Spark of Ages

Rajiv Parikh
  • 5.0 (14)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

The Spark of Ages podcast is about the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence through a marketing lens.  We are living in the middle of the most important "spark for the ages".   Our episodes are either about looking back to teach us what we can learn for this moment, or looking forward for where the next spark might be.We highlight the stories from business leaders at the intersection of marketing, technology and innovation.

  1. APR 25

    Future of Work: How Humans & Agents Will Coexist/Neil Shepherd, Amit Malhotra - Tasks, Tyrants, Org Charts ~ Spark of Ages Ep 62

    Rajiv sits down with Neil Sheperd (formerly Cohere, Scale AI, BCG, McKinsey) and Amit Malhotra (formerly buybuy Baby, 1-800-Contacts) to get brutally specific about how humans and Agentic AI will coexist in the future workplace.  They discuss how AI changes tasks first and why the shock may hit high-skill jobs sooner than most people expect. We debate agent guardrails, attention economics in B2B marketing, and the leadership skills that still matter when execution gets automated. • AI replacing tasks before whole jobs • Why high-paid cognitive work can be disrupted fast • What makes agentic AI different from expert systems • Enterprise mistakes like boxing work into factory tasks • B2B marketing when content gets commoditized • Brand trust as a shortcut for scarce attention • Guardrails to prevent KPI chasing and hidden technical debt • Using tight use cases and human-in-the-loop verification • American Dream Index and AI as an inequality accelerant • Lessons from imperial governance for decentralized autonomy • How org charts tighten while individuals become “IC++” with agents • Clear intent-driven orders as the new management skill AI isn’t waiting politely at the edges of the org chart. It’s already taking tasks, and the uncomfortable twist is that high-skill, high-wage work may feel the impact sooner because the cost arbitrage is impossible to ignore. From Park City during our Growth Marketing Summit, we gather for a roundtable on the future of human work, enterprise adoption of AI, and what this acceleration means for leaders trying to stay useful and humane at the same time. We talk agentic AI beyond the demo: where it actually lands in real companies, why “optimize the KPI” can become a Trojan horse that piles up technical debt, and how to design guardrails when agents move faster than any human can audit. We also dig into B2B marketing strategy as the cost of content trends toward zero, making attention, trust, and brand credibility the real battleground for growth. Neil shares what he’s building with the American Dream Index and why affordability data matters when AI can widen inequality. Amit brings lessons from past tech cycles plus a surprising angle from imperial history on decentralized governance, autonomy, and scope creep. We end with what leadership looks like in 2026: clear intent, better judgment, and teams that include both people and AI agents. Neil Shepherd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilshep/ Neil Shepherd, Neil is the Founder of the American Dream Index.  A seasoned growth executive with 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley, he most recently served as the VP of Growth at Cohere, and has led marketing and digital strategy at organizations like BCG, ScaleAI, PayPal, and McKinsey. Neil is an expert in product-led growth, data science, and leveraging generative AI, where he helps companies scale their revenue and user acquisition. Amit Malhotra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitx/ Amit Malhotra is a Private Equity Operating Advisor and technology builder. With over two decades of experience at the intersection of AI, digital transformation, and business growth, he has led massive turnarounds and rebuilt technology stacks from scratch for major brands like buybuyBABY and 1-800 Contacts. Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    1h 2m

  2. APR 13

    Brand & Demand: The Marketing-Sales Marriage/Randi Barshack, Nicole Fuselier - Alignment, MQLs, Creativity ~ Spark of Ages Ep 61

