that's why I reached out to Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug, to discuss the findings in Optimatum's new report, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. [3:50] It's got some fascinating insights, and I wanted to extend the dialogue beyond the PDF, so let's get started! [3:56] Interview! David Neikrug, welcome to RIMScast! [4:07] Justin hasn't covered vendor management much on RIMScast. Justin invited David on the show to talk about Optimatum's publicly available paper, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare.” This speaks to a risk management audience. [4:28] There is a link in this episode's show notes. The average cost of healthcare in 2025 is pushing north of $25K total cost, per employee per year, and it's an outsourced function. It's a large amount of money. [5:08] HR generally doesn't have the traditional service level agreements (SLAs) or performance guarantees that are present in an IT services agreement. That's a major disconnect that leads to financial, operational, and risk issues that go unchecked. [5:44] Traditionally, we don't see risk managers getting involved in HR things like employer-sponsored healthcare. David encourages risk managers to take the tools and skills they know and apply them to HR and employer-sponsored healthcare and retirement plans. [6:23] David suggests risk managers should demand vendor transparency when it comes to fees, debits, and credits. David talks about pharmacy rebates, segregation, and how credits are captured and applied. [7:09] David says vendor harmonization can be applied vertically or horizontally. The vertical side is when a company has acquired several HR benefits and programs, and then merges them into one program. The value creation by doing that is immense. [7:56] David says horizontal harmonization applies to anybody who aggregates companies of various kinds, including family offices. Each company may have a disparate benefits plan. Bringing plans together can save hundreds to thousands of dollars per employee per year. [8:46] Those are the types of numbers Optimatum Solutions is seeing as the opportunity for a risk manager to focus on as a quantifiable value proposition of bringing 10 vendor programs into one aggregated program. [9:14] From a risk standpoint, you have a single source to manage across enterprises. [9:31] David often speaks using numbers to convey the point. He says risk managers have a wealth of information and know what they are doing. When it comes to opportunities to create value, HR is an area they're not thinking about. [10:25] David suggests surveying risk managers and asking what percentage of risk managers are focused on the HR side, employer-sponsored healthcare, and retirement plans. You'll see the opportunity is almost endless. [10:44] Quick Break for RIMS Events!  On September 18th, the 10th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will be held at The Old Post Office in Chicago. Register at ChicagoRIMS.org. [10:59] On October 1st through the 3rd, the RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held in North San Jose at the Santa Clara Marriott. The agenda is live. It looks fantastic! Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and register today! [11:15] On November 17th and 18th, elevate your ERM Program and career at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is live, and early rates are available until September 5th. Register now to save $110 and secure your spot at the ERM event of the year. [11:37] Canadian listeners, take note, that's just a little bit South of the border in British Columbia. That's a great way to extend your knowledge after the RIMS Canada Conference. Visit RIMS.org/ERM2025 to register. [11:52] At the top, Justin mentioned RISKWORLD 2026. Through September 4th, the RISKWORLD education content submission process is still open. [12:02] RIMS invites you to share your experiences, best practices, and innovative strategies that represent the global outlook of risk management. Send us your submission, and who knows? We might select you to speak at RISKWORLD 2026 in Philadelphia! The link is in the show notes. [12:20] Let's Return to My Interview with David Neikrug!  [12:42] David says the first thing to do is make sure risk managers have a seat at the table of employer-sponsored healthcare. They need to look at and understand all the terms and conditions of the contracts, looking for the low-hanging fruit. [12:55] Look for Service Level Agreements, Performance Guarantees, and Built-in Reconciliation Clauses for the vendor to provide a self-reconciliation of all the debits and credits from the plan year. Understand the contracts. [13:17] Second, make sure that you're a part of the team. Look at what you can do, bringing all the tools that you've acquired, dealing with the risk side over the years, and applying them to the HR benefits side. [13:54] For organizations of between 500 to 5,000 employees, there is ample opportunity. Those are going more unwatched than the larger organizations. The vendors aren't used to being held as accountable as they are for a Fortune 100. [14:21] David would say there isn't an organization that doesn't have an opportunity. It's a matter of focusing on it and bringing your expertise to the table to help your organization hold those vendors accountable, drive savings and performance, and create value. [14:59] David said Optimatum Solutions had a client that was a rapidly growing organization. They had acquired a company and decided to change the acquired company's vendor because they had been using a different vendor. [15:22] David mentions that Optimatum Solutions has a focus on improving or fixing relationships with vendors, versus running an RFP and finding a new vendor. It's better to fix a problem than to replace it. [15:40] Someone at the client company decided to move the pension plan business of the acquired company to a new provider. The plan was started in 1972, before the ERISA regulations on how pension plans are managed. The new vendor did no due diligence and took it over. [16:37] Within the first year, there was a claim by a retiree that the lump sum payment should have been 10 times what it was, stemming from one example in a plan document of how a benefit will be calculated. The company had to defend an $18 million potential claim. [17:11] It took three years to resolve. This taught the new vendor what the old vendor had been doing seamlessly for all those years. The former vendor knew how to deal with various situations, including payments to international employees. [17:49] The new vendor hadn't understood what they were acquiring. That led to a colossal mess. [18:10] It was an HR issue. They had a risk manager, but hadn't thought of having the risk manager at the table for this event. [18:20] A Final Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [18:40] Since 1999, Spencer has awarded over $2.9 million to create more than 570 Risk Management Internships. The Internship Grants application process is now open through October 15th, 2025. [18:56] To be eligible, risk managers must be based in the U.S., Canada, or Bermuda. A link to the Internship Grants page is in this episode's show notes. You can always visit SpencerEd.org, as well. [19:10] The Spencer 2025 Funding their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 18th, at the Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York. This year's