2025 Wrap-Up & What Tech Leaders are Planning in 2026 w/ Lisa Martin

Tech Marketing Rewired

Chapters
0:00
Opening And Guest Introduction
1:50
Lisa’s Path From NASA To Marketing
4:48
What CMOs Learned Last Year
5:18
AI Anxiety, Speed, And Execution
7:13
Are CMOs Really Falling Behind?
8:23
AI In Product-Led Companies
10:19
Culture, AI Councils, And ROI Proof
11:34
Avoiding AI Washing And Showing Value
12:56
From GenAI To Agentic Workflows
14:02
Treating Agents Like Employees
15:26
Training, Bias, And Responsible AI
16:36
Second Big Theme: Integrated Marketing
18:08
Speaking Boardroom Metrics, Not Vanity
19:20
Aligning Marketing, Sales, Product, Success
20:42
Killing The MQL And Measuring Revenue
21:47
Third Theme: CMOs As Growth Operators
22:57
Fragmented Journeys And Channel Bets
24:06
Speed, Personalization, And Omnichannel
25:20
Making The Show More Tactical
26:18
Moving From Marketer To Media
27:43
Overcoming Fear And Imposter Syndrome
29:07
Earn Confidence By Doing
30:12
AI Roulette: Hardest Role And Why
31:30
Closing And How To Connect
Tech Marketing Rewired
2025 Wrap-Up & What Tech Leaders are Planning in 2026 w/ Lisa Martin
Jan 07, 2026 Episode 28
Kevin Kerner

2025 was the year AI stopped being a "lab project" and started doing real work.

In this year-end wrap-up, Kevin sits down with fellow podcast host Lisa Martin (CMOs Unscripted) to compare notes on the dozens of conversations they've had with founders, marketers, and executives over the last 12 months. They unpack how the winners of 2025 moved from "AI washing" to execution, finally ditching vanity metrics for board-ready ROI.

Looking ahead to 2026, the duo debates the next frontier: Agentic AI. Lisa—a former NASA scientist turned agency leader—explains why the next wave of AI isn't a tool you use, but a workforce you hire, and why successful teams are now onboarding these "agents" just like human employees.

Key Observations from 2025 & 2026:

  • The Speed Advantage: Why product-led companies with embedded AI moved significantly faster than their peers in 2025.
  • The "Agent as Employee" Shift: Why forward-thinking organizations are no longer just deploying AI tools, but onboarding autonomous agents with specific roles and bias training.
  • Marketing as an Operating System: The emerging trend where integrated marketing is being used to unify Sales, Product, and Comms around a single financial narrative.
  • The Complexity Reality: Lisa’s observation on why the fragmented, non-linear buyer journey makes B2B marketing a "harder science" than her work at NASA.
  • The Media Pivot: Why a growing number of executives are leaving traditional operator roles to become "media-first" leaders who ship content directly to the market.

Mentioned in this Episode:

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🎧 Tech Marketing Rewired is hosted by Kevin Kerner, founder of Mighty & True.

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