Building an AI Value Prop Without the AI Washing

Doug Straton, CMO of Bazaarvoice, joins Erica Seidel on The Get podcast.

You'll hear about:

• What makes an AI value prop actually defensible
• Moving from a 'selfish' AI approach, where individuals automate their own jobs, to an approach that puts the business and its processes first
• How relentless simplicity in org design wins, especially in an environment where CMOs need to defend their org investments to the Board ("Can I explain this to someone in 30 seconds?")
• The charter of the new role of 'Head of Marketing Strategy and AI Transformation' -- to make sure the processes serve the business, not the people on the team – THEN automate the process
• What it's like to go from the B2C world to the B2B SaaS world – and when to wear your 'insider' hat versus your 'outsider' hat
• A context-heavy interview approach that gets candidates to dig in and explain 'This is where I can help you'

Notable Quotes:

• “There are SaaS companies that are fully powered by engineers that have been able to design very clever solutions but have not necessarily really understood their customer. It takes years for them to figure out product market fit. They've got something that sounds like an interesting idea, but they have to test it over a very long period of time. That modus operandi is extinct."
• "Probably the biggest move I made is I put in a Director of Marketing Strategy and AI Transformation. The job spec is very much like a marketing engineer, and that person makes sure that for all the work streams that we have, there are processes built, and the processes are strong and the processes serve the business, not the people on the team. And once we know that the process is strong and it serves the business and not the team, THEN we automate it. And only then, because if you automate chaos, you'll just get automated chaos. You'll get more content, for example, if that's what you're trying to create, but it won't be any good."

00:00 Show Intro and Guest

01:20 Guitars and Woodstock

02:27 From B2C to SaaS

04:51 Staying Client Centric

07:00 AI Value Prop Strategy

12:40 Proof and Metrics

15:36 Avoiding AI Washing

21:52 Rebuilding the Org

25:08 AI Transformation Role

30:16 Hiring and Interviewing

32:31 Early Mistakes Learned

35:31 Talking to PE Boards

38:49 Wrap Up and Outro

The Get is here to drive smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing. We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today’s top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.

This season’s theme is focused on how AI is reshaping the CMO role: how you lead, how you hire, and how you get hired."

The Get’s host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.

If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money’ variety, rather than the ‘make it pretty’ variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also follow Erica on LinkedIn or sign up for her newsletter at TheConnectiveGood.com.

The Get is produced by the team at Simpler Media Productions.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy