The Emblazers Show

Emblaze
  • 5.0 (21)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

The Emblazers is your inside track to bold ideas and sharp insights for B2B revenue growth. Hosted by Abby Kerr with resident expert Tim Riesterer, you’ll hear thought leaders, analysts, and practitioners in laid-back, engaging conversations on trending themes shaping sales, enablement, and customer experience. Perfect for leaders like you who love talking shop.

  1. 1d ago

    Three New Sales Studies That Challenge the Playbook

    What if AI is helping sales reps sound more prepared while making them less adaptable in the moments that matter? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Dr. Leff Bonney, Founder and Director of the Florida State University Sales Institute, about new research on AI, adaptive selling, and the financial value of a sales organization. Dr. Bonney explains the risk of “cognitive surrender,” where sellers accept AI-generated recommendations without applying their own judgment. He shares why simple prompts can make sellers rigid, and how asking AI to map possible scenarios and responses can help them prepare for the unexpected instead. The conversation also explores why top-performing sellers do not rely on one sales methodology. Dr. Bonney breaks down how the right sales approach changes with a rep’s experience level and the customer situation, from product-focused selling for newer reps to perspective and vision selling for more experienced sellers. Finally, he explains why revenue alone does not equal value, and why sales leaders need to account for margin, customer churn, and rep retention when evaluating performance. Tune in to learn: How AI can help frontline managers become better coaches and people leaders Why manager-seller conversations are an untapped source of performance data How organizations can scale consistent, outcome-driven sales coaching with AI   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (01:42) Meet Dr. Leff Bonney, Founder of the Florida State University Sales Institute  (03:45) How cognitive surrender to AI can weaken seller judgment (07:39) Why younger sellers may be more likely to follow bad AI advice (09:23) How AI can make sellers less adaptable when customer conversations change (10:46) Using AI for contingency planning instead of one prescribed answer (13:21) Why top sellers adapt their sales approach to the situation (18:24) How sales strategies and win rates change as sellers develop (22:31) How AI can help sellers choose the right sales strategy for each deal (27:14) Why hitting the number does not always mean creating business value (32:48) Measuring seller value through margin, customer retention, and rep retention (38:43) Why AI and ideal customer profiles should optimize for long-term value (40:20) The seller skill connecting all three studies: judgment   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Dr. Leff Bonney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leff-bonney-03b63452/ Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Dr. Leff Bonney As Founder and Director of the Florida State University Sales Institute, Dr. Leff Bonney is a sales researcher and educator focused on helping organizations improve sales effectiveness through evidence-based strategy. His work examines how salespeople develop, how they adapt their approach to different customer situations, and how organizations can use AI without weakening seller judgment. Through research with sales organizations, Dr. Bonney helps leaders rethink traditional performance metrics, build more effective sales development programs, and create systems that prioritize long-term customer and business value.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    Three New Sales Studies That Challenge the Playbook

  2. Sep 8

    AI Won’t Replace Sales Managers. It Will Reveal Them.

    How can organizations use AI to help frontline sales managers spend less time analyzing data and more time leading their people? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Brian Trautschold, co-founder and COO of Ambition, about how AI is transforming sales management and coaching. Brian explains why frontline managers have long been expected to serve as sellers, data analysts, strategists, and coaches without receiving the tools or support they need. He shares how AI agents can reduce this constant context switching by analyzing performance data, preparing managers for conversations, and identifying the topics that need attention. The conversation also explores the untapped value within manager-seller conversations. Brian discusses how recording, transcribing, and analyzing coaching rituals can help organizations understand what their best managers do differently, improve follow-through, and create more consistent coaching experiences. He also explains why disconnected AI use can lead to inconsistent management and why AI workflows should be guided by company standards, proven methodologies, and performance outcomes. Tune in to learn: How AI can help frontline managers become better coaches and people leaders Why manager-seller conversations are an untapped source of performance data How organizations can scale consistent, outcome-driven sales coaching with AI   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (01:15) Meet Brian Trautschold, Co-Founder and COO of Ambition (02:21) The current state of sales management and why managers are under-supported (04:32) How AI helps managers spend less time analyzing and more time coaching (07:53) The AI workflow that prepares managers for better coaching conversations (11:00) Turning sales management rituals into consistent, measurable systems (13:18) The hidden insights inside manager-seller conversations (18:40) How to identify what great managers do differently (24:00) Why AI coaching needs methodology, context, and governance (34:47) The future of AI-powered frontline management and seller performance   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Brian Trautschold: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-trautschold-97518219/ Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Brian Trautschold As co-founder of Ambition, Brian Trautschold is helping revenue organizations transform frontline sales management through AI-powered coaching and performance intelligence. Brian brings extensive experience building technology that helps sales leaders create more consistent, effective coaching experiences at scale. His work focuses on turning manager-seller conversations into actionable performance insights, reducing administrative work, and equipping frontline managers to spend more time developing their people. By combining AI, organizational standards, and proven management practices, Brian helps revenue teams improve seller performance while keeping human leadership at the center.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

