The Get: Finding And Keeping The Best Marketing Leaders in B2B SaaS

Erica Seidel
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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. For our sixth season, we're focused on the race to reduce risk when it comes to a match between a company and a CMO. How can you find out what you need to find out – BEFORE saying yes – so that you make a match that sticks and flourishes? Join me, Erica Seidel, for The Get. You will learn a ton. The Get is a production of The Connective Good, the executive search practice focusing exclusively on recruiting the 'make money' type of marketing leaders rather than the 'make it pretty' ones. To learn more visit theconnectivegood.com. The Get is produced by Simpler Media Productions. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

  1. Oct 29

    How AI Is Reshaping the Way CMOs Lead, Hire, and Get Hired: Highlights from Season 6 of The Get

    This episode pulls the best of Season 8 of The Get into one listen, narrated by host Erica Seidel. This season, we get specific on the ways that AI is changing how CMOs lead, how they hire, and how they get hired. You’ll hear about: How to show real AI capability in a CMO interview, including doing screen-share “show and tells” and showing and defending a future org chart with both human and AI agents. You'll hear about how “I have a team that does that” won’t cut it.What boards talk about when the CMO isn’t in the room, and how CMOs should stop patting themselves on the back for one-off use cases and align to enterprise valueWhy fix a process before automating it, lest you automate chaosThe new human roles showing up in marketing orgs to ensure that AI initiatives work across GTMWhat works to move teams from AI-fearful to AI-curious to AI-embracingMoving from single-player, 'selfish' AI use to multi-player AI in environments while staying focused on governanceInterview questions for finding AI-fluent marketers, from “What did you build this weekend?” to handing a candidate an LLM output and asking what’s wrong with itAvoiding AI-washing by building defensible value props for AI productsHow to keep your footing when the FOMO emails start coming from your CEO or board To catch up on the season's highlights, start here. Then go deeper into the episodes that speak to you. 00:00 Boards Ask About AI 01:22 Season Eight Overview 02:57 Proving AI in Interviews 03:27 Hands-On CMO Mindset 04:08 Show Future Org Chart 04:26 AI-Powered Job Search 06:01 Show And Tell Expectations 06:31 From Tools To Orchestration 07:23 Communicating AI On The Job 08:13 Talking To Boards About Value 10:35 Avoiding AI Washing Value Props 12:10 New AI Transformation Roles 14:51 Hiring For AI Fluency 15:56 Testing Curiosity And Systems 17:36 Leadership Lessons With AI 18:00 Focus Process Governance Enablement 20:26 Change Management And Trust 21:58 Recenter Amid AI FOMO 22:52 Wrap Up And Where To Listen 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 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

    How AI Is Reshaping the Way CMOs Lead, Hire, and Get Hired: Highlights from Season 6 of The Get

  2. Sep 24

    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 defensibleMoving from a 'selfish' AI approach, where individuals automate their own jobs, to an approach that puts the business and its processes firstHow 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 processWhat it's like to go from the B2C world to the B2B SaaS world – and when to wear your 'insider' hat versus your 'outsider' hatA 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

    Building an AI Value Prop Without the AI Washing

  3. Sep 3

    The Anatomy Of An AI Center Of Excellence In GTM

    In this episode of The Get, host Erica Seidel talks with marketing leader Audrea Madey, who has led AI transformation at Rocket Software and previously led digital transformations at Manulife and John Hancock. You will learn about The anatomy of an AI center of excellence in GTM, and how to adapt it to your org, regardless of sizeInfusing AI into marketing at enterprise scale, including training, enabling, and optimizing'Meeting people where they are' – giving the stars the spotlight while providing the learners the coaching they needHow AI transformations are distinct from digital transformationsMetrics that balance cost savings with quality improvementHow to immediately identify someone with curiosity and systems thinking DNAAn interview tip: "Here's what Perplexity or Claude produced. What would you add to this argument?" Some memorable quotes: "AI for the sake of AI is just… beige.""If a tool sounds too good to be true, it probably is.""I've found that people will ask a third party the questions that they might feel dumb asking of their bosses or their managers.""If you can't add to the points that these LLMs are putting out, you don't have a job in the future." 00:00 Welcome to The Get 00:58 Meet Audrea Madey 01:58 Art School to Marketing 03:58 Scope and AI COE 07:23 Leading AI Change 10:04 AI vs Digital Shift 11:51 Three Pillar COE Model 17:32 New Roles and Agents 20:21 Measuring AI Impact 22:11 Hiring for AI Mindset 29:25 Building COE from Scratch 31:41 Leader Advice and Wrap 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