honoree is Tim Ryan, the U.S. President of Lockton, and we look forward to having Tim join us here on RIMScast very soon. [19:29] A link to the Gala is also in this episode's show notes. Buy a ticket, enjoy a great night in the city, and support the future of risk management. [19:38] Let's Return to the Conclusion of My Interview with Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug! [19:47] Behavioral and mental health are workforce concerns and reputational risks. David says the real number is productivity. If a factory has employees out for behavioral health issues, it has to replace those employees with temporary workers while still paying them. [20:43] The total cost of unmanaged behavioral health in a workforce is not just the behavioral health medical claims, pharmacy claims, or inpatient claims; it's also the lost working hours of those employees and the replacement costs of those employees. [21:15] That's a much larger number than just the surface of behavioral and mental health. Today, all health plans have strong behavioral programs. Organizations have Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). [21:38] There are also point solutions adding a layer of a microbenefit on top of the program to ensure that employees are receiving the right care at the right time, in the right place.  [22:01] Organizations have the right tools. An employer will have all these programs, but they're disconnected. No one is bringing everyone to the table. [22:24] For a certain cost per employee per month, an EAP vendor will provide a given number of behavioral health visits. They will support the process within the traditional healthcare delivery system. Organizations can have point solutions for behavioral health. [23:00] Organizations can have these vendors at the table to understand what's going on at the organization. Are there RIFs? Are there acquisitions? Does the organization have seasonal issues driving stress? Is there an issue with the community where the organization is located? [23:20] Look at it holistically. Bring all these vendors to the table and discuss what's going on.  [23:30] In an unfortunate situation where employees are very stressed and have some sort of episode while at work, that's a material reputational risk, internally, and it may become an external issue. Most employers today have the vendors in place who can support them. [24:05] The steps are bringing the vendors to the table and managing them to ensure that they're aligned with the intended outcomes, and everyone's goal is aligned accordingly. [24:20] When you're discussing the organization with vendors, what about trade secrets, such as expansion and strategy? David says if you have the right vendor, they're about confidentiality. [24:46] If you're about to announce a Reduction in Force (RIF) or an acquisition, you will want your EAP in place to train managers to deal with employees who may be stressed. [26:01] David talks about AI risks. Ensure that when your employees are using any AI platform, you have thoroughly vetted the platforms you are allowing them to use to make sure that none of your proprietary or confidential information lands in public. [26:36] When using AI with confidential information, unless it's a closed system, you have a material risk of it being exposed. [27:02] AI is here for the future. It will change the face of every single profession. Justin assures that there will be no bots hosting or guesting on RIMScast! [27:35] David asks organizations, in the face of AI, What are you doing about it? How are you training and supporting your employees so that they can be part of the future, versus being a former employee who has been replaced due to AI? [27:54] In analytics, AI is simplifying delivery and crunching numbers like we've never seen before. These are incredible benefits for organizations in the future. [28:27] David thinks that you need internal tools to ensure that your employees are not divulging confidential information within public tools and that your vendors and their vendors are all aligned to apply the same rules for confidentiality. [29:12] David, you have been such a wonderful guest! I'm so glad that you were here to provide a little extra insight into the recent Optimatum Solutions paper, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. A link is in this episode's show notes. [29:35] At the end of the paper is David's contact information. [29:53] Special thanks again to Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug, for joining us here on RIMScast. You can find the link to A Path Not Taken, the professional report, at OptimatumSolutions.com and in this episode's show notes. [30:11] I've also got links to RIMS coverage of vendor management in this episode's show notes. [30:17] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [30:45] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [31:03] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [31:21] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [31:37] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [31:52] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at Content@RIMS.org. [32:04] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support!   Links: RIMS ERM Conference 2025 — Nov. 17‒18 The call for RISKWORLD 2026 submissions is now open! RIMS Canada 2025 — Sept. 14‒17 | Registration open! 10th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum — Sept. 18 | Registration open! RIMS Western Regional — Oct 1‒3 | Bay Area, California | Registration open! RISKWORLD 2026 — Members-only early registration! Register through Sept 30! RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation 2025 Funding Their Future Gala — Sept. 18, 2025, in NYC! Spencer Internship Program — Registration Open Through Oct. 15. RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management — Featuring Instructor James Lam! Next bi-weekly course begins Oct 9. RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy | RIMS Legislative Summit SAVE THE DATE — March 18‒19, 2026 RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute RIMS Now Optimatum Professional Report: “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare” OptimatumSolutions.com RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Lockdown & Level Up: Turn Up Your Cyber Security Game Against Creative Cyber Criminals” | Sept. 4, 2025 | Sponsored by AXA XL “Driving Better Incident and Claims Management with Data, Technology & Strategic Collaboration” | Sept. 18 | Sponsored by Origami Risk “Parametric Insurance: Providing Financial Certainty in Uncertain Times” | Oct. 30, 2025 | Sponsored by Swiss Re “Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World” | Nov. 6 | Sponsored by Hub   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — Sept 2‒3, 2025 | Presented by RIMS and PARIMA RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — November 11‒12 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Intro to ERM for Senior Leaders” | Nov. 4‒5 | Instructor: Elise Farnham See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “ERM, Retail, and Risk with Jeff Strege” “Supply and Bike Chains with Emily Buckley”   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL's New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today's Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: David Neikrug, CEO at Optimatum Solutions LLC   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