  3. Aug 25

    How Revenue Experience Orchestration Creates Predictable Growth - Alex Gill, Harte Hanks

    How can revenue leaders create more predictable growth when ownership of the customer journey is divided across marketing, sales, customer success, and service? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Alex Gill, Global Head of Strategy at Harte Hanks, about revenue experience orchestration and the moments that shape revenue across the customer lifecycle. Alex explains how buying, relationship, and service experiences connect, and why revenue teams must look beyond acquisition to adoption, recovery, retention, and expansion. Their conversation explores how stronger customer experiences build trust before a sale, why customers renew what they adopt, and how behavioral and account signals can reveal opportunities to recover or expand revenue. Alex also shares practical ways AI can assist customer-facing teams, engage buyers, optimize conversations, and surface insights, provided the right data foundations are in place. Tune in to learn: How to connect revenue efforts across the customer journey Why adoption is essential for renewals and expansion How to identify declining customers before they leave   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (00:28) Meet Alex Gill, Global Head of Strategy at Harte Hanks (01:13) What it really means to be a chief strategist (02:19) The revenue experience orchestration model explained (03:12) The four concepts behind predictable revenue (05:01) What if you only own part of the customer journey? (05:59) The "spheres" that make or break orchestration (07:18) Why happy customers should shape your sales strategy (08:16) Introducing the 5 moments that matter (08:32) Moment #1: buyers decide before they ever talk to you (10:36) The win-loss data that changes how you sell (11:18) Moment #2: closing the deal without losing the client (12:02) The company selling big but struggling to deliver (13:00) "You don't renew what you sold, you renew what they used" (15:00) Moment #3: catching decline before it's too late (16:03) Inside a win-back program that recovered lost revenue (16:48) A quick word from our sponsor (17:44) Why your best new customer might be an old one (18:52) The two types of "lost" customers you're ignoring (20:28) Moment #4: the growth play most teams miss (21:23) How to know when it's time to expand a client (22:58) The silo problem killing your best opportunities (24:24) Where AI actually fits into orchestration (25:34) Can AI do more than just assist sales teams? (26:10) The 3 AI plays: assist, engage, optimize (28:24) Why sales needs to steal from customer experience (29:26) The hidden reason most AI initiatives stall (31:09) The two things every revenue leader should remember   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Alex Gill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexgill77/ Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Alex Gill As Global Head of Strategy at Harte Hanks, Alex Gill helps clients create growth strategies and improve customer experiences. He also helps shape the company’s products, offerings, and go-to-market strategy. His approach connects buying, relationship, and service experiences to help organizations orchestrate customer journeys and create more predictable revenue.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

  4. Jul 28

    Your Sales Team Isn't Competing with AI—It's Competing with Teams That Use It Better

