What does it actually take to build trust when AI has made it easier than ever to produce mediocre content? In this special compilation episode of Shift & Thrive, host Natalie Nathanson pulls together candid insights from a range of go-to-market leaders and CEOs on what is really driving attention and credibility in B2B today. The conversation moves through personal branding, employee advocacy, the brand versus demand debate, and the growing premium on authenticity as AI content floods every channel. Together, these voices make the case that the future of go-to-market is not less human, it is more human, powered by technology but proven by real people.

Takeaways:

• Put your executive team's real voices forward, not just brand messaging. Personal branding across leadership builds trust faster than a single company voice.
• Revisit old-school tactics like handwritten notes and one-to-one outreach. They stand out precisely because everyone else has gone digital and generic.
• Train every employee, not just sales, to pitch your product with confidence. Their authentic voice on social media is free, credible publicity.
• Invest in brand even when ROI is not immediate. It quietly shortens the uphill climb your sales team faces on every first call.
• Commit to founder-led content for at least a year before judging results. Consistency beats chasing a single viral moment.
• Watch for AI-generated "slop." Audiences are increasingly rewarding authenticity over polish.
• Bring your whole team to customer-facing events, not just sales. Understanding the buyer firsthand changes how everyone builds and sells.

Quote of the Show:

• "There's never been more noise in all of our ears or all of our screens. And so authenticity has become a real currency." — David Axler

Guest Links:

• Kristina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinamcmillan/
• Stephen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-ochs-mba-1681ba19/
• David’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidaxler/
• Yossi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yossicarmon/
• Michele’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelejohnstonlash/
• Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianhyatt/
• Sneer’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sneer-rozenfeld-aa993a77/
• Natalie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalienathanson/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2D1YbT2QhKxIwbREpU7EMb
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/id1740828813
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fa60b654-1955-4055-93df-fdd40c2a5c8f/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change
• iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shift-thrive-ceo-insights-166792501
• Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shift-and-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/PC:1001086797
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf9QxGUxZw_Sv8_4bZP34Q

This show is sponsored by Magnetude Consulting, bringing you the thinking-Power of a Growth Consultancy and the Getting-It-Done Power of a full-service B2B Marketing Agency.

Learn more at: https://www.magnetudeconsulting.com

How are shifting buyer behaviors and AI reshaping B2B go-to-market strategies? What happens when companies fail to adapt? In this Go-to-Market Spotlight episode of Shift & Thrive, host Natalie Nathanson talks with Kerry Cunningham, Head of Research and Thought Leadership at 6Sense, about the realities of modern B2B buying. With decades of experience, Kerry breaks down how outdated outbound tactics give way to smarter, signal-driven approaches, why "intent data" is often misunderstood as mere interest signals, and how AI is prompting buyers to engage sellers earlier without extending overall cycles. They explore alignment pitfalls, the dangers of "folklore debt" in scaling, and practical ways for CEOs to drive buyer-focused transformations that boost efficiency and trust between teams.

Key Takeaways:

• Shift from cold outbound to signal-based targeting for better results. Identify in-market accounts through interest signals first, then use marketing to drive engagement before involving sales, transforming team productivity and relationships.
• Treat intent data as interest signals, not guaranteed buying intent. Avoid chasing short-lived spikes by contextualizing signals with sustained activity and engagement history to prevent sales frustration and false positives.
• Align sales, marketing, and customer success around buyer journeys, not just internal processes. Prioritizing how buyers actually research and decide creates more effective go-to-market motions than inward-focused calibrations.
• Adapt to AI's impact on buying cycles by engaging earlier. With buyers evaluating unfamiliar AI components, prepare for longer sales interactions while recognizing that overall decision timelines and preferences often remain unchanged.
• Evolve storytelling as your company scales to avoid folklore debt. Celebrate past successes but actively replace outdated narratives about "how we win" with new ones that support growth, freeing teams from limiting tactics.

Quote of the Show:

• “We acquire debt from the stories that we tell ourselves about how we become successful. The stories about how we won in the past often are not the stories that will help us win in the future.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrycunningham/
• Website: http://www.6sense.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2D1YbT2QhKxIwbREpU7EMb
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/id1740828813
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fa60b654-1955-4055-93df-fdd40c2a5c8f/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change
• iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shift-thrive-ceo-insights-166792501
• Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shift-and-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/PC:1001086797
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf9QxGUxZw_Sv8_4bZP34Q

This show is sponsored by Magnetude Consulting, bringing you the thinking-Power of a Growth Consultancy and the Getting-It-Done Power of a full-service B2B Marketing Agency.

Learn more at: https://www.magnetudeconsulting.com

If you can no longer draw a clean line from marketing activity to revenue, does that mean marketing isn't working, or does it mean you're measuring it wrong? In this episode of Shift & Thrive, host Natalie Nathanson sits down with Michele Johnston, Director of Digital Delivery and AI Lead at Magnetude Consulting, for a special internal conversation on how AI and shifting search behavior are upending buyer journeys. Michele explains why chasing the technology behind search and AI distracts marketers from the person on the other end of it, why attribution is becoming less reliable as buying gets less linear, and why brand and demand should be treated as a spectrum rather than a rivalry. The conversation closes with an unexpected parallel: what nearly two decades of endurance racing has taught Michele about consistency, patience, and trusting a process you can't always measure in real time.

Takeaways:

• Focus on the person behind the search or prompt, not the technology driving it. Chasing platform mechanics distracts from solving the buyer's actual problem.
• Spend most of your effort on content that resonates, not technical optimization. Roughly 80 percent of SEO and AEO success comes from relevance, not schema and site fixes.
• Be skeptical of anyone who claims certainty about how search and AI behavior will evolve. Test, adapt, and get comfortable saying "we don't know yet."
• Evaluate marketing holistically instead of chasing perfect attribution. Look at top-line lead generation and quality rather than digging into channel-by-channel credit.
• Treat brand and demand as a spectrum, not competing budgets. Brand builds the trust that gets you on the shortlist before buyers ever contact sales.
• Use marketing to proactively answer the objections your sales team hears most. Removing those barriers publicly shortens the path to a real conversation.
• Apply an endurance athlete's mindset to marketing investment. Most of the work looks unremarkable day to day, but consistency compounds into results over time.

Quote of the Show:

• “It is the consistency of doing that day after day, week after week, month after month, that gets you to completing an Ironman or a 10K swim. I really feel marketing's very similar to that, where we're doing a lot of different things, and not everything is immediately measurable, but if you don't do those things, it's gonna hinder your goals and your outcomes.” - Michele Johnston

Links:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michelejohnstonlash
• Website: https://www.magnetudeconsulting.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2D1YbT2QhKxIwbREpU7EMb
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/id1740828813
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fa60b654-1955-4055-93df-fdd40c2a5c8f/shift-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change
• iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shift-thrive-ceo-insights-166792501
• Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shift-and-thrive-ceo-insights-on-driving-change/PC:1001086797
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf9QxGUxZw_Sv8_4bZP34Q

This show is sponsored by Magnetude Consulting, bringing you the thinking-Power of a Growth Consultancy and the Getting-It-Done Power of a full-service B2B Marketing Agency.

Learn more at: https://www.magnetudeconsulting.com