    The Anatomy Of An AI Center Of Excellence In GTM

  4. Aug 20

    The AI-First CMO's Guide: What to Break, What to Build, What to Bolster

    In this episode of The Get, host Erica Seidel talks with Suresh Balasubermaniam, CMO at Qualio, about how AI is reframing the CMO role and what it takes to move from a larger-company CMO seat to a smaller, faster AI-first build. You’ll hear about: Inverting the change management playbook to focus on tech before people and process, since the tech can provide great results from the startAdvice for hiring a marketing leader from a bigger company to a smaller company…and how to tell if the candidate is really ready for a smaller companyWhy it would be dangerous for a CMO -- of even a big company -- to say about AI, "Yeah, I've got a team that does that"Responding to Board members who encourage you to chase shiny AI objects: maintain your balance and stay true to your functionWhy marketing should be the catalyst for AI usage across the organization, given that marketing has the most connective tissueHow to interview someone for AI-first thinking, and for the ability to not just improve processes, but re-imagine themA question that will separate AI posers from AI natives: "What did you build last weekend?"How to encourage AI use without producing AI slop, by insisting on human insight, distillation, and measurable outcomes 00:00 Show Intro and Guest 01:17 Why Move to Qualio 03:22 Proving You Can Scale Down 05:24 AI Teammates in the Funnel 08:11 The Rise of GTM Engineer 10:20 Inverted Change Playbook 14:11 AI First Without Slop 15:27 Beating AI FOMO 19:00 Hiring for AI Fluency 19:30 Wrap Up and Takeaways 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

    The AI-First CMO's Guide: What to Break, What to Build, What to Bolster

  5. Aug 6

    Leading AI Transformation Without Losing Your Team The Global CMO's Guide

    In this episode of The Get, host Erica Seidel talks with Debbie Umbach, CMO of M-Files, about landing – and fulfilling – a CMO role in the age of AI. Debbie describes building AI capability inside a 50-person global team, from hiring to designing new roles to leading change. You will learn about: Differentiating yourself in a CMO job search, and the role of AI in thatKey things to share with boards about your AI journey: not just what you're doing but what is working well, what isn't, and how you are building AI fluency on your teamScaling AI fluency and transformation across a 50+ person marketing teamCarving out a new role: The AI GTM Transformation LeaderThe persistent importance of context and taste in the CMO roleA framework for speedily building trust as a new CMO (Hint: balance authenticity, data, and empathy)Change management tips for leading AI transformations, whether your team is big or small Some quotes: “Marketing is an ing. We're always doing things. But WHY are we doing them, and what are the outcomes we're looking for? I always am trying to get the team to think about, ‘okay, we've got these things to do, but why?’”"You can't just change for change's sake. You can't just say, 'We want to use AI to be more productive.’ Instead, it's: 'Why are we changing? How are we going to get better? How is this going to make your job better and more fun? How are you going to get to do the things that are more interesting?’" 00:00 Welcome and Season Theme 01:20 Debbie’s Origin Story 03:30 Confidence and Speaking Up 04:40 Systems Thinking for AI 06:07 Winning the CMO Search 08:27 Showing AI in Interviews 09:12 AI Training and Org Design 12:43 AI SDR Teammate Mia 14:11 GTM Transformation Lead 19:43 New Roles and Knowledge Ops 21:10 Avoiding AI Slop 24:17 Context and Positioning 29:04 Hiring Questions That Reveal 31:53 Change Management and Trust 37:00 Future of the CMO Role 38:34 Wrap Up and Credits 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

    Leading AI Transformation Without Losing Your Team The Global CMO's Guide

  6. Jul 23

    The CMO's AI Operating System For Leading Now and Landing What’s Next

    Host Erica Seidel interviews Corey McCarthy, who has held CMO roles at Axonify, Unifocus, and Webex Events, about how AI is changing CMO hiring, leadership, and team building in B2B SaaS. You'll learn about: How AI is showing up in searches for CMOs -- on both sides of the tableA simple, repeatable idea for breaking up your professional networking into bite-sized chunks that accelerate the speed of trustWays to demonstrate your AI prowess as a CMOHow someone 'in search' may actually be more up to date on AI than someone who's 'in seat' How the strongest GTM teams are going from single-player AI motions to multi-player motions – with positive impacts not just on overall GTM strategy, but on efficiency of AI spendHow a CMO's value lies in orchestrating processes, systems, tools, data, and executive alignment with strong AI governance to avoid brand dilution, duplicated work, and runaway token costs How CMOs should approach team-building now that AI agents have joined the org 00:00 Welcome and AI focus 00:57 52 coffees networking 03:07 Career path and fun fact 04:53 In seat vs in search 06:05 AI job search system 08:07 Network plus dashboards 11:24 Proving AI leadership 14:19 Governance and token costs 16:39 Team building with AI 19:28 Recruiter advice for CMOs 21:13 Future of the CMO 22:54 Favorite interview question 24:51 How to answer AI questions 28:44 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

