Interviews

Russell, welcome to MartechHeads! Let’s kick off with your journey—how did you find your way into B2B tech marketing, and what brought you to your current role at Cresta? Thanks for having me! My marketing journey actually began in inside sales, which gave me a frontline view of how businesses make purchasing decisions. It taught me the nuances of selling to individuals within an org, which evolved into selling to markets as I transitioned into strategic marketing. From there, I held marketing leadership roles at Conga, Inkling, and Talkdesk—largely focused on demand generation. Most recently, I spent 5+ years at Gong as VP of Marketing. That was an amazing ride—helping scale the company, create the revenue intelligence category, expand internationally, and launch multiple products. Now at Cresta, I lead the entire marketing org: demand gen, product marketing, brand, corporate comms, and sales development. It’s an exciting time—especially with how fast AI is evolving. What’s your take on the current B2B martech landscape? How are AI and machine learning reshaping the game for marketers and users alike? AI and ML are fundamentally changing how we operate as marketers. They’re not just buzzwords—they’re tools that are actively reducing the heavy lifting. Copywriting, design, personalization—they’re all being accelerated with just a few well-structured prompts. We’re also seeing platforms use AI to optimize ads and website content in real time, reacting as data flows in. That kind of automation is a game changer—it frees marketers to focus more on creativity and strategy. What are the biggest challenges facing B2B marketers right now—and how do we overcome them? Attribution remains a tough nut to crack. Multi-touch attribution sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s hard to operationalize. My advice? Use attribution as a directional input, not gospel. More importantly, ask customers directly where they heard about you and add that to forms and CRM systems—it’s old school, but it works. Another major hurdle is differentiation. The market is saturated, and it’s getting harder to stand out. The best way to break through? Use your customers’ voices—highlight outcomes, lean into their success stories. And finally, building culture. High-performing marketing teams don’t happen by accident. It’s about being a people-first leader. Ask your team how they’re really doing. It’s the day-to-day human interactions—not the virtual happy hours—that build trust and culture. What advice would you give to B2B marketers looking to cut through the digital noise? How should CMOs structure their teams for success today? Be intentional with how your team operates. For example, if your executive team meets on Monday, have your team sync on Tuesday—this keeps information flowing quickly and avoids ad hoc chaos. Plan your OKRs in advance. Get leadership OKRs locked two weeks before the quarter ends so that your teams have time to align theirs properly. And remember—how you measure people determines how they behave. If someone’s goal is lead volume, they’ll chase form fills. But if they’re responsible for revenue, they’ll think like a business owner. Align KPIs accordingly to drive the outcomes you want. Looking ahead—what’s the future of AI, ML, and martech? The science of marketing is evolving rapidly with AI. We’re heading toward hyper-optimization, real-time personalization, and increasingly intelligent automation. But that doesn’t mean the art of marketing is disappearing. Creativity—original thinking, emotional resonance, storytelling—that’s not going anywhere. The future belongs to marketers who can balance both: using AI to amplify efficiency while still delivering human, meaningful experiences.