Steven Forth is the founder and CEO of Ibbaka and by far Impact Pricing's most frequent guest. He's currently developing ValueIQ, a set of agents for pricing and value advisory work that will soon be available for broader use. In this episode, Steven discusses his recent research comparing agent strategies across four major pricing software companies, explores the fundamental question of how many agents is optimal, and reveals how AI is transforming both the buying and selling process in ways most companies aren't prepared for.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Learn how the four major pricing software companies (Pros, Vendavo, Zilliant, PriceFX) approach agent development differently. Discover the key difference between role-based and task-based agent design strategies. Understand how AI will fundamentally change B2B buying processes and what that means for pricing.   "Start using AI to get a deeper understanding of how your customers are buying. Because if you don't understand how your customers are buying and buying using AI, you're not going to be able to price properly." – Steven Forth   Topics Covered:  02:07 – ValueIQ introduction: Steven's new agent platform for pricing and value advisory work  06:34 – Defining agents: The difference between true agentic AI and wrapped LLM functionality  10:49 – Sales agent complexity: Breaking down the many tasks salespeople perform and agent granularity 12:35 – Pricing agents vs. features: How to decide between individual pricing and bundling strategies  15:55 – The future of pricing models: Why "good, better, best" packaging may disappear in 2-3 years  21:05 – AI's role in B2B buying: How AI intermediaries will transform RFP processes and vendor selection  25:06 – Understanding AI-powered customers: Why companies must learn how their buyers use AI in purchasing decisions   Key Takeaways: "When I saw that PriceFX announced that it had more than 125 agents... I thought, huh, that's kind of a jaw-dropping number. I don't think I could generate 125 agents for pricing software." – Steven Forth "The role of AI in the buying process is more important than the role of AI in the sales process." – Steven Forth "You're going to be creating more content, not less. But that content is primarily going to be consumed by AIs." – Steven Forth "I think that many of the common packaging assumptions such as good, better, best are going to dissolve away over the next two or three years." – Steven Forth   Resources Mentioned: Michael Mansard's 14-factor model: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmansard/    Connect with Steven Forth: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenforth/  Email: steven@ibbaka.com   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

