Juan Mendoza, CEO of The Martech Weekly, joins the show to unpack a major shift in customer experience: volitional personalization. As consumers increasingly rely on AI agents like ChatGPT to guide purchase decisions, marketers are losing control over the touchpoints that once defined the buyer journey. Juan and Sara dive into how this pull-based model flips the script on traditional campaign strategies and forces brands to rethink their approach to data, content, and visibility.

Juan:
“Consumers actually using AI agents to do their bidding for them is an entirely new channel that we have no idea how to grapple with yet.”

Links & Resources:
Connect with Sara: linkedin.com/in/sara-faatz-b67213
Connect with Juan: linkedin.com/in/juan-mendoza-2b3a63a4
Read The Martech Weekly: themartechweekly.com
Learn more about Progress: progress.com

Timestamps:
00:25 – The rise of agentic AI in marketing
01:15 – Navigating the hype vs. harm of AI agents
02:45 – Real-world example: AI-driven real estate personalization
03:50 – Volitional personalization vs. speculative personalization
05:30 – Why combining push and pull strategies matters
07:00 – Alarm clocks, AI, and the new search experience
08:10 – Juan’s hot take: The death of marketing visibility
10:20 – Where Juan goes to learn: Hacker News & hands-on experimentation

Mallory Russell, an award-winning content marketing strategist, joins the show to share why marketers need to lean into AI experimentation and rethink traditional playbooks. As the lines between content, MarTech, and AI continue to blur, Mallory explores how to make smart, strategic bets without losing sight of brand, quality, or human connection.

Sara and Mallory discuss approaching AI as a tool - not a strategy. They also cover the shifting landscape of SEO, how zero-click search is impacting content distribution, and why composable MarTech stacks are the future.

Mallory:
“There’s no playbook for AI yet. That makes it exciting. Everyone is experimenting… and that’s exactly what we should be doing.”

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Sara: linkedin.com/in/sara-faatz-b67213
• Connect with Mallory: linkedin.com/in/malloryrussell
• Learn more about Progress: www.progress.com

Timestamps:
00:20 — MarTech’s Role in Scaling Content
01:30 — From “More Content” to Better Content
03:00 — New Metrics for the AI Era
04:30 — Zero-Click Search & Brand Visibility
06:00 — AI as a Tool, Not a Strategy
07:45 — Experimentation Over FOMO
09:10 — Composable MarTech Stacks & Citizen Developers
12:00 — Building Tools for Non-Technical Teams
13:00 — Where Mallory Finds Her Inspiration

Karen Steele, Founder of Steele-Alloy and seasoned Fractional CMO, joins the show to talk about the future of B2B marketing and why data quality is more important than ever.

Karen and Sara explore how account-based marketing (ABM) has evolved into more sophisticated strategies centered on buying groups and behavioral signals. They also dive into the challenges of data integration, the critical role of marketing ops in maintaining data hygiene, and how AI can elevate human creativity when fed with the right data.

Karen:
“You can only do smart AI and get great content and results if you have good data that you're using with the AI… You’ve got to get the data right, and somebody has to be the shepherd of that data. Marketing ops, sales ops, revenue ops—they hold the keys to the kingdom.”

Links & Resources:
Connect with Sara: linkedin.com/in/sara-faatz-b67213
Connect with Karen: linkedin.com/in/karenmsteele
Learn more about Progress: www.progress.com
Learn more about Steele-Alloy: www.steele-alloy.com

Timestamps:
00:20 - Current MarTech Trends: Data and AI
01:35 - SEO and AI: The Future of Search
04:00 - Marketing Metrics and Data Quality
06:10 - AI Tools and Sales Enablement
07:30 - Evolution of Buyer Journeys