Podcast
CMO Chats
Hosted by The Ortus Club · EN
We continue our knowledge-sharing mission with predictions for the future, stories of risk and success, and leadership advice from some of the world's top CMOs and marketing leaders.
#CMOChats
31episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Beyond the Search Bar: Insights from Personio | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
2w ago00:16:18Tap to summarizeAlex Venus, Director of Growth Marketing at Personio, shares how AI is transforming the way B2B buyers discover and evaluate brands. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Alex explains why Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is becoming an essential part of modern marketing, how Personio is repositioning its messaging to better reflect today's HR leaders, and why marketers must move beyond traditional demand capture strategies. He discusses the importance of optimising for Large Language Models, building authentic brand demand across multiple channels, and maintaining lean, fast-moving teams that can respond quickly to changing market conditions. Alex also explores why creating demand, challenging conventional positioning, and fostering a calm sense of urgency will define the next generation of marketing leadership.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today's leading marketing executives.#TheOrtusClub #CMOChats #GenerativeEngineOptimisation #B2BMarketing #DemandGeneration
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Can You Shift a Legacy Brand into a Modern Tech Business?: Insights from FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
3w ago00:12:50Tap to summarizeCourtney Cusack, Head of Marketing at FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, shares how leading a major brand transformation requires far more than a new visual identity. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Courtney explains how Fujifilm is repositioning itself from a legacy print and camera company into a modern B2B technology provider by redefining its purpose, customer messaging, and market positioning. She discusses why marketers must move beyond impressions and click-through rates to become accountable for revenue, pipeline growth, and measurable business outcomes, while balancing short-term demand generation with long-term brand equity. Courtney also explores the growing complexity of non-linear buyer journeys, the importance of breaking down internal silos through cross-functional collaboration, and why today's marketing leaders should embrace curiosity, challenge assumptions, and refuse to stay in their lane. At the centre of her leadership philosophy is the belief that the modern CMO is a connector, bringing together teams, strategy, customer insight, and commercial outcomes to drive sustainable business growth.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today's leading marketing executives.#TheOrtusClub #KnowledgeSharing #CMOChats #BrandTransformation #B2BMarketing #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #FUJIFILM
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How Can Marketers Move Beyond MQLs?: Insights from UiPath | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
4w ago00:12:39Tap to summarizeKaren Strugnell, Senior Marketing Director for France & South West Europe at UiPath, shares how enterprise marketing is shifting away from traditional MQL-driven strategies towards Marketing-Qualified Accounts (MQAs), intent data, and full pipeline ownership. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Karen explains why modern marketing teams must become true strategic partners to sales by focusing on account-level engagement, revenue acceleration, and highly relevant customer experiences. She discusses how changing buyer behaviour is making outbound tactics less effective, why intent data is transforming account prioritisation, and how marketers can use regional and industry-specific messaging to stand out in increasingly crowded markets.Karen also explores how UiPath approaches enterprise events through its Fusion experience, treating each event as one stage in a broader customer journey. From pre-event hackathons and technical workshops to tailored follow-up programmes for different personas, she explains how personalised engagement creates stronger relationships and better business outcomes. Throughout the conversation, Karen highlights the importance of customer advocacy, data literacy, sales alignment, and regional relevance as essential skills for today's marketing leaders navigating increasingly complex enterprise buying journeys.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today's leading marketing executives.#TheOrtusClub #CMOChats #B2BMarketing #RevenueMarketing #IntentData #MarketingQualifiedAccounts #UiPath
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AI, Content Sameness, and Marketing Operations: Insights from Zoho | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
Jun 1700:22:42Tap to summarizeSuvish Viswanathan, Head of Marketing UK & Europe at Zoho, shares how B2B marketers can stay distinctive in a market increasingly flooded with AI-generated content, disconnected technology stacks, and evolving buyer expectations. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Suvish explains why modern marketing leaders must balance creativity with commercial accountability, operating as both storytellers and financially minded business partners. He discusses the challenge of “AI sameness” in content marketing, where generative tools make scale easier but differentiation harder, and explains why original, locally relevant insights are becoming more important than ever. Suvish also explores the operational challenge of fragmented marketing tools, sharing how Zoho approaches systemic integration across CRM, automation, customer success, and sales to create a more unified customer journey. From grassroots meetups in tier-two European cities to the role of AI-powered hyper-personalisation with strong privacy guardrails, Suvish outlines how marketing leaders can create more meaningful engagement while navigating increasingly difficult economic conditions. At the centre of his perspective is the idea of the marketer as a “navigator” or “orchestrator,” someone responsible for aligning teams, systems, and opportunities to drive measurable business outcomes.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing leaders.#CMOChats #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #AIMarketing #Zoho #MarketingOperations
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Hidden Buyers, Hybrid Events, and AI: Insights from ON24 | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
Jun 1000:16:37Tap to summarizeCaroline Wiemann, Head of Marketing for Asia Pacific at ON24, shares how modern B2B marketers can influence hidden buyers, personalise hybrid experiences, and adapt marketing strategies in an AI-driven world. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Caroline explores how buying behaviour has fundamentally changed, with more stakeholders shaping purchasing decisions behind the scenes and many never engaging directly with sales teams at all. She explains why marketers must rethink traditional go-to-market approaches to build trust and influence unseen decision-makers.Caroline also discusses why hybrid engagement models are becoming essential across Asia Pacific, moving beyond one-size-fits-all brand moments to more personalised experiences that blend digital scale with face-to-face interaction. She highlights the growing role of first-party intent data in understanding how buyers consume content, why marketers need to align closely with measurable business outcomes, and how AI and Large Language Models are reshaping content discovery, SEO, and marketing execution. At the centre of her perspective is a clear belief: while tactics may evolve rapidly, the fundamentals of great marketing, understanding customers, solving pain points, and building trust, will always remain.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing leaders!#TheOrtusClub #CMOChats #B2BMarketing #AIinMarketing #ON24 #HybridEvents