    How are enablement leaders adapting to an AI-powered world where technology can increase productivity, but human expertise remains the key differentiator? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Nate Vogel, Global Vice President of Revenue Enablement at Constructor, about how AI is transforming the way sales teams operate, scale, and engage with customers. Nate shares how he has shifted his approach to enablement by treating tools and AI agents as extensions of his team, using them alongside people to drive insights, productivity, and better decision-making. He explains why the future of selling is not about choosing between AI and human skills, but combining both to create stronger customer experiences. The conversation also explores why soft skills are becoming the new hard skills in sales. Nate discusses how AI can help sellers prepare, research accounts, and understand customer context, but curiosity, authenticity, business acumen, and the ability to solve problems remain what separates great sellers. He also highlights the growing importance of technical knowledge, partner enablement, and using data to continuously improve how teams support revenue growth. Tune in to learn: How AI agents and tools are becoming part of the modern enablement ecosystem Why human skills like curiosity, authenticity, and discovery are critical in AI-powered sales How sales leaders can combine technology, data, and enablement strategies to create better customer experiences   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (00:26) Why AI will become table stakes (02:18) Balancing AI with human expertise (03:51) Managing AI tools like teammates (06:46) Turn leaders into enablement extensions (08:13) The Sphere’s human-plus-AI experience (10:28) When AI no longer differentiates (11:25) Soft skills become hard skills (15:16) Join the Emblaze Revenue Community (20:35) Keeping pace with AI innovation (22:58) Why sales is becoming more technical (28:02) Partner enablement builds customer trust (30:58) Using data to serve revenue teams   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Nate Vogel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-vogel-712224a/  Request the replays of your choice from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026: https://win.corporatevisions.com/NEXT-Revenue-Summit-2026-Replay-Request.html Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Nate Vogel As Global Vice President of Revenue Enablement at Constructor, Nate Vogel focuses on helping organizations build scalable revenue teams through enablement strategy, data, and emerging technologies. With experience leading enablement functions at companies including Tableau, Salesforce, Gong, Databricks, and Pigment, Nate helps sellers create more valuable customer conversations by combining AI-powered insights with human expertise. His work explores how tools, agents, and analytics can extend enablement capabilities while strengthening the curiosity, business acumen, and authentic engagement that drive customer success.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    Your Sales Team Isn't Competing with AI—It's Competing with Teams That Use It Better

  5. Jul 21

    Stewarding a Human-First AI Landscape

    How can sales organizations future-proof their revenue teams and scale enablement without getting lost in the AI tech chase? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Marcela Piñeros, Global Head of Sales Enablement at Stripe, discusses how AI is reshaping individual contributor roles, leadership strategies, and the broader go-to-market workforce. Marcela shares how organizations can look beyond the initial whiplash of rapid AI adoption to build a structured, human-first strategy that focuses on enduring skills over fleeting tools. The conversation explores how enablement teams use core competencies like workflow architecture, advanced empathy, and output validation to build trust and keep humans in the loop. Marcela also explains how traditional enablement roles, from instructional designers to content admins, are evolving into strategic future positions like context architects and AI governance leads. For sales leaders and enablement professionals, this episode offers practical strategies for normalizing experimentation, establishing clear decision guardrails, and preparing teams for the future of human-first, agentic selling.   Tune in to learn: How shifting from tools to core skills future-proofs revenue teams Ways keeping humans in the loop builds trust and eliminates AI anxiety How traditional enablement roles are evolving into strategic future positions   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (02:18) Why AI tools are not the real advantage (05:19) Seeing the forest instead of the trees (08:00) Keeping humans in the loop (10:00) Defining the real job to be done (11:36) Six skills every AI-ready individual contributor needs (15:35) Eight leadership capabilities for the AI era (19:57) How enablement roles will evolve with AI (27:07) Why AI creates more strategic and human work (29:17) Where leaders should start with AI adoption   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Marcela Piñeros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelapineros/ Request the replays of your choice from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026: https://win.corporatevisions.com/NEXT-Revenue-Summit-2026-Replay-Request.html   Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Marcela Piñeros As the Global Head Of Sales Enablement at Stripe, Marcela Piñeros is a driving force in helping high-growth revenue teams translate intentional excellence into strategic business impact. Leading enablement across global enterprise landscapes, she focuses on building human-first systems that connect skill development, behavioral architecture, and operational trust directly to team velocity and revenue outcomes. Her approach is grounded in future-proofing workforces through major technological shifts, partnering closely with go-to-market leadership to drive scalable experimentation and validate the true business value of AI-enabled selling.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    Stewarding a Human-First AI Landscape