Catalina, welcome to MartechHeads! Let’s start with your background. Tell us about your journey across the martech and adtech world—and your role today at Wolt Ads. Thanks for having me! I’m Catalina Salazar, born and raised in Colombia, and I’ve spent the past 16 years navigating the global advertising landscape. I started out as a Software Engineer, then moved into digital performance marketing in Australia. That evolved into global media leadership roles with Dentsu in the UK and LATAM. After over a decade in agency life, I made the jump to tech—joining Rappi, one of LATAM’s leading super apps—where I built out their retail media solutions and launched a full-stack brand ads ecosystem, including a programmatic offering and an agency partnership program serving 100+ global brands. Now, I’m leading the global ads business at Wolt, a Finnish last-mile delivery powerhouse. At Wolt Ads, I’m focused on building scalable, high-impact adtech products that help brands and merchants connect with consumers across digital touchpoints—and drive measurable business performance. Retail media is heating up fast. What major shifts are you seeing in the space right now? Retail media is evolving at lightning speed. We’re seeing a surge in investment—not just from traditional retail players, but also from sectors like finance and health that are building media solutions on top of their rich first-party data. In a privacy-first, cookieless world, first-party data has become the new currency. But this rapid expansion is creating a fragmented landscape. For brands, it’s increasingly complex to navigate—new platforms and offerings emerge constantly, making it harder to allocate budgets with confidence. Media agencies, too, are feeling the strain—many lack the specialist resources to guide clients through this new terrain. That’s where technology has a massive opportunity: to simplify, unify, and empower brands with smart, AI-powered tools that can manage complexity and maximize ROI. With retail media becoming more prominent, how can B2B brands leverage these channels to grow? B2B brands have traditionally had limited digital advertising options—think LinkedIn, content syndication, or CRM-driven campaigns. Retail media opens up a new frontier, especially in transactional environments like marketplaces or industry-specific platforms. To succeed, B2B brands need to embrace test-and-learn. Run short pilots on emerging platforms, measure the impact, and scale what works. That agility is key. Also, take a page from the B2C playbook: blend brand-building with performance marketing. Awareness campaigns strengthen brand recognition, which boosts the effectiveness of bottom-funnel tactics. It’s not just about driving leads—it’s about creating an end-to-end experience that builds trust and drives conversion. Digital advertising is noisy—what helps brands break through? First, own your positioning at the top of the funnel. Sponsored listings, premium placements—those high-visibility spots still drive impact. At Wolt Ads, we use machine learning to ensure those top placements are hyper-personalized for relevance, improving outcomes for both brands and customers. Second, brands must stay culturally relevant. Even B2B players should pay attention to where attention is going—TikTok, Instagram, or other social-first environments. Ignoring these channels makes brands feel outdated. Embrace the risk, stay authentic, and show up where your audience spends time. Third, connect promotions and personalization. Segment your advertising and tailor offers to customer groups. Smart, consistent messaging—combined with contextual promos—can be a serious growth lever. What recent innovations in adtech and martech have caught your eye? AI is hands-down the most exciting force in digital advertising. From automating creatives to tailoring messaging for different customer segments and surfacing insights in real-time, it’s enabling a level of agility we’ve never had before. At Wolt Ads, machine learning powers our recommendations engine—matching customers to the right venues and products based on intent and behavior. CRM innovation is also moving fast. Real-time problem-solving and enhanced shopping experiences—especially through NLP—are reshaping how brands deliver service and satisfaction. And let’s not overlook Asset Management Platforms. Brands with huge SKU counts or sub-brands can’t afford inconsistencies. These tools keep messaging and visuals unified across every touchpoint, which is mission-critical in today’s fragmented landscape. Before we wrap, what does the future of retail media look like from your perspective? Retail media is the future-proof solution for a world without cookies. It enables brands to reach the right people at the right time, using real intent signals. But not every platform will win—success will come to those that offer more than just ads. Data insights, media integrations, omnichannel activations—that’s the full-stack future. At Wolt Ads, we’re building just that: a retail media ecosystem that connects in-app experiences, offline moments, and deep consumer insights. As AI continues to evolve, creative marketers will be able to craft more meaningful, personalized brand experiences using retail data as fuel. We’re just getting started—expect big things. MartechHeads Takeaway:Retail media is becoming the most powerful new channel in the marketer’s toolkit—and leaders like Catalina Salazar are showing us exactly how to harness it. From AI to asset management, personalization to promotions, the future is retail, digital, and data-rich.

