The Innovative Revenue Leader

Seth Marrs
  • 5.0 (2)
  • MANAGEMENT

This podcast explores the future of sales performance, giving Chief Revenue Officers and other growth leaders the insights, tools, and stories they need to lead with confidence. Through candid conversations with top executives, analysts, and tech innovators, we uncover how to harness data, optimize talent, and build tech-enabled sales teams that win. Listeners will walk away with actionable strategies to drive growth, outpace change, and future-proof their revenue engine.

  1. AI Strategy Meets Real Execution - Nithya Lakshmanan - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #26

    4D AGO

    AI Strategy Meets Real Execution - Nithya Lakshmanan - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #26

    In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, Seth Marrs sits down with Nithya Lakshmanan, Chief Product Officer at Outreach, to explore what it really takes to adopt AI successfully inside modern revenue organizations. Nithya shares that while AI is often positioned as a technology transformation, the real challenge lies in aligning people, processes, and workflows. The conversation dives into how organizations can move beyond experimentation to meaningful adoption by embedding AI into daily operations, prioritizing real business problems, and ensuring teams are equipped to use it effectively.   Takeaways: • AI adoption is a people and process challenge, not just technology: Organizations often underestimate the human side of AI. Success depends on aligning teams, workflows, and incentives so AI becomes part of how work actually gets done. • Start with real business problems, not tools: Many companies adopt AI without a clear use case. Nithya emphasizes that leaders must begin with specific problems tied to revenue, pipeline, or efficiency before introducing technology. • Workflow integration determines success: AI only creates value when embedded into existing systems and daily habits. Bolting on tools without integration leads to low adoption and minimal impact. • Enablement is critical for adoption: Teams need training, context, and confidence to use AI effectively. Without proper enablement, even the best tools will fail to deliver results. • Experimentation must lead to execution: Pilots and proofs of concept are only the first step. Organizations must scale what works and operationalize AI to drive measurable outcomes. • Leadership alignment accelerates transformation: When leadership is aligned on goals, expectations, and use cases, AI adoption becomes faster and more effective across the organization. Quote of the Show: “AI doesn’t fail because of the technology. It fails because it’s not embedded into how people actually work.” - Nithya Lakshmanan Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nithya-lakshmanan/Website: http://www.outreach.io/ Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    37 min
  2. The Five Pillars of the New Sales Era - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #24

    MAR 18

    The Five Pillars of the New Sales Era - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #24

    Take your sales performance to the next level with forward-looking insights from Trilliad’s 2026 Growth Imperatives. It’s time to move beyond simple efficiency and start architecting a sales system that actually sticks, and who better to guide you than IRL’s very own Seth Mars! In this episode, Seth dives deep into the final imperative: building progressive sales performance systems that enable sustainable seller effectiveness. You will learn how to replace outdated one-time workshops with "always-on" systems, leverage AI to personalize training for every individual, and finally bridge the gap between training activities and hard financial outcomes. Get motivated to transform your sales team into a high-performance engine destined to maximize revenue per seller and stay ahead of the competition. Takeaways: Pillar 1: Build Sustainable Performance Systems. Move beyond one-time workshops to create "always-on" systems that treat sales performance with the same analytical rigor as revenue forecasting. Pillar 2: Treat Skill Erosion as a Strategic Risk. Protect your investment by monitoring "training decay" in real-time and using targeted interventions to ensure sellers retain and execute what they’ve learned. Pillar 3: Scale Personalized Development with AI. Use AI-driven roleplay and conversation intelligence to move away from generic enablement and tailor training to the specific needs and personality of every individual seller. Pillar 4: Operationalize the Data Layer. Eliminate subjective opinions by integrating unstructured data from calls and emails into a single view to understand exactly what behaviors drive success. Pillar 5: Align Investments with Financial Outcomes. Shift the conversation with your CFO by proving how skill adoption directly correlates to key metrics like revenue per seller. Build an ecosystem, not isolated initiatives. The five pillars work together to transform traditional sales training into a comprehensive performance organization. Quote of the Show: “Last year was about AI enabling efficiency. This year is about taking that efficiency and turning it to effectiveness” - Seth Marrs Links: Twitter: https://x.com/smarrs88 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sethmarrsWebsite: https://sandler.comTrilliad’s Growth Imperatives: trilliad.com/2026-growth-imperatives Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    21 min
  3. From Dashboards to AI Agents - Sahil Aggarwal - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #23