    The CMO's AI Operating System For Leading Now and Landing What’s Next

  7. Jul 9

    How CMOs Go Wrong Talking To Their Boards About AI… And How To Get It Right

    Joe Sawyer, CMO of Flashpoint, joins Erica to share his experience and advice for how CMOs can talk with their Boards about their AI initiatives and their ROI. You'll hear about: How getting the AI dialogue right with your Board can help you overcome some of the problematic ways that CMOs have communicated with Boards in the pastAnticipating the questions your Board will ask about your AI initiativesHow Joe narrowed down from 20+ potential AI use cases to the few to differentially invest in that would have profound valueWhy CMOs should avoid name-dropping consultants and tools, since that reinforces the perception of marketing as a function focused on activity rather than outcomesHow Joe approached a presentation on AI in GTM to a group of PE portfolio company CEOsHow to embrace "productive disappointment"What actually moves a team from AI-curious to AI-operationalA maturity model for assessing a potential new hire's fluency with AI Some quotes: "We tried to look at things through a different view, which was not just what are all the things we could be doing, but what would our board value most?""Take a step back and say, 'What are boards talking about with respect to AI when the CMO is not in the room?' Generally, I would argue they're talking about enterprise value and what's the impact of AI on the company's enterprise value. When you show up as the CMO, they're looking at the levers you control that positively impact the way AI can influence the company's enterprise value."" CMOs can be high-fiving each other over their use cases, but boards are worried about enterprise value… and survival." Bonus Playlist: Joe is not only a seasoned CMO, he's a seasoned DJ! He's created a companion playlist on Spotify. CMO's Essential Summer Playlist AI disruption and board expectations getting you down? Ten songs to restore perspective, lower your blood pressure, and remind you that not every problem requires a framework 00:00 Show Intro and Theme 00:37 Meet Joe Sawyer 01:25 Fun Fact DJ Dreams 03:07 AI Journey to CEO Summit 05:21 Inbound Conversion Win 06:28 MQL Experiment Lessons 08:15 What CEOs Asked 09:08 What Boards Want 10:20 Inside vs Outside Voice 13:18 Board Perceptions and Budget 15:26 AI as CMO Opportunity 16:36 Driving Team Adoption 19:23 AI Maturity Framework 21:00 Hiring and AI Work Samples 23:07 Best Day Interview Question 24:33 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

    How CMOs Go Wrong Talking To Their Boards About AI… And How To Get It Right

  8. 11/06/2025

    Winning the Bigger CMO Mandate: Insights From Hundreds of B2B SaaS Marketing Leaders

    When you look at the CMO role across hundreds of B2B tech companies, what themes emerge these days? In this episode of The Get podcast, host Erica Seidel talks with Matt Selheimer, VP and Research Director for B2B Marketing Executives at Forrester.  You'll hear about the top themes that have emerged in The Get this season. And you'll get a sneak peek at new Forrester research dedicated to CMOs.  Learn about: How to classify marketing leadership roles: is the CEO looking for a supporter, a promoter, a partner, or a driver? How changes in tech and buying behavior can be a catalyst for marketing leaders to claim a broader role and bigger budget Advice to CEOs who have failed at hiring CMOsHow CMOs who create a continuous learning organization are the ones who will be the most successfulWhy marketing leaders need to get beyond "polishing the pebbles on in-market intent signals" and instead invest to be the preferred vendor earlier on, to avoid being used as negotiating leverage against the preferred vendorHow increasingly, "your understanding of your buyers, your customers, and the markets you're operating in is your competitive differentiator"Why so few CMOs are at the point of firing whole teams in favor of AI How to avoid 're-org fatigue' while still responding to changing buyer behaviors  Memorable Quote: "What I tell our clients, and CMOs in transition, is: make sure there's a really good fit here for the purpose of marketing. That what you see as the purpose of marketing and what your CEO and the board see as the purpose of marketing is aligned. If you need to do education, that's the time to do the education… and expand the aperture of how they think about marketing. If you don't get the CEO resonating with that, then that may not be the place that you want to go join, as an example. But if you are already in a function, already in a company as a CMO, what we're telling all of our clients is, now's a great time to recalibrate the purpose of marketing." 00:00 Introduction to The Get Podcast 00:17 Guest Introduction: Matt Selheimer from Forrester 01:32 High-Level Themes in SaaS Marketing 01:46 AI's Role in B2B Buying 02:16 Disciplined Experimentation in Marketing 03:03 Resurgence of Brand and PR Roles 03:32 Matt Selheimer's Background and Fun Fact 06:33 In-Depth Discussion on AI and Generational Shifts 10:05 The Importance of Testing and Experimentation 13:25 The Role of Brand in Modern Marketing 17:22 Advice for CEOs on Hiring CMOs 27:29 Marketing Organizational Design 36:09 Favorite Interview Question 37:25 Conclusion and Closing Remarks 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 how SaaS marketing organizations are changing — in both seismic and subtle ways.  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

    Winning the Bigger CMO Mandate: Insights From Hundreds of B2B SaaS Marketing Leaders
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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. For our sixth season, we're focused on the race to reduce risk when it comes to a match between a company and a CMO. How can you find out what you need to find out – BEFORE saying yes – so that you make a match that sticks and flourishes? Join me, Erica Seidel, for The Get. You will learn a ton. The Get is a production of The Connective Good, the executive search practice focusing exclusively on recruiting the 'make money' type of marketing leaders rather than the 'make it pretty' ones. To learn more visit theconnectivegood.com. The Get is produced by Simpler Media Productions. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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