    We break down what great B2B marketing looks like when creative storytelling meets revenue discipline and tighter sales alignment. Randi Barshack (CMO at Dusty Robotics)and Nicole Fuselier (VP of Demand and Growth at SambNova Systems) share how they measure what matters, build trust across teams, and use AI without giving up human judgment. • creativity plus process as the core of great marketing • “vitamin vs painkiller” framing for product market fit • sales and marketing alignment built on shared definitions and consistency • moving beyond MQL volume toward pipeline quality and true hand raisers • raising the bar with fit-and-intent scoring and later-stage intent signals • brand storytelling that stays authentic for skeptical buyers using customer proof • managing BDR and inside sales feedback loops to improve targeting and messaging • vanity metrics to remove from board decks and brand metrics to defend like share of voice • AI marketing debates on autonomy, fact-checking, and personalization done well • navigating outreach noise with credibility, social channels, and in-person touch Brand or demand gen? Creative or metrics? Most B2B marketing teams get trapped in false choices, then wonder why pipeline feels inflated and trust feels thin. We sit down with Randy Barshack and Nicole Fuselier to talk through the real work: blending sharp storytelling with revenue marketing rigor so sales and marketing win together. We dig into the “vitamin vs painkiller” test for product market fit, what alignment actually looks like when definitions spark conflict, and how to move past MQL obsession without losing operational control. Nicole lays out the first step toward a pipeline-first mindset, how she thinks about hand raisers, and why later-stage intent signals can be more honest than early-stage volume. Randy shares how authentic customer-led storytelling wins skeptical buyers, plus practical ways to keep creative work grounded in performance metrics. Then we pressure-test hot AI marketing predictions: autonomous marketing without humans, hyper-personalization, and a future where procurement filters block cold outreach. The takeaway is not anti-AI, it is pro-accountability: use AI to move faster, personalize smarter, and iterate more, but keep humans responsible for facts, taste, and the “edge” that makes marketing memorable. Randi Barshack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randi-barshack-431a72 Randi Barshack is the Chief Marketing Officer at Dusty Robotics, where they are bringing autonomous robotic layout technology to the construction industry. A 5x CMO, she has guided companies through five major exits representing over $1 billion in value, including acquisitions by IBM, Intel, Appen, Everbridge, and Adobe. Randi is an expert in category creation across nascent spaces like Human-in-the-Loop AI and physical robotics Nicole Fuselier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsiegalfuselier Nicole Siegal Fuselier is the VP of Demand and Growth at SambaNova Systems, a company revolutionizing enterprise AI infrastructure and agentic AI. Proudly calling herself a "Revenue Marketer," Nicole has built and led globally scaled teams through multiple acquisitions and IPOs at companies like Matterport, Magento, and Wurl, while also spending over a deca Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    56 min

  3. MAR 30

    From API Economy to Agent Economy/Oren Michels - Barndoor AI, OpenClaw, Agentic Governance ~ Spark of Ages Ep 60

    Rajiv talks with Oren Michels about why enterprise AI ROI stalls when tools live in chat and stay stuck in read-only mode. We break down how a control plane for AI agents enables safe write access across SaaS and internal systems while keeping governance tight. • chat interfaces working for developers but not for most business roles • connectivity and trust as the core blockers to enterprise AI adoption • one control plane to manage many AI models and agent tools • task-level guardrails that limit what each agent can do • a concrete write-access workflow across Google Sheets, email, and Salesforce • scaling protections like rate limiting, token spend controls, and activity logs • MCP as a way to expose a safe subset of API capabilities to an LLM • least privilege for agents with gradual permission expansion over time • moving from identity-based access to intent and context-based policies • Venn.ai as a single-user on-ramp to governed automation • Broadway business history in the Spark Tank and why creative structure matters • lessons from selling Mashery to Intel and operating inside a zero-failure culture • founder advice on execution and choosing co-founders wisely AI looks magical in a demo, then it hits the enterprise and the ROI mysteriously evaporates. The gap is not model quality, it is operations: most companies trap AI in chat, strip away connectivity, and keep it read-only because write access feels too risky. That is how you end up with polished summaries instead of real work getting done. We sit down with Oren Michels, founder of Barndoor AI and former CEO of API management pioneer Mashery (acquired by Intel), to unpack what it takes to run an agentic workforce safely. We dig into the idea of an enterprise AI control plane that lets teams pick the best agents and models while centralizing governance, visibility, and policy. Oren shares why “least privilege” matters more for probabilistic AI agents than it does for trusted humans, how Model Context Protocol (MCP) can expose safe tool capabilities, and why CISOs want governance outside of the AI vendor’s app. You will also hear concrete examples of high-ROI write access workflows, like pulling context from Gmail and Google Sheets, checking Salesforce, updating records, and drafting follow-ups in minutes. We explore scaling issues such as rate limiting, LLM token spend, and audit logs, plus a crucial architectural shift from identity-based access (“who are you”) to intent-based access (“what are you trying to do”). Oren also explains why Venn.ai exists as a lower-risk way to build trust with agentic automation before the full enterprise rollout. If you like practical enterprise AI, AI governance, security for AI agents, and real agentic workflows that move the business forward, subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review so more builders can find the show. Oren Michels: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omichels/ Oren Michels is the Co-founder and CEO of Barndoor AI, a company building the control plane for agentic AI to safely manage and govern how AI agents interact with corporate systems. Previously, Oren co-founded Mashery in 2006, serving as CEO until the company was acquired by Intel in 2013. A true multi-hyphenate with an Electrical Engineering degree from MIT, Oren is also a Tony-nominated Broadway and Off-Bro Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    51 min