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AI, ABM, and Marketing Orchestration: Insights from Workato | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
Jun 300:18:50Tap to summarizeKathleen Jaedtke, Head of Marketing EMEA Central at Workato, shares how modern B2B marketing leaders must evolve from campaign managers into business orchestrators. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Kathleen explains how scalable pipeline growth depends on aligning sales, marketing, customer success, and regional teams around shared outcomes, while balancing global consistency with local market relevance.She explores how Workato applies the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to securely connect AI with internal systems such as Salesforce, Gong, Slack, and Zoom, enabling teams to rapidly generate contextual customer case studies and work more efficiently. Kathleen also discusses the growing importance of community-led growth, reflecting on how Workato scaled its flagship Amsterdam event from just 10 attendees to more than 210 participants by focusing on real customer use cases, technical workshops, and peer dialogue.At the centre of Kathleen’s perspective is a challenge to leaders: sustainable growth does not come from doing more, but from making better choices, cutting through operational noise, and focusing on what truly drives value. For her, the modern CMO is an orchestrator, creating clarity, alignment, and momentum across the business.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing minds!#TheOrtusClub #CMOChats #B2BMarketing#MarketingOrchestration #Workato #KnowledgeSharing
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Predictive AI and the End of Guesswork: Insights from Elastic | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
May 2900:15:20Tap to summarizeJennifer McCarthy, Head of Marketing ANZ at Elastic, shares how predictive AI is reshaping modern B2B marketing by transforming lead scoring, campaign optimisation, and customer engagement into real-time strategic decision-making. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, Jennifer explains how Elastic uses behavioral signals such as website activity, content engagement, and event participation to predict sales conversions and help teams prioritise the opportunities most likely to drive pipeline growth. She also discusses the growing challenge of standing out in an overcrowded market, warning against the rise of “me-too” branding and emphasising the importance of authentic messaging, memorable customer experiences, and distinctive thought leadership. From balancing global consistency with local relevance to building integrated campaigns for entirely different audiences, Jennifer outlines how modern CMOs must combine agility, collaboration, and data-driven insights to fuel sustainable growth. At the centre of her perspective is the idea of the CMO as a “champion,” someone who unites internal teams, external communities, and strategic priorities to drive measurable business impact in rapidly evolving markets.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing leaders.#CMOChats #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #AIinMarketing #Elastic #PredictiveAI
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AI-Powered Marketing Operating Systems: Insights from Notion | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
May 2000:16:07Tap to summarizeSophie Mckay, Head of Marketing APAC at Notion, shares how an unconventional career path from receptionist to regional executive shaped her approach to leadership and modern marketing. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, she explains why today’s marketing leaders must rethink how teams operate in the age of AI, moving beyond isolated productivity gains toward fully integrated workflows that allow teams to move faster from insight to execution. Sophie discusses the “messy middle” of AI adoption, where marketers are experimenting individually but struggling to scale transformation across teams, and why the future lies in building an AI-powered marketing operating system. She also reflects on the power of community-led growth, sharing lessons from Notion Australia’s launch and why engaged communities will always tell a brand story better than advertising alone. 🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing minds!#CMOChats #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #AIinMarketing #Notion #MarketingStrategy
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AI and the Business Yogi Mindset: Insights from SAP | CMO Chats by The Ortus Club
May 1300:22:07Tap to summarizePrateek Mathur, Head of Marketing at SAP, shares how a career that began in web development evolved into leading marketing for one of the world’s most influential enterprise software organisations. In this conversation with The Ortus Club, he introduces the “Business Yogi” philosophy, where marketing is defined as the unification of Mind (strategy), Body (execution), and Soul (creativity and innovation). He explains how modern B2B marketing has become increasingly complex, driven by non-linear buyer journeys and expanding buying committees that require marketers to think beyond organisations and engage individual stakeholders with B2C-level precision. At the core of his perspective is a challenge to leaders: to continuously question whether they are truly reimagining marketing through AI or simply applying new tools to outdated processes, positioning the modern CMO as a “Business Yogi” who balances strategy, execution, and innovation in an evolving digital landscape.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing minds!#CMOChats #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #AIinMarketing #SAP #BusinessYogi
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Balancing AI Velocity with Human Storytelling: Insights from F5 | CMO Chats with The Ortus Club
May 600:16:10Tap to summarizeJade Meara, Director of Marketing (APCJ) at F5, operates at the intersection of high-growth markets, evolving regulatory landscapes, and enterprise-scale AI transformation. With a background shaped by storytelling, art, and commerce, she brings a distinctly human perspective to one of today’s most pressing challenges: how to scale AI without losing authenticity. Jade introduces the concept of the “velocity tax” in AI adoption, highlighting the hidden risks of moving too quickly without the right governance and security frameworks in place. At the same time, she explores the evolution of marketing into a revenue-driving function, where teams are increasingly embedded within the Office of the Chief Revenue Officer and measured by business impact rather than activity. For Jade, the modern marketer must strike a careful balance, leveraging AI for speed and efficiency while preserving the clarity, relevance, and emotional resonance that only human storytelling can deliver.🎧 Listen to the full interview and subscribe for more conversations with today’s top marketing minds!#CMOChats #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #AIinMarketing #RevenueMarketing #GrowthMindset
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