Welcome, Steve! Let’s kick this off with your marketing journey—how did it all lead to your role as CMO at Paycom? Thanks! I come from the agency world originally. I spent years running my own firm, and that’s actually how I connected with Paycom over 15 years ago. Chad Richison, Paycom’s founder and co-CEO, reached out to me for a few radio spots—and we clicked immediately. What’s stuck with me since then is the power of curiosity. I’ve lived through the ups and downs of agency life, and I bring that perspective to everything I do today: take bold risks, think creatively, respect the talent in the room, and if something doesn’t work, learn fast and fail forward. That mindset is what excites me most about this role—Paycom is a brand people genuinely love, and we’ve got an incredible team focused on pushing boundaries and driving real growth. In your view, what’s broken in today’s B2B marketing and MarTech ecosystem—and what needs to change? One word: overload. There’s an explosion of tools, platforms, and data sources out there. The paradox? More options don’t always make it easier—they often make things slower and more confusing. Two big B2B missteps I see: We’re too obsessed with quick wins. But in reality, effective marketing means slowing down to speed up. Understand your buyer journey. Build trust. Respect the process. Martech should help us create meaningful experiences, not bypass them. Let’s talk AI. What role do you see it playing in modern marketing—and how should marketers approach it? I’ve had some fascinating conversations with my son—he just earned his master’s in AI and data analytics. One thing’s clear: AI isn’t going anywhere. And we shouldn’t be afraid of it—we should learn to work with it. From content generation and SEO to segmentation and analytics, AI is transforming marketing workflows. But it’s not about replacing people. I see AI as an amplifier—enhancing creativity, enabling scale, and unlocking faster decision-making. Over time, I think we’ll see humans and AI working side by side, each focused on what they do best. What core strategies or MarTech approaches have helped you lead effective marketing teams? We use many of the same tools everyone else does—it’s not the tool, it’s the timing and intent behind it. The key questions we ask: It always comes back to strategy. If you’re not starting with a measurable, insight-driven objective, the tech won’t do the heavy lifting for you. Strategy gives you focus—and focus helps you pick the right tools at the right time. With so much digital noise, how can brands cut through and truly connect with their audience? Stop trying to boil the ocean. Too many brands mistake their logo or tagline for their brand. But your brand is what people feel and say about you when you’re not in the room. Once you accept that, you start doing things differently. You stop publishing the same post on every channel. You stop chasing virality for its own sake. Instead, you get surgical. You focus on convergence—delivering the right message, through the right channel, at the right time, to the right people. And that takes real insight. Knowing your customer deeply. Taking creative risks. Trusting that resonance matters more than reach. Any career lessons or leadership philosophies you lean on? I’ve been lucky to work with some incredibly talented people who’ve shaped how I lead. I’m drawn to Jim Collins’ concept of a Level 4 leader—someone who brings out the best in others. I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room—I want to hire the smartest people into the room. And I’ve found that when you build diverse, high-caliber teams, and give them the space to lead, you unlock something special. I’m focused on significance, not just success. Building something meaningful. Creating better conditions for the next generation. That’s what drives me. Last one—what’s your take on boldness in B2B marketing today? Playing it safe is a fast track to mediocrity. If you want to stand out, you need to challenge the status quo. Try what hasn’t been tried. Be willing to ruffle a few feathers. The best B2B brands don’t follow—they lead. They’re not afraid to inject personality, emotion, and risk into their messaging. And they don’t confuse volume with value. We’re here to build something that lasts. That’s the only strategy that matters. MartechHeads Takeaway:Steve Sturges reminds us that bold marketing isn’t just a campaign—it’s a mindset. From slowing down the buyer journey to speeding up innovation through AI, his human-first, insight-led approach offers a blueprint for modern CMOs navigating a complex, noisy world.