  4. MAR 13

    SaaS Isn't Dying. Bad Deals Are/Ankur Srivastava, Priya Ramachandran - Flywl, Cloud Procurement, SaaS-pocalypse ~ Spark of Ages Ep 59

    We unpack why the “SaaS-Pocalypse” is less about software dying and more about buyers finally right sizing cloud and marketplace deals with better data. We dig into AI unit economics, token driven cost volatility, and how procurement, FinOps, and venture capital are being rewritten in real time. • Flywl as a cloud meta marketplace across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud • Buyer pain and buyer empathy as the product design center • Why AI inference costs make traditional FinOps reactive • Treating a marketplace purchase as a transaction lifecycle asset • Real time consumption tracking, alerts, and contract renegotiation timing • Outcome based pricing challenges with token variability and agentic workflows • Revenue recognition uncertainty in consumption and outcome models • Why humans still matter in go to market despite AI agents • The data cleanup problem in procurement and the need for universal product IDs • Why enterprises are not rushing to build all SaaS internally with AI • 2026 VC dynamics, mega rounds, capital concentration, and what counts as real recurring revenue “SaaS-Pocalypse” makes for a great headline, but the real shockwave is quieter and more disruptive: enterprise buyers finally understand their cloud environment well enough to demand better deals, better governance, and real proof of value. We sit down for a roundtable on cloud marketplaces, AI unit economics, and the new reality of software procurement where a purchase is no longer a static line item, it’s a living asset you have to monitor, benchmark, and continuously right size. Ankur Srivastava, CEO and founder of Flywl, explains why he built a cloud meta marketplace to unify buying and selling across AWS Marketplace, Azure, and Google Cloud and why “buyer empathy” is the only way to fix a broken procurement playbook. Priya Ramachandran, founder and managing partner at Foster Ventures, connects the dots from operator experience to investing, and breaks down why traditional FinOps can’t keep up with AI inference costs, token volatility, and outcome-based pricing models like per ticket resolved. Then we zoom out to the 2026 venture capital environment: mega rounds, capital concentration, and the debate over whether AI-native efficiency makes old funding assumptions obsolete. Along the way, we tackle an agentic economy question: when algorithms negotiate with algorithms, what happens to trust, brand, and human relationships in go to market? Ankur Srivastava: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankursrivas/ Ankur Srivastava is the CEO and Founder of Flywl, the world's first cloud meta-marketplace transforming how enterprises buy and sell software across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Previously, he was an elite sales leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he spent five years as Head of Field and Customer Business Development for the AWS Marketplace. Priya Ramachandran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivapriyaramachandran/ Priya Ramachandran is the Founder and Managing Partner at Foster Ventures, an early-stage VC firm she built from the ground up to act as the "startup of the VC world". She is an operator-turned-investor with significant experience building and scaling products at companies like Coupa Software, BetterCloud, and Intel. Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    55 min

  5. FEB 28

    The Data Moat: A Google Veteran's Investment Thesis for AI/David Yakobovitch ~ Spark of Ages Ep 58