  6. Jul 14

    How IBM Is Rewiring Sales Conversations Around Business Value

    How are enablement leaders transforming product-heavy organizations into value-driven sellers that can differentiate and prove measurable business impact in an increasingly competitive market? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, a fireside chat replay from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Anne Lake, Revenue Enablement Leader at IBM, about the shift from product-centric selling to value-based conversations. Anne explains how IBM separates product enablement (“what to sell”) from value enablement (“how to sell”), helping sellers move beyond features and functions to focus on outcomes, differentiation, and the “why change” behind every deal. She also shares how IBM’s “Deliver with Impact” program combines storytelling, value messaging, and interactive techniques like whiteboarding and flipcharting to create more engaging, human-centered buyer conversations. The episode further explores how IBM is blending qualitative storytelling with quantitative business cases, using tools, AI, and financial modeling to help sellers justify decisions and demonstrate ROI. Tune in to learn: Why separating product knowledge and value messaging is essential for modern enablement How storytelling and whiteboarding transform buyer engagement and retention How leading organizations are combining qualitative narratives with quantitative business cases to prove impact   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (05:19) Focusing on value conversations versus product enablement (13:36) Deliver with Impact workshop pilots and global rollout (16:12) Storytelling and whiteboarding as engagement tools (22:16) Capstone exercises to integrate value messaging and client scenarios (27:44) Quantitative business value and financial discussions (31:15) Infusing value messaging into product training and AI coaching (38:23) Making value selling a natural part of the sales process   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Anne Lake: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-lake/  Request the replays of your choice from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026: https://win.corporatevisions.com/NEXT-Revenue-Summit-2026-Replay-Request.html Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Anne Lake As a Revenue Enablement Leader at IBM, Anne Lake focuses on bridging learning, messaging, and measurable business impact. She helps teams turn complex product capabilities into clear, outcome-driven narratives that enable sales and executives to communicate value effectively. With a background in human-centered enablement and talent development, Anne equips facilitators and sellers with practical storytelling techniques—from whiteboarding to flipcharting—to create more engaging, high-impact delivery. Her work helps global teams move beyond features to confidently articulate business outcomes that drive adoption at scale.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    How IBM Is Rewiring Sales Conversations Around Business Value

  7. Jul 7

    Built for the Pivot, Measured for Impact

    How can enablement leaders prove impact and drive predictable revenue in a world where business conditions, buyers, and AI are constantly evolving? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Ashton Williams from Salesforce, who leads a top ranked SMB operating unit and oversees enablement for a global high velocity sales organization. Ashton shares how enablement can move beyond activity metrics and instead use a clear framework of reach, readiness, and results to connect training to measurable business outcomes like pipeline progression and revenue growth. She explains how enablement teams can secure investment by partnering with finance, rev ops, and HR to build stronger ROI cases, including modeling rep break even points and cohort performance. The discussion also covers how pilots help validate impact before scaling, with targeted programs showing revenue uplifts of 10 to 15 percent. Ashton also highlights how AI is reshaping coaching and productivity, while reinforcing that human interaction remains essential in complex sales. Tune in to learn: Why leading and lagging indicators are key to proving enablement impact How finance partnerships strengthen ROI and investment cases Why pilots and cohort analysis reduce risk and improve adoption   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (04:16) Why accelerating change is stretching traditional training models (05:45) How Salesforce reorganized SMB sales and scaled enablement support (07:38) Building new onboarding, always-on learning programs, and targeting financial fluency to improve performance (09:04) Partnering with finance to understand ROI, and investment justification (11:14) Why different business functions interpret the same data differently and how alignment is built across teams (14:00) The reach, readiness, results framework for measuring enablement effectiveness (16:53) How a financial fluency pilot led to measurable revenue uplift and informed broader rollout decisions (20:41) Using the Kirkpatrick model to create shared language and align expectations across executives (22:22) Using pipeline signals, deal data, and manager feedback to identify skill gaps vs motivation issues (27:19) Why pilots are critical for proving value, securing investment, and driving adoption (29:18) How Salesforce manages lag time between training and results while maintaining executive engagement (30:41) Sustaining behavior change through manager reinforcement and aligning enablement with organizational health (34:43) How Salesforce is using AI agents and avatars for coaching, and training at scale (38:04) Why human connection remains essential in sales despite increasing AI adoption   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Tim Riesterer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer/  Connect with Ashton Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamsashton/  Request the replays of your choice from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026: https://win.corporatevisions.com/NEXT-Revenue-Summit-2026-Replay-Request.html Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Ashton Williams As a sales enablement leader at Salesforce, Ashton Williams is a driving force in helping high velocity revenue teams translate learning and development into measurable business impact. Leading enablement for a global SMB operating unit, she focuses on building scalable systems that connect training, coaching, and skill development directly to pipeline progression, revenue growth, and productivity outcomes. Her approach is grounded in practical ROI measurement, partnering closely with finance, revenue operations, and sales leadership to define clear business cases and validate impact through data driven experimentation and pilots.   Learn about Tim Riesterer As Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions and Chief Research Officer at Emblaze revenue leaders’ community, Tim Riesterer is a pioneering force in developing customer conversations that break through the status quo and drive measurable business results. His innovative approach helps companies craft differentiated messages and deploy them through powerful self-service and sales-directed tools that consistently outperform traditional content strategies. A recognized expert in value creation and capture, Tim enables organizations to transform their customer conversations through proven methodologies that elevate their market position and drive sustainable growth.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    Built for the Pivot, Measured for Impact