Send us a textJulia Stiglitz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Uplimit, an AI learning platform helping companies equip their talent with the skills of tomorrow. She previously was a Partner at GSV Ventures, where she invested and partnered with some of the most innovative entrepreneurs in edtech. Prior to GSV, Julia was one of the first hires at Coursera and led many groundbreaking initiatives, mostly notably as Vice President of Enterprise, where she founded and led Coursera's enterprise business, growing it from concept to over 1400 organizations across the globe.

How does cross-over between diverse perspectives and cultures affect project delivery, and how could it be improved? In this episode of Uncharted Conversations, Shormila and Riccardo are once again joined by fellow infrastructure experts David Ho and Melissa Di Marco. Their animated discussion explores how organizational dynamics—building teams that combine both multi-service and multinational cultures—impact the successful delivery of major programmes. Jumping directly into the action items of a project, as the client often expects, is a great dopamine hit, but is it really the best approach? The self-proclaimed industry pirates call out the drawbacks of North America's checks and balances tradition and the need for more client ownership. This episode aims the cannons at systemic assumptions and poses big questions to procurement professionals, all with the crew's uniquely provocative and playful inspection of their industry.Key Takeaways:The importance of aligning the values across a project and all its contributors;Recognizing that “meaningful teaming up” takes time;The fallout of the industry historically being so transactional and deliverable-focused;The problem with the disconnect between who bids on the project and who ultimately delivers it;How bringing client-side experts to the table could improve infrastructure projects.Quote: “I ​have ​never ​seen an ​RFP ​where ​the ​client who ​is ​asking ​for ​a ​description of ​a ​team ​is ​doing ​so ​with ​reference ​to ​a ​real ​understanding ​of ​how ​you, private ​sector ​company, ​​delineate ​​the ​function ​that's ​responsible ​for ​the ​delivery ​of ​a ​service ​from ​the ​function ​that ​is ​responsible ​for ​the ​P&​L ​from ​the ​way ​in ​which you ​have ​a ​team ​structured ​for ​a ​pursuit versus ​when ​you ​shift ​into ​execution. And ​even ​just ​that ​type ​of ​a ​description would ​be ​an ​interesting ​change ​I ​think ​for ​the ​better ​that ​would ​allow ​clients ​a ​more ​sophisticated ​understanding ​of ​how ​things ​work.” - David HoThe conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/Read Riccardo's latest at https://riccardocosentino.com/Follow David Ho: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidtho-ontario/Follow Melissa Di Marco: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-di-marco/Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/ Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and guest host Claire Zau of GSV Ventures as they unpack a huge week for AI in education, major edtech mergers, and new funding opportunities.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:00:00] Claire Zau on AI tutor memory, personalization, and data contamination risks[00:01:58] Google Guided Learning Mode vs OpenAI Study Mode – Socratic AI tools compared[00:14:07] Google Classroom integration and the personalization edge from LMS data[00:15:16] Instructure and OpenAI partnership as a counter to Google's advantages[00:25:20] GSV Summit and BETT merge to create the world's largest edtech events network[00:27:35] Acquisition roundup: Curriculum Associates, Top Hat, Alpha School, Torch[00:31:44] VR and AI content creation with Praxis Labs, Torch, and Google Genie 3Plus, special guests:[00:34:04] Derwin Sisnett, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cambiar Education and CEO of Adaptive Commons on Cambiar Education's Thrive Big Ideas Challenge[00:54:39] Dr. Alan Bekker, Co-Founder and CEO of eSelf AI on scaling AI English tutors in Israel and building guardrails[01:15:22] Andrea Pasinetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Kira on Kira Learning's approach to AI-powered STEM education

In this episode of Elixir Wizards, host Sundi Myint chats with SmartLogic engineers and fellow Wizards Dan Ivovich and Charles Suggs about the practical tooling that surrounds Elixir in a consultancy setting. We dig into how standardized dev environments, sensible scaffolding, and clear observability help teams ship quickly across many client projects without turning every app into a snowflake. Join us for a grounded tour of what's working for us today (and what we've retired), plus how we evaluate new tech (including AI) through a pragmatic, Elixir-first lens. Key topics discussed in this episode: Standardizing across projects: why consistent environments matter in consultancy work Nix (and flakes) for reproducible dev setups and faster onboarding Igniter to scaffold common patterns (auth, config, workflows) without boilerplate drift Deployment approaches: OTP releases, runtime config, and Ansible playbooks Frontend pipeline evolution: from Brunch/Webpack to esbuild + Tailwind Observability in practice: Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards Handling time-series and sensor data When Explorer can be the database Picking the right tool: Elixir where it shines, integrations where it counts Using AI with intention: code exploration, prototypes, and guardrails for IP/security Keeping quality high across multiple codebases: tests, telemetry, and sensible conventions Reducing context-switching costs with shared patterns and playbooks Links mentioned: http://smartlogic.io https://nix.dev/ https://github.com/ash-project/igniter Elixir Wizards S13E01 Igniter with Zach Daniel https://youtu.be/WM9iQlQSFg https://github.com/elixir-explorer/explorer Elixir Wizards S14E09 Explorer with Chris Grainger https://youtu.be/OqJDsCF0El0 Elixir Wizards S14E08 Nix with Norbert (Nobbz) Melzer https://youtu.be/yymUcgy4OAk https://jqlang.org/ https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep https://github.com/resources/articles/devops/ci-cd https://prometheus.io/ https://capistranorb.com/ https://ansible.com/  https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/releases.html https://brunch.io/ https://webpack.js.org/loaders/css-loader/ https://tailwindcss.com/ https://sass-lang.com/dart-sass/ https://grafana.com/ https://pragprog.com/titles/passweather/build-a-weather-station-with-elixir-and-nerves/ https://www.datadoghq.com/ https://sqlite.org/ Elixir Wizards S14E06 SDUI at Cars.com with Zack Kayser https://youtu.be/nloRcgngTk https://github.com/features/copilot https://openai.com/codex/ https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code YouTube Video: Vibe Coding TEDCO's RFP https://youtu.be/i1ncgXZJHZs Blog: https://smartlogic.io/blog/how-i-used-ai-to-vibe-code-a-website-called-for-in-tedco-rfp/ Blog: https://smartlogic.io/blog/from-vibe-to-viable-turning-ai-built-prototypes-into-market-ready-mvps/ https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/eragon-by-christopher-paolini/246801 https://tidewave.ai/ !! We Want to Hear Your Thoughts *!!* Have questions, comments, or topics you'd like us to discuss in our season recap episode? Share your thoughts with us here: https://forms.gle/Vm7mcYRFDgsqqpDC9