    MAR 11

    From Dashboards to AI Agents - Sahil Aggarwal - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #23

    In this episode, host Seth Marrs sits down with Sahil Aggarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Von & Rattle, to discuss how AI agents are beginning to transform revenue operations and the broader go-to-market landscape. Sahil shares his vision for AI-native systems that can analyze business context across CRM data, customer conversations, and internal workflows to generate insights and execute tasks that traditionally require multiple teams. The conversation explores why traditional dashboards may soon be replaced by intelligent agents, how AI can extract value from raw business data, and why productivity expectations for revenue teams are about to rise dramatically. Sahil also discusses how sellers and revenue leaders can adapt as AI becomes embedded into everyday workflows, empowering top performers to operate at an entirely new level of effectiveness.  Takeaways: AI Agents Will Replace Dashboards: Traditional dashboards require humans to interpret data before action can be taken. AI agents will shift this model by analyzing performance and executing tasks automatically.AI Can Work Directly From Raw Business Data: Many organizations struggle with incomplete or inaccurate CRM data. Modern AI can extract insights directly from emails, calls, and other business signals to generate more reliable context.The “Super Agent” Model Is Emerging: Instead of relying on dozens of separate automation tools, companies will increasingly use powerful AI agents that coordinate workflows across multiple systems.AI Will Become Core Business Infrastructure: Just like the internet or electricity, AI will soon power nearly every application. The conversation will move from “using AI” to simply building products that run on it.Productivity Expectations Will Dramatically Increase: As AI removes manual work, leaders will expect significantly higher output from individuals and teams.Revenue Roles Will Become More Technical: Sellers, marketers, and revenue operators will need to understand how to work alongside AI systems to stay competitive. Quote of the Show: “AI is like electricity. It will power everything we do in business.” - Sahil Aggarwal Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saggarwal2/Website: https://www.gorattle.com/ Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    34 min
  4. Operationalizing Customer-Centric Growth - Laura Valerio - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #021

    MAR 4

    Operationalizing Customer-Centric Growth - Laura Valerio - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #021

    In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, Seth Marrs sits down with Laura Valerio, Global Evangelist for GTM Performance at Highspot, to explore what it truly means to operationalize customer-centric growth inside modern revenue organizations. Laura shares a thoughtful and strategic perspective on aligning go-to-market teams around the customer journey, breaking down silos between sales, marketing, and customer success, and building scalable systems that drive consistent performance. The conversation dives into leadership discipline, operational clarity, and the structural shifts required to move from reactive selling to intentional revenue architecture. This episode is a masterclass in turning strategy into sustainable execution.   Takeaways: Customer-Centricity Requires Structural Change: Aligning around the customer journey demands intentional redesign of processes, metrics, and incentives across revenue teams. Alignment Drives Predictable Performance: When sales, marketing, and customer success operate from shared definitions and goals, pipeline velocity and retention improve dramatically. Revenue Strategy Must Be Operationalized: Vision alone does not scale. Clear systems, defined handoffs, and accountability mechanisms turn strategy into measurable outcomes. Silos Destroy Momentum: Disconnected teams create friction for customers and inefficiency internally. Integration creates compounding growth. Leadership Sets the Standard for Alignment: Revenue transformation begins with leaders modeling cross-functional collaboration and disciplined execution. Metrics Should Reflect the Customer Journey: Organizations that measure the full lifecycle, not just isolated stages, make smarter decisions and reduce churn risk. Quote of the Show: “Customer centricity isn’t a slogan. It’s a structural decision you make about how your organization operates.” - Laura Valerio Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauravalerio1/Website: https://www.highspot.com Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    26 min
  5. Redefining RevOps in the AI Era – Anthony McPartlin – Innovative Revenue Leader Episode #020