    We chart how AI leapt from chat to code, why product is now the leverage point, and how startups can market to algorithms without losing trust. David Yakobovitch shares hard-won views on moats, data, defense tech, and the immigrant energy powering American dynamism. • leaders and market share across Google, OpenAI, Anthropic • vibe coding benefits, code quality risks, review loops • prompt libraries, agent swarms, PRD automation • weekly shipping pace and the SaaS squeeze • marketing to algorithms, buyer agents, bot traffic control • pilot to production gap, rise of forward-deployed engineers • moats beyond models via domain, workflow, and proprietary data • China’s progress, open source, and on-device AI bets • defense tech, swarms, and physical AI opportunities • endurance mindset, yoga discipline, and founder stamina • personal workflows across Gemini, Claude, and OpenAI • investing across seed and growth with outcome focus The model wars aren’t theoretical anymore—they’re shaping how software gets built, shipped, and sold. We sit down with David Yakobovitch, GP at Data Power Capital and former global product lead at Google, to map where AI is actually working in 2026: vibe coding that shrinks teams, agent swarms that harden quality, and product-led moats that outlast model churn. David pulls back the curtain on how Claude, OpenAI, and Google now compete neck and neck on code and content, why prompt engineering as a job vanished while prompts became more valuable, and how forward-deployed engineers bridge the stubborn pilot-to-production gap that has haunted data projects for a decade. We explore go-to-market in a world where buyer agents screen your pitch before a human blinks. That means structuring materials for machines, tuning sites for humans and crawlers, and building demos that agents can evaluate safely. We also go into what happens as models commoditize: the moat shifts to domain depth, proprietary offline data, secure connectors, and measurable workflow outcomes. From small language models running on CPUs in air‑gapped containers to Apple’s on-device bet, the edge is back—especially for Europe’s sovereignty demands and public sector buyers. Then we widen the lens. Defense and “physical AI” blend hardware and autonomy: swarms, hypersonics, and resilient edge compute that must perform in the real world. David shares why he’s backing both the silicon and the software, and how American dynamism—powered by immigrants and impatient builders—remains a durable advantage. Along the way, we trade notes on multi-model workflows, open source momentum, China’s narrowed gap, and the endurance mindset that carries teams through the disappointment dip after the first shiny demo. David Yakoboitch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidyakobovitch/ David Yakobovitch is a General Partner and Managing Director of DataPower Capital, a New York City-based venture capital firm investing across Applied AI, Inference Infrastructure, and DeepTech.  With a portfolio of over 36 companies, David is an investor in the most defining frontier technology firms of our era, including OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Neuralink, DataBricks, Groq, Cruesoe, Anduril and SpaceX. David is a leading voice as the host of HumAIn, a podcast focused on Applied and Responsible AI.  Previously, David served as a Global Product Lead a Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    59 min

  6. FEB 13

    The Science Behind When Customers Decide to Buy/Patrick Renvoise - Brains, System 1, Value Prop ~ Spark of Ages Ep 57

    We explore how real decisions start in the primal brain and how neuromarketing turns that insight into practical steps to capture, convince, and close. Patrick Rénvoisé shares the six stimuli, the Neuromap method, and how to sell with contrast, proof, and story in a world shaped by AI and deepfakes. • defining neuromarketing and the brain’s buy button • six stimuli that drive attention and action • the four steps: diagnose, differentiate, demonstrate, deliver • financial, strategic and personal value with proofs • visuals, props and seven‑second stories • memory design: strong openings and endings • good friction early, ease at decision • AI agents, deepfakes and trust building • examples from Apple and service guarantees • website first view: show the pain and the relief Ever wonder why a rock‑solid value prop still gets a lukewarm yes? We go straight to the source—the brain—and unpack how decisions really happen. Patrick Rénvoise, co‑founder of SalesBrain (and architect of the award‑winning Neuromap) joins us to break down the biological buy button and the exact steps to reach it without gimmicks or hype. We dig into the six primal stimuli that cut through noise—personal, contrastable, tangible, memorable, visual, emotional—and show how to turn them into actions your team can use today. Patrick walks us through a four‑step persuasion method: diagnose the pain your buyer actually feels, differentiate with an “only” claim, demonstrate the gain with numbers and risk‑reversal, and deliver the story that the primal brain can grasp in seven seconds. Along the way, we map value into three buckets—financial, strategic, and personal—and pair each with the right proof, from customer cases to demonstrations that make promises real. The conversation stretches beyond tactics. We examine mirror neurons and authentic empathy in sales, why fairness can override economic sense in negotiations, and how to design “good friction” that encodes memory before you remove barriers to buy. We also confront the agentic AI era and deepfakes: if seeing isn’t believing and algorithms don’t feel, how do we build trust and make messages stick? Expect concrete examples, from Domino’s guarantees to Apple’s evolving story, plus website advice you can deploy immediately—lead with pain and the contrast of relief so your offer lands fast. Patrick Renvoise: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickrenvoise/ Patrick Renvoisé, the Co-Founder and Chief Neuromarketing Officer of SalesBrain, the world's first neuromarketing agency. Having trained over 200,000 executives worldwide, Patrick helps companies scientifically capture, convince, and close more business by targeting the true decision-maker: the brain.  Patrick is the architect of the NeuroMap™, an award-winning model of persuasion based on the "Primal Brain" (or System 1) discovered by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman. Before pioneering the field of Neuromarketing, he managed multi-million dollar supercomputer transactions at Silicon Graphics and LinuxCare, closing complex deals in excess of $100 million. Patrick holds a Master's in Computer Science from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon. Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    57 min