What if you could quote thousands of lanes in minutes, respond to shippers in under two, and still have time to grow your customer base? Let's welcome Tabi Connect's Dan Hellmann back to the show to explain how quoting automation, RFP modules, and lightning-fast rate delivery are changing the game for freight brokers and carriers! We discuss why speed is your biggest competitive advantage in today's market, how data-driven sales build trust with shippers, and why honest onboarding beats over-promising every time.  Dan covers more topics to help you automate smarter, execute flawlessly, and deliver more value than the competition, so keep tuning in!   About Dan Hellmann With a career spanning 19 years in the transportation and logistics industry, Dan Hellmann is a dynamic and results-driven leader. Currently serving as the Chief Sales Officer at Tabi Connect, he has been at the forefront of the company's success for the past 3.5 years. In this role, Dan leads sales, marketing, account management, and customer success, driving the company's growth and ensuring client satisfaction. Dan is deeply involved in industry associations, serving as a Board Member for the Logistics and Transportation Association of North America (LTNA), an active member of the Young Executive Committee for the Transportation Intermediaries Association, and serves as a Board Member for the Denver Transportation Club.  A true veteran in the brokerage field, Dan Hellmann has accumulated invaluable experience in sales leadership, P&L management, and strategy. His journey includes successfully starting up a brokerage for a former customer, steering it to an impressive $50 million in revenue. Dan brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insights to industry events. His passion for innovation, strategic thinking, and commitment to excellence make him a compelling voice in the world of transportation and logistics.   Connect with Dan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hellmann-ctb/  Email: DanH@tabiconnect.com  

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Ben Hills, Founder and CEO of Iris, to discuss how to scale presales teams effectively while avoiding burnout. They explore the difference between healthy high performance and unsustainable overwork, the role of AI in streamlining repetitive tasks like RFPs, and practical strategies for building scalable processes that enhance rather than replace human expertise. To join the show live, follow the Presales Collective's LinkedIn page or join the PSC Slack community for updates. The show is bi-weekly on Tuesdays, 8AM PT/11AM ET/4PM GMT. Follow the Hosts Connect with Jack Cochran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackcochran/ Connect with Matthew James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyoungjames/ Connect with Ben Hills: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminhills/ Links and Resources Mentioned Join Presales Collective Slack: https://www.presalescollective.com/slack Iris: https://heyiris.ai/ Timestamps 00:00 Welcome 04:04 Iris 05:14 Ben's background 14:29 Healthy high performance vs burnout 21:55 Common scaling mistakes and the headcount trap 29:14 Effective AI tools for presales teams 35:04 The future of AI-to-AI RFP processes 37:46 Final advice on embracing AI Key Topics Covered Understanding Burnout vs. High Performance Why burnout isn't just about hours worked The importance of connecting work to larger purpose and outcomes Creating time-bound periods of intense work with clear endpoints Scaling Without Adding Headcount The "mythical man month" problem in presales Building playbooks and processes before hiring Separating "in the business" vs "on the business" work The Rocks, Pebbles, Sand Framework Planning for big quarterly tasks (rocks) Managing predictable weekly activities (pebbles) Handling unexpected fire drills (sand) AI Tools That Actually Work RFP automation and response generation Call transcript analysis for product feedback Demo automation with synthetic data Why AI SDRs haven't lived up to the hype The Future of RFPs and AI Model Control Protocol (MCP) for AI-to-AI communication Maintaining personalization in automated processes The buyer's perspective on RFP proliferation  

What's really going on in freight brokerage right now? Why are rates stuck, and how should we position ourselves as brokers for the next market shift? Together with our guest today, Ken Adamo of DAT Freight & Analytics, we dig into the supply-and-demand imbalance that's keeping rates flat, the impact of tariffs and interest rates on shipper behavior, and why DAT's acquisition of Convoy's tech could change how we approach automation! Plus, the reality of cold calling in a stagnant market, how shorter RFP terms make sense right now, and why consistent service still beats chasing margin in building trust with shippers! Hear all these and more from today's episode!   About Ken Adamo Ken Adamo, Chief of Analytics and Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at DAT Freight & Analytics, leads strategy, customer engagement, and industry analysis. He played a key role in DAT's acquisition of Trucker Tools, strengthening the company's visibility solutions. A recognized expert in freight market trends, Adamo has helped customers navigate shifting conditions by translating complex data into practical insights. He has led key strategic initiatives, advanced predictive analytics, and serves as a trusted resource for industry analysts, customers, and journalists. Before DAT, he led pricing and decision science teams at FedEx, developing forecasting models to optimize decision-making and profitability. He was named a 2025 Pro to Know (Rising Stars category) by Supply & Demand Chain Executive and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and trade publications. Ken holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Akron and an MBA from The Ohio State University.   Connect with Ken Website: https://www.dat.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-adamo-8481611a/ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/dat-freight-and-analytics/  

