Podcast
Marketing Beyond with Alan B. Hart
Hosted by Alan B. Hart · EN
Join Alan B. Hart as he dives into conversations with the world's leading chief marketing officers and business innovators. Tune in to get inspired by the stories and experiences of marketing visionaries—and stay ahead of the curve.
53episodes
Episodes
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41: Turning brand awareness into loyalty: Insights from Herbalife CMO Hanan Wajih
5d ago00:20:26Summary readyHow can marketing help turn brand recognition into meaningful connections? In today's episode, Alan Hart speaks with Herbalife CMO Hanan Wajih about how she views marketing's role in helping lead enterprise transformation by strengthening the brand, sharpening the company's storytelling, and equipping distributors with better tools and content to better support customers. Hanan explains that Herbalife's current opportunity is not awareness, but familiarity, because many people know the name without fully understanding the company's purpose, product quality, innovation, scale or distributor model. She points to the company's broad reach—from nutrition clubs and distributors to sports partnerships and product innovation—and explains why that scale makes clear, consistent storytelling and increasingly personalized engagement more important than ever. For marketing leaders, her comments suggest three practical priorities: continue investing in brand building as a long-term driver of trust and loyalty, use technology to make content and engagement more relevant at scale, and help teams build the skills needed to lead through ongoing change. Hanan also shares her perspective that, as AI reshapes marketing, authenticity, strong values and the willingness to challenge old ways of working are likely to matter just as much as new tools. In this episode, you'll learn: Why awareness may not be enough to build deeper trust, loyalty and long-term growth How marketing can help support transformation through better tools, clearer stories and stronger alignment The importance of balancing innovation with trust and credibility Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:20] A moment in Maui [03:00] Hanan's path to Herbalife [06:55] The scope of her role [07:30] The mission of Herbalife [10:00] Herbalife's enterprise transformation [12:10] Marketing's role in the transformation journey [15:00] An experience that defines you: A multicultural upbringing [16:20] Advice to your younger self: Trust yourself sooner [16:45] What are you curious about: Leadership in the AI era [17:25] What are you trying to learn more about: Generation Alpha and Beta [18:05] Largest opportunity and threat to marketers today: Authenticity [18:30] What would you want an AI agent or an LLM to do for you: Quantify the impact of brand marketing Resources mentioned: Herbalife Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Hanan Wajih and Herbalife Hanan Wajih on LinkedIn Herbalife on LinkedIn Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Connect with Alan Hart on X Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads
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40: Preparing marketing data for AI: Insights from jeweler David Yurman's global head of CRM, data, customer experience and loyalty, Neha Kovach
3w ago00:24:58Summary readyWhat does "AI-ready data" look like in a modern marketing organization, and where can it create practical value for marketers? In today's episode Alan Hart talks with Neha Kovach about the practical work marketers may need to consider before AI can deliver real value. Neha is jeweler David Yurman's global head of customer resource management, data, customer experience and loyalty. Neha believes that getting data ready is less about volume, more about structure and context: cleaning it up, defining customers more clearly, and turning general customer data into signals that can guide action—like how recently someone purchased or how close they are to a milestone. She suggests the bigger opportunity for AI may not be routine service, but rather helping marketers improve conversion, retention, and personalization with more relevant timing and messaging. She also points to a separate operational benefit: increasing workforce capacity by helping teams work more efficiently. Looking ahead, she also explores what it might take for brands to compete in a world where AI agents may increasingly shape what customers see, consider and buy. In this episode, you'll hear about: Ways to think about creating a stronger data foundation to prepare for AI more effectively Where AI may offer practical support across customer engagement, team capacity and decision-making Why understanding customer intent may become increasingly important as marketing continues to evolve Key Highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:15] Moving to the United States [02:05] Neha's path to David Yurman [04:25] What is David Yurman? [05:20] Preparing data for AI [07:55] Bringing agents into the mix [11:20] Specific agentic use cases [13:20] Customer experience in an agentic-enabled world [14:30] An experience that defines you: Losing her mother and becoming one herself [17:35] Advice to your younger self: Be gentle to yourself [18:50] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Neuroplasticity and quantum physics [20:45] Largest opportunity and threat to marketers today: Customer attention span Resources mentioned: David Yurman Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Neha Kovach and David Yurman Neha Kovach on LinkedIn David Yurman on LinkedIn Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Connect with Alan Hart on X Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads
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39: How sales and marketing can grow together: Insights from Braze Chief Revenue Officer Ed McDonnell
4w ago00:39:17Summary readyWhat can stronger sales and marketing alignment look like in practice? In today's episode, Alan Hart talks with Braze Chief Revenue Officer Ed McDonnell about building a career by chasing experiences and skills instead of titles; why strong sales and marketing partnerships start with shared ownership of the customer journey, and how marketers can stay close enough to customers to understand where performance is really breaking down. Drawing on leadership experience across high-growth software, Ed explains why alignment can improve when teams focus less on funnel labels and more on the full customer journey, from awareness to renewal and advocacy. He also talks about the role of data, regular review cadences and honest conversations about where pipeline performance is falling short. Ed shares how Braze is using AI to support decision-making, campaign execution and marketer workflows, and why he believes AI will make shopping more curated, conversational and immediate. For marketers, his message is clear: Better tools matter but staying close to customers and evolving as quickly as they do matters more. In this episode, you'll learn: Why growth can happen faster when sales and marketing stay focused on the customer What leaders can do to spot weak points early and keep teams moving together Where AI can help make customer experiences more relevant and responsive Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:00] Inside fantasy baseball [03:30] Ed's path to Braze [09:15] Where Braze is today [11:10] Bringing sales and marketing together [15:30] Tips for creating a better customer experience [16:45] Building internal trust [19:30] The impact of AI [23:20] An experience that defines you: Family ties and a health scare [26:30] Advice to your younger self: Chase experiences and skills, not titles [28:50] A topic marketers need to learn more about: AI applications for go to market [30:50] What are you interested in right now: Fantasy books and golf [32:30] Largest opportunity or potential threat to marketers today: Themselves Resources mentioned: Braze Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Ed McDonnell and Braze Ed McDonnell on LinkedIn Braze on LinkedIn Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Connect with Alan Hart on X Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads
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Rerelease: Unleashing growth with the 'yes, and' strategy with PNC Bank CMO, Jenn Garbach
Apr 100:33:58Summary readyFrom the archives - orginally released March 2025 Episode Description Jenn Garbach is the chief marketing officer at PNC Bank, where she leads a team of approximately 200 marketing professionals. Her team focuses on brand and line-of-business marketing, paid and social media, direct marketing, and digital marketing strategies. She also helps oversee the bank's relationship with Arnold Worldwide, PNC's integrated marketing and advertising agency of record. With over 20 years of experience in financial and professional services, Jenn has worked across marketing, product management, strategy, technology, and customer experience. She began her career at Deloitte Consulting, and before joining PNC in June 2023, she held leadership roles at PayPal, Capital One, and Thomson Reuters. On today's show, Alan and Jenn discuss her career journey, her initial goals upon joining PNC and the complexities of launching a new brand for a 160-year-old organization. They explore how marketing, often seen as "just pretty pictures," is actually a key growth driver, a concept they refer to as "The Big M." Jenn also breaks down the fundamental premise and strength of the "Yes, And" model and how it fuels innovation and collaboration. Looking ahead, they discuss AI preparedness and its impact on marketing. Key quotes: "You can't just go out with a really funny, creative ad campaign and hope that it's going to do the job. You have to live your brand every single day—and the products, services, experiences we are bringing to market." - Jenn Garbach, CMO at PNC Bank In this episode, you'll learn: Strategies to gain a competitive edge Tips to enhance your marketing efforts using data-driven techniques How to transform your team into powerful change agents Key highlights: [01:53] Jenn's first job as a cart pusher [03:25] Jenn's career path [06:45] Initial goal when joining PNC [07:32] What is involved in launching a new brand [09:10] "Brilliantly Boring" tagline [13:20] Where does marketing go at PNC now? [16:05] How people become a great change agent [21:35] An experience from your past that defines you: studying abroad. [24:20] Advice to your younger self [25:30] A topic that you and other marketers need to learn more about: AI preparedness [28:35] Trends or subcultures others should follow: Super Bowl [30:50] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers today: pace of change Resources mentioned: Jenn Garbach PNC Financial Brilliantly Boring at PNC Boring is Essential (Launch Video) Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Jenn Garbach and PNC Bank: Jenn Garbach on LinkedIn PNC Bank on X PNC Bank on Instagram Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Alan on X Alan on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on Instagram Deloitte Digital on YouTube Deloitte Digital on Threads