  7. JAN 30

    The 100% Open Rate: How Gifting Cuts Through Noise/Kris Rudeegraap - Sendoso, Curiosity, HITL ~ Spark of Ages Ep 56

    We explore how intelligent gifting breaks through AI-filtered inboxes, using psychology, data, and timing to earn real conversations and long-term loyalty. Kris Rudeegraap of Sendoso shares playbooks for stage-based sends, retention strategies, and staying human in an agentic future. • reciprocity, curiosity and tangible novelty driving attention • AI-assisted personalization for interests, timing and delivery channel • stage-based guardrails that unlock premium sends mid-funnel • timely low-cost sends outperforming expensive but irrelevant gifts • CAC, velocity and opportunity cost framing for ROI • shifting marketing metrics toward revenue and NRR • proving value when users never log into your app • human-in-the-loop creativity to avoid AI cringe • retention and expansion use cases for customer success A box at your door still beats the smartest subject line, sparks genuine conversations, and accelerates pipeline without feeling transactional. Kris blends a decade of logistics, a modern data engine, and a human-first ethos to explain why clever, timely sends often outperform expensive swag—and how to scale that tastefulness with AI. We dig into the psychology behind physical sending—reciprocity, curiosity, and the emotional lift of a tangible, personalized moment—and translate it into practical plays for sales, marketing, and customer success. You’ll hear how stage-based guardrails in your CRM can unlock premium sends mid-funnel, why delivery confidence (home versus office) matters post‑COVID, and how small, useful gestures—like a rideshare credit on conference day—drive replies that mass email can’t. Kris also shares how Sendoso is evolving from pure logistics to a data-rich recommendation layer that helps teams decide what to send, when to send, and where to deliver. We also explore the agentic future: AI agents summarizing inboxes, go‑to‑market engineers orchestrating workflows, and the reality that a human still signs the contract. Kris offers a candid view on pricing models, proving ROI when users never log into your app, and why NRR and expansion deserve a bigger share of marketing’s attention. If you’re ready to replace noise with nuance—earning meetings faster and strengthening renewals through meaningful touchpoints—this conversation gives you the framework and the guardrails to do it right. Kris Rudeegraap:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudeegraap/ Kris Rudeegraap, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sendoso, the leading Direct Mail and Gifting Platform which has seen over $250M+ spent on the platform globally.  A self-described "Sales CEO" who is redefining how B2B companies cut through the digital noise to build authentic relationships,  Before founding Sendoso, he was a top-performing Account Executive at Talkdesk and a founding team member at Piqora.  Kris is a California native, an alumnus of California State University, Chico and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    49 min

  8. JAN 16

    What to Expect from Agentic AI (aka 2026 Predictions)/Jon Miller, Ashish Aggarwal - B2A, Payments, AI Stack ~ Spark of Ages Ep 55

    Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/ Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/ Sandeep Parikh: https://www.instagram.com/sandeepparikh/ Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

    58 min
See All (62)

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

The Spark of Ages podcast is about the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence through a marketing lens.  We are living in the middle of the most important "spark for the ages".   Our episodes are either about looking back to teach us what we can learn for this moment, or looking forward for where the next spark might be.We highlight the stories from business leaders at the intersection of marketing, technology and innovation.

Information

  • Creator
    Rajiv Parikh
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    62
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Spark of Ages
  • Show Website
    Spark of Ages