"Innovate with us. Don't just issue an RFP—explore the art of the possible." — Dino Trevisani, Senior Vice President & Head of the Americas Region, Tata Communications In this in-depth conversation with Technology Reseller News Publisher Doug Green, Dino Trevisani outlines Tata Communications' strategy to deepen its U.S. presence by leveraging the company's expansive global infrastructure, deep industry expertise, and focus on end-to-end “digital fabric” solutions. Trevisani clarifies the scope of Tata Communications' business—often mistakenly conflated with other Tata Group companies—highlighting its capabilities across subsea fiber optic cables, cloud interconnectivity, IoT, security, customer interaction services, and live media streaming for global events such as Formula One and NFL Thursday Night Football. Looking at mid-2025 trends, Trevisani identifies three major forces shaping CIO priorities: Global supply chain and manufacturing shifts — Companies relocating or expanding operations require complex, compliant, and secure communications networks that span multiple countries. Network rationalization — Enterprises are seeking to consolidate and secure disparate networks, driving down costs and complexity. Edge computing and AI readiness — Preparing infrastructure today to support robotics, AI, and real-time applications that will demand near-100% network uptime. Trevisani's U.S. growth strategy targets companies with more than half of their operations outside the country—where Tata Communications already has dominant market presence—and those seeking to simplify complex, multinational communications environments. He stresses that the company's collaborative global leadership model and innovation-focused acquisitions position it as a proactive partner for clients facing rapid technology and market changes. The discussion also touches on opportunities in rural and underserved areas, the critical importance of subsea cables to the global economy, and the need for programmable, intelligent networks that can adapt to future technology shifts without costly infrastructure overhauls. Trevisani's advice for enterprises: fully understand your current network assets, anticipate where your market is heading, and work with innovation-minded partners to design flexible, resilient infrastructures. To learn more about Tata Communications' U.S. and global solutions, visit tatacommunications.com.

Send us a textAmir Nathoo is CEO of Outschool, a marketplace for live online classes for K-12 learners, and an advocate for expanding education access.  Previously, he led product development at Square and co-founded Trigger.io, a platform for creating native mobile apps. Amir holds an MEng in Electrical and Information Sciences from The University of Cambridge and lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.Justin Dent is the founding Executive Director of Outschool.org. Justin was previously the Founder and Executive Director of Ethos, a nonprofit that provided career education to 18,000 low-income, first generation, or minority students annually. An active voice in the dialogue around education equity, Justin's writing has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and he's appeared on Fox Business, CNBC and Cheddar.

#30: Lisa Sauve, CEO and Principal of SYNECDOCHE, joins us to reveal how her Detroit-based architecture studio won a major cultural project in a new market by pushing back against the original RFP.PS - If you're a growth-minded firm owner or leader, apply to join us inside The Studio - https://growthitect.com/studioLearn more about SYNECDOCHE: https://www.synecdoche.design/ Here's what you'll learn in the episode: → What no-portfolio strategy got SYNECDOCHE invited to pitch for a major cultural project in a brand-new market?→ The unconventional RFP move that helped them stand out, and why it flips the standard approach on its head→ Why Lisa believes your problem statement can win you work, even if your portfolio doesn't→ The surprising way architects can challenge vague RFPs without burning bridges→ The truth about how relationships actually win you projects→ How SYNECDOCHE priced a project with almost no details, and why the client still said yes→ What happens when you admit, “We've never done this before”, and still win the job→ The behind-the-scenes interview moment that tipped the scales and sealed the deal→ Why focusing on smaller scopes and radical honesty built a client relationship that lasted far beyond the project(05:04) Building trust to get invited(10:05) Estimating fees with limited info(12:08) Why architects should lead with problem-solving(16:50) How one RFP reshaped the entire program(21:04) Sizing up client-consultant fit(23:10) Talking openly about money(27:03) Planning projects in bite-sized pieces(29:42) Helping clients prep for a capital campaign(32:51) Making architecture more accessible(35:29) Embracing honesty and realigning goals(39:10) How authenticity fuels creativityGROWTHITECT RESOURCES→ Apply to join The Studio - https://growthitect.com/studio → Join thousands of architects on the free Growthitect newsletter - https://growthitect.com/join STAY CONNECTED→ Follow on LinkedIn→ Follow on Instagram→ Subscribe on YouTube→ Follow on Twitter