Let’s start with your journey—how did EX.CO come to life, and how has your mission evolved over the years? EX.CO is a video technology platform purpose-built for publishers, and we’ve been on this journey for over 11 years. When we started, our focus was on creating interactive content experiences that would help publishers engage their digital audiences. Over time, we realized that video was not just the most engaging format, but also the most lucrative when it comes to monetization. With the rise of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and the growing complexities in programmatic advertising, our mission has become even more vital. We aim to be true partners to media companies—allowing them to focus on storytelling while we handle the technology that helps expand their revenue, without compromising the user experience. Today, we’re proud to be the top revenue generator for many of the world’s leading media groups. As a digital storyteller, what are five core fundamentals that should guide every B2B marketing plan? There are five fundamentals I always return to: Especially in B2B tech and media, adaptability is everything. You don’t just create a plan—you build it knowing you’ll likely need to evolve it. AI is reshaping the content landscape. How do you see it impacting content monetization and automation today—and in the near future? AI is already making waves across the media industry—enhancing ad targeting, automating auction processes, improving fraud detection, and ensuring brand safety. One of the biggest values it brings is efficiency—helping teams scale previously manual processes, from translations and editorial workflows to video content generation. At EX.CO, we acquired a company in 2022 that had developed an AI-driven recommendation engine. It’s now integrated into our video platform, helping match the most relevant video to every piece of written content. This reduces manual effort and boosts page engagement and yield. We’re also constantly exploring how AI can support video creation—making it scalable without the usual high production costs. Importantly, our goal is to support AI that enhances journalism, not replaces it, and to advocate for proper attribution when publisher content is involved in training AI models. What common mistakes are you seeing marketers make with AI-powered content and engagement strategies? The biggest misstep? Lack of authenticity. AI-generated content is everywhere now—and audiences are getting better at spotting it. You can often tell when something was written by a machine: the phrasing feels off, the tone is generic, and the human touch is missing. Ironically, imperfections often make content more engaging. So in B2B marketing, where connection and clarity matter, staying human—even with AI support—is essential. What are some standout ways you’ve seen brands successfully use AI in creative or meaningful ways? Some of my favorites have come from the food and beverage space: While these are fun and eye-catching, the deeper value will come from brands using AI to solve real problems. One standout example is Asics, who used AI to create a more inclusive vision of fitness by inviting people to upload their own workout photos. This helped teach the AI to recognize and represent a more diverse range of healthy bodies. Looking ahead 10 years, what are your top five predictions for AI in marketing technology? Great question—and if I’m being honest, in 10 years I might be letting a very advanced version of ChatGPT answer it for me! (Though today’s version still lacks a bit of creativity.) That said, here are my five thoughts: MartechHeads Takeaway:Shachar Orren’s insights underscore a critical shift: the future of content monetization and MarTech lies not just in automation, but in authenticity, strategy, and responsible innovation. As AI continues to mature, it will become a co-pilot—not a replacement—for marketers aiming to build meaningful engagement and measurable results.

Wain, great to have you with us! Tell us a bit about your background and your journey to becoming CEO at Canto. I’ve had the opportunity to help build over two dozen software companies throughout my career. I’m particularly passionate about the building phase—finding opportunities where software can be transformational in helping people achieve their goals. I initially got involved with Canto in more of an advisory capacity. But as I saw the vast potential for us to accelerate value for customers and evolve the platform, I was inspired to come on full-time as CEO last November. The DAM (Digital Asset Management) space has evolved rapidly. What’s your take on this growth, and where do you see the future headed? There’s no question that digital content creation is exploding. Most of our customers are managing exponentially more assets than they were just a few years ago. This explosion makes a strong case for purpose-built DAM platforms that go far beyond just storing files. What we’re seeing—and building toward—is a future where DAM systems become far more intelligent. AI will transform DAMs into proactive, predictive systems that help businesses anticipate content needs, automate workflows, and drive strategic decisions with greater confidence. The days of static asset libraries are behind us. We’re entering the era of smart content ecosystems. What core features do you think marketing and sales teams underutilize in DAM platforms today? One of the most underutilized—but incredibly powerful—features is collaborative functionality. Too often, DAMs are seen as digital storage lockers. In reality, they are platforms that enable real-time collaboration, streamline version control, and dramatically improve content findability. Advanced searchability, powered by metadata, tagging, and AI, can transform how teams interact with their content. When leveraged properly, DAMs can drastically speed up campaign cycles and increase overall productivity. AI is becoming central to modern marketing stacks. How do you see it shaping the future of DAMs? The combination of AI and DAM is truly exciting. AI can handle many time-consuming, repetitive tasks—automatically tagging assets, analyzing content performance, enhancing search results, and even suggesting the best assets to use based on context. Looking ahead, DAMs will become increasingly intuitive and adaptive. Imagine a DAM that understands your marketing objectives and recommends content before you even ask. That’s where we’re heading—toward intelligent systems that help marketers make better decisions, faster. Tell us more about Canto’s marketing strategy and the martech stack that powers your operations. At Canto, we take a customer-centric approach. We prioritize understanding our customers’ pain points and shaping our messaging and product development accordingly. On the martech front, we use a combination of tools across CRM, marketing automation, social media management, and analytics to track performance and inform our decisions. Naturally, our own DAM platform plays a central role—it’s where all our content lives and how we ensure consistency and efficiency across campaigns. As a tech CEO navigating current economic headwinds, what are five fundamentals you believe B2B leaders should focus on? Absolutely—challenging times demand focus and clarity. I believe the five fundamentals for B2B tech CEOs are: At Canto, these principles are embedded in our DNA. I’ve seen many teams in my career, but the passion, collaboration, and commitment of the Canto team truly stand out. It’s what keeps us moving forward, even in uncertain times. MartechHeads Takeaway:As content volumes grow and AI accelerates its role in enterprise marketing, leaders like Wain Kellum are shaping a new future for DAM platforms—one that is smarter, more collaborative, and deeply integrated into the broader marketing tech stack. The result? A future where content is not just managed but activated intelligently to drive business success.