    FEB 25

    Redefining RevOps in the AI Era – Anthony McPartlin – Innovative Revenue Leader Episode #020

    Is AI really the end of SaaS as we know it, or just the beginning of a messy evolution? On this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, we welcome back Anthony McPartlin, Principal Analyst at Forrester and one of the sharpest voices in revenue operations today.  Anthony breaks down what’s actually happening beneath the headlines: $2 trillion wiped from SaaS valuations, the pressure on seat-based pricing, token-cost economics, AI governance challenges, and why RevOps leaders may be entering their most important era yet. We unpack the uneven impact of AI across sales motions, the rising tension between usage-based pricing and predictability, and why organizations must move beyond isolated AI use cases toward a long-term strategic transformation. If you’re a revenue leader trying to make sense of AI disruption, pricing chaos, and the evolving role of RevOps, this conversation is essential listening.  Takeaways: AI role play is becoming a standard capability. Embedded AI-driven role play is transforming sales enablement by making practice scalable, personalized, and part of the daily workflow.The SaaS pricing model is under real pressure. Seat-based pricing alone is unlikely to survive. Hybrid models combining base fees with usage-based AI costs are emerging, but the transition will be rocky.RevOps accountability is increasing, not shrinking. As AI becomes embedded in forecasting, automation, and workflows, system precision and governance become mission-critical.AI shifts cost curves, it doesn’t flatten them. Productivity gains will likely raise expectations, driving higher quotas, tighter forecasting tolerances, fewer buffers, and increased economic accountability for RevOps.Use-case experimentation isn’t enough. Organizations must define a long-term AI strategy for Go-To-Market, including implications for compensation, territories, onboarding, benchmarking, and governance.New roles will emerge. Revenue architects and AI workflow managers may become essential to managing uneven deployment and cross-functional friction.Career advice for future leaders. Focus on assembling transferable skills, stay curious, embrace discomfort, and think in shorter skill-building arcs rather than fixed career ladders. Quote of the Show: “If you’re framing this as AI equals fewer sellers and fewer ops roles, you’re misleading yourself and others. The reality is far more complex than that.” - Anthony McPartlin Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonymcpartlinWebsite: https://www.forrester.com  Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    33 min
  6. Bridging Generations in Revenue - Ryan McShane - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #019

    FEB 18

    Bridging Generations in Revenue - Ryan McShane - Innovative Revenue Leader - Episode #019

    In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, host Seth Marrs sits down with Ryan McShane, Vice President of Product Marketing at Salesloft, to explore the growing generational divide inside revenue organizations. Drawing from research highlighting a $56 billion performance gap, Ryan explains how tension between experience-driven sellers and AI-native talent impacts results, and how AI can serve as a unifying force rather than a disruptive one. The conversation dives into codifying best practices, modernizing coaching, embedding AI into real workflows, and shifting focus from hours worked to measurable outcomes. The key insight: the future of revenue belongs to organizations that blend intuition with technology to build adaptive, high-performing teams.  Takeaways: The $56B Generational Revenue Gap Is Real: Misalignment between experienced sellers and AI-native talent isn’t just cultural, it directly impacts quota attainment, productivity, and organizational performance.AI Codifies What Actually Works: Instead of relying on tribal knowledge or hierarchy, AI can identify patterns in winning behaviors, surface what drives higher ACV and conversion rates, and democratize those insights across the team.Experience + AI Is the Winning Formula: Veteran sellers bring intuition and strategic context that AI can’t replicate. Younger sellers bring comfort with automation and experimentation. The competitive advantage lies in blending both.Workflow Integration Determines AI Success: AI fails when it’s bolted on. It succeeds when it’s embedded into real jobs-to-be-done, pipeline generation, deal inspection, coaching, and forecasting.Coaching Is the Biggest AI Opportunity: Consistent, data-backed coaching eliminates recency bias, reduces inconsistency, and gives managers a structured way to develop sellers across generations.Results > Hours Logged: AI challenges the outdated “grind equals performance” mindset. Modern revenue teams must align around KPIs, outcomes, and efficiency rather than activity for activity’s sake.The Future of Revenue Is Adaptive, Not Rigid: Go-to-market is shifting from waterfall execution to a living, evolving system powered by experimentation, data, and cross-generational collaboration. Quote of the Show: “You have to start with the problem you want to solve, not the technology you want to throw at your team.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-mcshane-49a66011/Website: https://salesloft.com Ways to Tune In: Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089