Send us a textKaty Knight is President and Executive Director of Siegel Family Endowment, where she leads bold, systems-focused philanthropy at the intersection of technology and society. Since 2017, she has advanced equity, flexible funding, and inquiry-driven grantmaking grounded in the scientific method, and centered on reframing big questions and learning alongside grant investments. Dr. Allison Scott is CEO of the Kapor Foundation, leading work at the intersection of racial justice and technology. She drives research, programs, and advocacy to expand equity in tech and entrepreneurship. A national PI on major CS equity grants, she also co-leads CSforCA, advancing access to K-12 computer science across California.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell as they break down a pivotal week in EdTech, from AI breakthroughs to Roblox's education push and the future of personalized learning.✨ Episode Highlights:[00:00:33] Quizlet report shows 85% of students and nearly 90% of teachers using AI, with different adoption patterns.[00:02:24] International Math Olympiad highlights AI's reasoning advances, earning a gold medal and raising assessment questions.[00:11:16] OpenAI agents and AI-native browsers signal a major shift in tech workflows and task automation.[00:16:58] Roblox launches a centralized learning hub featuring educational games from Google, Sesame, and others.[00:20:55] Pearson unveils an AI and XR innovation lab, sparking debate on whether incumbents can truly innovate.[00:29:13] U.S. Department of Education outlines new AI funding priorities for instruction, tutoring, and career navigation.[00:36:12] Preply challenges Duolingo with “Better Duo” campaign, framing human vs. AI tutoring as a key market battle.[00:37:31] McGraw Hill IPO and new funding rounds for Honor Education and Galaxy Education mark a busy week in EdTech finance.Plus, special guests:[00:39:50] Brad Carson, President of Americans for Responsible Innovation on AI policy and its impact on education.[01:04:44] Ryan Trattner, CTO and Co-Founder of StudyFetch on personalized learning tools and their rapid user growth.

Andrew Leto shares his journey from Navy veteran to successful freight entrepreneur, revealing how he built Global Tranz from zero dollars into a half-billion-dollar business by spotting opportunities in the eBay shipping market and creating an agent-based model that revolutionized LTL freight. • Starting with no money but securing prepayment from customers while getting delayed payment terms from carriers created instant working capital• The agent model allowed rapid growth by recruiting sales reps who brought their book of business for higher commissions• Building 10-4 Systems as a visibility platform that was later acquired by Trimble in 2017• Creating Emerge as a procurement platform that offers shippers a free RFP system while generating revenue from carrier participation• Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" provided the mindset foundation for success through belief and visualization• AI will transform freight by potentially eliminating 70% of current jobs while creating new opportunities• Investment strategy focuses on knowing the industry deeply and finding undervalued assets like Roadrunner• Future freight brokers will need to operate on 5-6% margins as AI creates price transparency across the marketIf you have an interest in entrepreneurship, Leto recommends reading "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, which he considers more valuable than a college degree for anyone seeking success.Follow The Freight Pod and host Andrew Silver on LinkedIn.*** This episode is brought to you by Rapido Solutions Group. I had the pleasure of working with Danny Frisco and Roberto Icaza at Coyote, as well as being a client of theirs more recently at MoLo. Their team does a great job supplying nearshore talent to brokers, carriers, and technology providers to handle any role necessary, be it customer or carrier support, back office, or tech services. Visit gorapido.com to learn more. A special thanks to our additional sponsors: Cargado – Cargado is the first platform that connects logistics companies and trucking companies that move freight into and out of Mexico. Visit cargado.com to learn more. Greenscreens.ai – Greenscreens.ai is the AI-powered pricing and market intelligence tool transforming how freight brokers price freight. Visit greenscreens.ai/freightpod today! Metafora – Metafora is a technology consulting firm that has delivered value for over a decade to brokers, shippers, carriers, private equity firms, and freight tech companies. Check them out at metafora.net. ***

Welcome back to What's New at CFI on FinPod! In this exciting episode, we're joined by Paul Barnhurst, The FP&A Guy, as he introduces CFI's brand-new course: FP&A Tool Selection.Are you an FP&A professional struggling with chaotic Excel models, disconnected reports, or overwhelmed by the sheer number of available planning tools? This course is your ultimate guide! Paul walks us through why choosing the right tool is more strategic than ever and how to navigate the exploding FP&A software market.In this episode, Paul reveals:Key signs it's time to upgrade from Excel: When do broken models, collaboration issues, and countless budget versions signal a need for a dedicated FP&A tool?Navigating the 150+ FP&A tools: Frameworks to narrow down your options based on desired functionality (spreadsheet-native vs. complete replacement), company size (small to enterprise), industry focus, and platform capabilities.The critical groundwork for tool selection: Why building robust requirements, writing a solid problem statement, and managing a rigorous RFP process are essential to avoid the "wow factor" and ensure a good fit.Paul's personal must-have productivity tools (beyond Excel!): Discover his favorite non-FP&A tools like ClickUp, ChatGPT, and Claude, and how he leverages them for productivity, research, and even devil's advocacy in decision-making.This course is a must-have for anyone evaluating new FP&A software or seeking a smarter process for optimizing their finance tech stack. Learn from the expert and make informed decisions to empower your finance career!