Welcome, Mattia! Let’s begin with your marketing journey and what you’re focused on today at Hotjar. I’m currently leading the marketing team at Hotjar, where I’ve been since late 2022. My journey has taken me across B2C, marketplaces, and B2B in industries like ecommerce, mobility, retail, healthcare, and analytics. I’ve had the chance to work at global giants like adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, and Uber, as well as fast-growing startups and scaleups like Leavy and Atida. At Hotjar, I’m responsible for shaping the global marketing strategy, scaling growth, and nurturing strong, long-lasting relationships with our customers. I also work closely with our product teams to shape the roadmap and lead cross-functional initiatives. It’s an exciting space to be in, especially as we evolve our offering to meet the changing needs of digital teams. As a three-time CMO, what’s your perspective on how the role is evolving—especially in B2B tech? My experiences across industries and geographies have been incredibly formative. One thing that surprised me—in a good way—was how smooth the transition from B2C and marketplaces to B2B has been. The fundamentals of great marketing are still the same: you’re still selling to humans, still driving value through great products, and still building teams that need purpose and inspiration. That said, the expectations of CMOs are shifting rapidly. Today’s CMO must not only be creative and strategic but also deeply collaborative, especially across sales and product. Silos don’t work anymore. To generate high-quality leads and deliver great customer experiences, marketing must be aligned with every function in the business. Tell us about Hotjar’s recent AI-driven updates. How do you see AI transforming the martech space in the near future? At Hotjar, we’ve always prioritized customer empathy—putting the user at the center of every decision. This philosophy shapes how we build and improve our product. Recently, we introduced Hotjar AI, an AI-powered research assistant that helps product and marketing teams analyze survey data and user responses, then generates actionable insights in minutes. AI is starting to reshape the martech landscape—but we’re still in the early innings. Right now, marketers are using AI mostly to speed up tasks. But the real potential lies in how AI will change the way users discover, experience, and connect with brands. We’re already thinking about how to prepare for that shift. What are some powerful AI benefits that martech users often overlook or underutilize? One big opportunity lies in customer understanding. Product and marketing teams often waste time manually combing through feedback to find actionable insights. AI can dramatically accelerate that process—analyzing huge datasets, surfacing trends, and highlighting customer pain points or desires. That speed unlocks time to do what humans do best: empathize. The less time we spend on admin work, the more we can spend crafting meaningful, personalized experiences for our audiences. That’s where AI shines—not just in efficiency, but in enabling deeper human connection. If you had to define the future of B2B marketing in one vision, what would it be? The future of B2B marketing will remain rooted in customer obsession, but it will also be shaped by how well teams can evolve with emerging technology and shifting customer behavior. Success will depend on how seamlessly marketing fits into the larger ecosystem—whether that’s sales-led, product-led, or otherwise. Marketing will increasingly become the glue between teams—the force that translates product innovation into value, turns data into decisions, and builds bridges between companies and their customers. The teams that embrace both human insight and technological evolution will be the ones leading the charge. MartechHeads Insight:Mattia Santin’s approach to marketing is a timely reminder that even in an AI-first future, empathy, collaboration, and customer connection are the true differentiators. As martech becomes smarter, the most successful teams will be those that marry automation with authenticit