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36: Marketing complexity into clarity: Insights from Synopsys CMO Ann Minooka
Mar 1800:46:26Summary readyAs AI reshapes discovery, how do you make complex tech clear to buyers and demonstrate how marketing is driving growth? Synopsys CMO Ann Minooka shares what it takes to market a highly technical business with clarity, precision, and accountability for business outcomes. She views marketing as the bridge between engineering and the market. Technical product marketing translates capabilities into value propositions, while brand and communications tailor the message for different audiences based on what they care about and where they go for information. Ann explains that her team is moving away from broad product campaigns and vanity metrics like impressions. Instead, she advocates an outcome-led, data-driven approach that uses marketing technology, intent signals and analysis to improve targeting and connect programs to lead quality, pipeline creation and new customer growth. She also outlines how AI is changing planning and implementation, including using behavior signals to meet buyers where they are, building more personalized web experiences, and rethinking content for answer-based discovery across platforms. While AI can speed up first drafts and analysis, Ann believes the bigger unlock is integrating AI across the full workflow and evolving talent and habits. In this episode, you'll learn: Ways to make complex offerings clear and relevant to different audiences. How outcome-focused measurement can help connect marketing to growth. How AI is reshaping buyer discovery, and ways leaders can adapt. Key highlights: [00:30] Introduction [01:30] A love for nature [06:00] Ann's path to Synopsys [09:35] What does Synopsys do? [15:25] Marketing complex solutions [20:05] Optimizing for outcomes [23:40] AI's impact on marketing [31:00] An experience that defines you: Gaining a global perspective [34:40] Advice to your younger self: Learn an instrument, own your own career, and be curious [37:20] A topic you're trying to learn more about: AI's impact on productivity and talent [41:35] Trends or subcultures: The future of intelligence and space travel [44:00] Largest potential threat: Resisting AI Resources mentioned: Synopsys Ansys Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Ann Minooka and Synopsys: Ann Minooka on LinkedIn Synopsys on LinkedIn Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Connect with Alan Hart on X Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads
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35: Marketing as entertainment, built to perform: Insights from Chime Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, Vineet Mehra
Mar 400:45:36Summary readyHow can you create marketing that feels like entertainment and drives measurable growth? Chime Chief Growth and Marketing Officer Vineet Mehra breaks down the product and marketing choices he sees fueling Chime's momentum, including being named Time magazine's No. 1 banking brand. He frames Chime as "not a bank" but a "financial technology company" built for "everyday Americans." And he attributes its traction to showing up in the channels and subcultures where many people spend time, while building products and features designed to meet real needs. Vineet also shares what other marketing leaders can take from Chime's approach: Start with a differentiated product. Treat attention as the ultimate currency. And use social-first, episodic entertainment to make financial topics more relatable. At Chime, brand building looks more like running a streaming platform or magazine, where the job is to consistently earn attention with programming people choose to watch. To ensure that entertainment-driven attention translates into growth, he leans on "performance storytelling" that connects brand-building, direct response and customer lifetime value. He also explains how Chime is applying AI by mapping tools to "jobs to be done" across customer service, creative workflows and talent development. Vineet closes with his view that the biggest potential threat to marketers is resisting change—that leaders should encourage hands-on experimentation while staying anchored to commercial outcomes. In this episode, you'll learn: Ways attention can be earned through entertainment-style brand storytelling Practical lessons for applying AI to specific high-impact work inside marketing and customer operations How marketing leaders can earn more influence in executive and boardroom conversations Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:30] CMO by day, pizza maker by night [03:15] Vineet's path to Chime [08:00] Success in the banking industry [11:15] Marketing that punches above its weight [14:15] Showing up where people willingly spend time [16:50] A brief history of marketing leading to performance storytelling [23:10] Chime's AI journey [29:30] How AI is impacting talent conversations [32:40] Marketing and the boardroom [36:25] An experience that defines you: Growing up as an immigrant in a blue-collar town [38:25] Advice to your younger self: Bloom where you're planted [40:15] A topic you're trying to learn more about: The platform shift [41:30] Trends or subcultures: Hyper-personalized algorithms [43:10] Largest potential threat: The innovator's dilemma Resources mentioned: Chime "Mama, I Made It" interview series Ball On A Budget Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Vineet Mehra and Chime: Vineet on LinkedIn Chime on LinkedIn Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Connect with Alan Hart on X Connect with Alan Hart on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Connect with Deloitte Digital on Instagram Connect with Deloitte Digital on YouTube Connect with Deloitte Digital on Threads