Send us a textVijay Thakkar is a visionary entrepreneur, educator, and the CEO & Co-founder of FotonVR. He's transforming the way children learn by bringing immersive Virtual Reality experiences into classrooms around the world. With a deep passion for innovation in education, Vijay has pioneered immersive Virtual Reality solutions designed specifically for school learning. Nisha Panchal is the Head of Global Business Development at fotonVR. With a strong focus on international business development and global expansion, Nisha plays a pivotal role in bringing fotonVR's innovative classroom technology to schools across the world.

RFP - 'The Male in the Head ' by Holland et al., discussed by Sheila Jeffreys & Julia Long.A live webinar recorded on 27th July at the WDI International Conference 2025 in London, UK.

Send us a textJoin hosts Alex Sarlin and Claire Zau, a Partner and AI Lead at GSV Ventures as they explores the latest developments in education technology, from AI agents to teacher co-pilots, talent wars, and shifts in global AI strategies. ✨ Episode Highlights [00:00:00] AI teacher co-pilots evolve into agentic workflows.[00:02:15] OpenAI launches ChatGPT Agent for autonomous tasks.[00:04:24] Meta, Google, and OpenAI escalate AI talent wars.[00:07:38] Privacy guardrails emerge for AI agent actions.[00:10:20] ChatGPT pilots “Study Together” learning mode.[00:14:40] Teens use AI as companions, sparking debate.[00:19:58] AI multiplies both positive and negative behaviors.[00:29:11] Windsurf acquisition saga shows coding disruption.[00:37:18] Teacher AI tools gain value through workflow data.[00:42:48] DeepMind's rise positions Demis Hassabis as key leader.[00:45:32] Google offers free Gemini AI plan to Indian students.[00:49:39] Meta builds massive AI data centers for digital labor. Plus, special guests: [00:52:42] Matthew Gasda, a writer and director, on how educators can rethink writing and grading in the AI era. [01:13:30] Marc Graham, founder of Spark Education AI, on using AI to personalize reading and engage reluctant readers.

In this episode of The Rainmaking Podcast, Scott Love speaks with Andy Buyting, author of Double Sales, Zero Salespeople, about how professionals in service industries can gain a competitive edge by strategically researching the competition. Andy breaks down a detailed, data-driven approach using platforms like SEMrush to analyze traffic sources, keyword effectiveness, and competitor performance—distinguishing between direct and aspirational competitors. He emphasizes the value of identifying non-branded keywords (those not tied to a specific company name) to capture inbound traffic from prospects searching for solutions to existing problems. Andy also shares compelling examples of companies that unlocked untapped markets by targeting overlooked search terms, such as “landlord insurance” or “how to write an RFP for a firetruck.” He encourages professionals to think like their prospects and align website messaging with customer fears and motivations. Key action steps include analyzing competitors, getting creative with keyword strategy (even bidding on competitor names), and refining website content to convert traffic effectively. The episode concludes with an introduction to Andy's firm, Tulip Media, which offers digital marketing and custom publishing services for professional firms. Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/z__ttxX8JZU ---------------------------------------

Today's guest is Bryan Willett, Chief Information Security Officer. Bryan discusses how organizations can shift security from a reactive compliance task to a strategic advantage by leveraging AI partnerships and transparent communication. He explains how proactive security packages and AI-driven tools streamline vendor due diligence and RFP responses, reducing bottlenecks and improving cross-team collaboration. Bryan also emphasizes the importance of evaluating vendor development hygiene and maintaining developer awareness as key components to managing evolving AI-enabled cyber threats. This episode is sponsored by Aquant. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the ‘AI in Business' podcast!

Responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) can be a powerful way to win new business—but only if it's the right opportunity. RFPs often demand considerable time, resources, and cross-functional coordination, so blindly responding to every one can lead to wasted effort, low win rates, and team burnout. Look up your RFP win rates as Scott and I question, Should You Respond to an RFP? and other magnificent musings on Episode 677 of the Winning at Selling podcast. Episode 675 with Jason Talley - Quote vs. Proposal and RFP's Our next book – The Power of Purpose by Mitch Larsonhttps://www.amazon.com/Power-Purpose-guide-discover-yours/dp/1960111280/ref=sr_1_1  Bill Hellkamp – See my LinkedIn profile and send me an invite Visit my website: http://www.reachdev.com/ Scott “Professor Plum” Plum – See my LinkedIn profile and send me an invite Visit my website: https://www.mnsales.com