    32 min
  7. AI Meets Method: Turning Chaos Into A GTM System

    FEB 11

    AI Meets Method: Turning Chaos Into A GTM System

    The ground is shifting under every revenue team, and not because of another tool—because AI now demands a real operating model. We sit down with Julia Nimchinski, founder of Hard Skill Exchange, to unpack a 2026 predictions report that brings clarity to the chaos: AI becomes a managed role centered in RevOps, enablement turns into an agentic operating layer, and systems of action finally replace systems of record. If you’ve felt the tension between flashy pilots and durable performance, this conversation gives you the blueprint. We dig into the phases of AI in GTM—from human sellers with AI assist, to human sellers and AI buyers, toward more agentic organizations—and what it means for job design, governance, and measurement. Julia shares why the most important shift is methodological: unify theory and practice so AI augments the right parts of the workflow, under clear guardrails, with instrumentation that proves what actually works. We explore the uncomfortable truth behind adoption numbers: while surveys boast 70-plus percent adoption, real usage often sits near 7.6 percent. That gap isn’t a failure of tech; it’s a failure of method and measurement. From there, we get practical. How does enablement move beyond training to orchestrate agent-assisted workflows that show ROI within weeks? What telemetry proves that methodology use correlates with higher win rates and faster cycles? Why should sellers stop living in CRMs and shift into systems of action that do work on their behalf? We also tackle the convergence of B2B and B2C as buyer-side agents screen messages and shape journeys—and what sellers must change to reach real humans through that layer. If you’re building an AI-native revenue engine, this is your edge: treat AI as a managed role, elevate enablement to execution, and measure everything so your method evolves with the market. Enjoy the conversation, share it with a colleague who runs RevOps or Enablement, and subscribe for more deep dives on the future of go-to-market.

    25 min
  8. Fueling Sales AI With Conversation Intelligence

    FEB 4

    Fueling Sales AI With Conversation Intelligence

    If your AI strategy feels stuck, it’s probably missing the fuel that matters most: conversations. We dig into how conversation intelligence turns buyer-seller dialogue into structured data that LLMs can analyze, answer questions about, and convert into real coaching and revenue impact. Instead of treating recording as the finish line, we map the full system that connects email, calendar, mobile, and in-person meetings, then associates each interaction to the right account and opportunity so insights actually land where work gets done. We break down the current tool landscape—from web conferencing and note takers to full revenue orchestration—and explain where each shines. Then we unpack the eight capabilities that separate helpful from transformational: accurate association, multi-channel capture, summaries that scale to account and opportunity, automated scorecards with snippet-linked coaching, natural-language questions across your dataset, smart triggers for objections and competitor mentions, AI-led discovery of emerging themes, and reporting that trends real change over time. You’ll hear why web calls represent only a slice of the truth and how to close the gaps that hide risk. Finally, we spotlight four workflows already being rewritten by AI: automatic CRM field updates that clean your pipeline without manual data entry, deal visibility that reflects what was said rather than what was remembered, on-demand account plans generated from the conversation graph, and one-click pre-call prep that levels up every meeting. The takeaway is simple and urgent: capture broadly, associate correctly, and push insights back to sellers where it counts. Subscribe, share with a teammate who owns your sales stack, and tell us which workflow you want to automate first.

    25 min
See All (25)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

This podcast explores the future of sales performance, giving Chief Revenue Officers and other growth leaders the insights, tools, and stories they need to lead with confidence. Through candid conversations with top executives, analysts, and tech innovators, we uncover how to harness data, optimize talent, and build tech-enabled sales teams that win. Listeners will walk away with actionable strategies to drive growth, outpace change, and future-proof their revenue engine.

Information

  • Creator
    Seth Marrs
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Sandler Systems, LLC. 
  • Show Website
    The Innovative Revenue Leader