  8. Jun 30

    An Always-On Revenue Enablement Model for the AI Era

    How can sales organizations improve seller performance and scale enablement without significantly increasing resources? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Mike Wallington, Division Vice President of Global Sales Learning & Leadership Development at ADP, discusses how AI is reshaping onboarding, coaching, and sales execution. Mike shares how ADP built a structured development journey that helps sellers ramp faster, improve productivity, and achieve long-term success. The conversation explores how ADP uses AI-powered assessments, role plays, deal intelligence, and coaching tools to help sellers practice real-world scenarios, improve forecast accuracy, and navigate complex sales conversations. Mike also explains how AI avatars are accelerating product training, knowledge sharing, and enabling content creation across the organization. For sales leaders and enablement professionals, this episode offers practical strategies for building scalable learning programs, empowering managers with better coaching insights, and preparing teams for the future of AI-enabled selling. Tune in to learn: How AI is helping ADP accelerate onboarding and seller development Ways AI role plays and deal intelligence improve coaching and sales execution How AI avatars are scaling product training and knowledge sharing   Episode highlights:  (00:00) Introduction (02:05) Why ADP is planning learning and enablement three to five years ahead (03:15) Rethinking year one onboarding as a full 12-month learning journey (05:00) Why year two is the make-or-break stage for seller proficiency (09:08) How structured learning paths and assessments personalize development (10:29) Scaling practice through video role play simulations (13:15) The coaching gap in year two and how leaders can close it (15:18) Using AI role play to build real sales readiness at scale (17:35) Inside ADP’s Smart Coach initiative (21:48) How Gong AI trackers improve forecasting and deal qualification (36:09) Building an always-on enablement system with global teams and AI avatars   Links and Resources: Connect with Abby Kerr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbycathkerr/ Connect with Mike Wallington: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewallington/ Request the replays of your choice from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026: https://win.corporatevisions.com/NEXT-Revenue-Summit-2026-Replay-Request.html Subscribe to The Emblazers for more conversations with leading B2B thinkers. Explore the Emblaze revenue community and start a membership today.   Learn about Mike Wallington As Division Vice President of Global Sales Learning and Leadership Development at ADP, Mike Wallington is a recognized leader in sales enablement, talent development, and learning innovation. He oversees the strategies and programs that help thousands of sales professionals accelerate productivity, strengthen selling skills, and achieve long-term success across one of the world's largest sales organizations. Mike is known for transforming onboarding, coaching, and performance development through scalable learning frameworks that blend data, technology, and human-centered enablement.   Learn about Abby Kerr  As Director of Content & Community at Emblaze, Abby Kerr designs content experiences that spark conversations and strengthen the connective tissue between B2B revenue leaders. With a background spanning brand voice strategy, enterprise B2B content, and education, she brings a sharp eye for nuance and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. A champion of insight-driven storytelling and peer-to-peer learning, Abby helps make Emblaze a place where leaders don’t just consume content—they contribute to it. She’s also a warm, un-shy introvert who reads fiction, asks big questions, and drinks her coffee black.

    An Always-On Revenue Enablement Model for the AI Era
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About

The Emblazers is your inside track to bold ideas and sharp insights for B2B revenue growth. Hosted by Abby Kerr with resident expert Tim Riesterer, you’ll hear thought leaders, analysts, and practitioners in laid-back, engaging conversations on trending themes shaping sales, enablement, and customer experience. Perfect for leaders like you who love talking shop.

Information

  • Creator
    Emblaze
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 | All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    The Emblazers Show

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