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34: Reaching patients directly in medtech: Insights from Medtronic's Senior Director of Global Integrated Communications, Neuromodulation, Naomi Rodiles
Feb 1800:20:11Summary readyHow do you raise awareness for complex, highly regulated medical therapies when most eligible patients do not even know it exists? At CES 2026, Alan Hart spoke with Naomi Rodiles, senior director of Global Integrated Communications, Neuromodulation, at Medtronic, about the patient communication required to grow adoption of therapies like deep brain stimulation that can support management of movement disorders like Parkinson's. Naomi explains that the challenge is not clinical efficacy or provider trust, but rather awareness. Even proven therapies can sometimes remain invisible to patients until late in their journey. She outlines how her team is evolving from primarily health care provider-centered messaging to a multichannel, digital-first communications model designed to directly reach patients and caregivers to help them discover, understand and evaluate options earlier. Naomi emphasizes that effective patient marketing in medtech is less about promotion and more about credible education that empowers better conversations in the clinician's office, while strengthening provider partnerships. She also shares practical leadership lessons from the transformation: design for modern consumer expectations, build integrated channel presence so information is findable when people search, and adopt AI carefully to scale content and storytelling within a regulated environment. In this episode, you'll learn: Why awareness, not efficacy, is often the real growth constraint for complex offerings and strategies to navigate it Ways to win trust by prioritizing education over promotion Practical lessons for scaling content in regulated, high-stakes categories using AI Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:00] Starting out at BET's Rap City [02:15] Naomi's path to Medtronic [02:50] The scope of Medtronic [03:50] Medtronic's neuromodulation therapies [05:55] Marketing life-changing solutions [07:50] Evolving the messaging [10:15] Lessons learned [11:45] Symbiotic relationships with health care providers [13:10] An experience that defines you: Falling in love with journalism [14:40] Advice to your younger self: Be mindful of burnout [15:05] A topic marketers need to learn more about: AI [16:00] What are you curious about: AI for equity [16:50] Largest potential threat to marketers today: Resisting change [18:10] CES trends: AI becoming helpful in everyday life Resources mentioned: Medtronic CES Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) therapy Medtronic Percept DBS system Actualize Impact BET's "Rap City: Tha Basement" Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Naomi Rodiles and Medtronic: Naomi Rodiles on LinkedIn Medtronic on LinkedIn Medtronic on YouTube Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Alan Hart on X Alan Hart on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on Instagram Deloitte Digital on YouTube Deloitte Digital on Threads
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33: Rethink customer experience orchestration with AI: Insights from Adobe Enterprise CMO Rachel Thornton
Feb 400:20:57Summary readyHow can marketing leaders deliver personalization at scale as content demands surge? How do brands protect discoverability as customers shift their search focus from SEO to answer engines and AI agents? At CES 2026, Alan Hart sat down with Rachel Thornton, Enterprise CMO at Adobe, to unpack the ways AI is reshaping customer experience orchestration and the content supply chain. Rachel explains that real personalization drives a major increase in content needs, and that AI can compress production cycles so teams can create, test and optimize large volumes of campaign assets faster than humans alone while staying consistent and on-brand across channels. The conversation then turns to generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO) where Rachel notes discoverability is increasingly dependent on how brands show up in AI-driven search results and in the broader ecosystem of content beyond their own websites. Throughout the conversation, Rachel reinforces that making AI work requires coordinated change across data foundations, processes and skills, not just new tools. She also offers practical lessons for other CMOs on centering customer needs and building a culture of curiosity and experimentation, so teams keep learning as the marketing playbook evolves. In this episode, you'll learn: Ways AI enables personalization at scale Strategies to modernize the content supply chain How AI is shifting marketing and the adjustments marketers can make to stay discoverable Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:00] A love of reading [01:40] Rachel's career path [02:50] Life as the Enterprise CMO [03:55] How AI is changing the marketing role [06:05] Content supply chain at its best [07:45] Using AI to its full potential [09:20] Discoverability in the AI era [11:45] Lessons for CMOs [13:20] Examples of companies doing marketing well [14:15] An experience that defines you: Customer face time [16:05] Advice to your younger self: It's not linear. Try new things! [16:45] A topic marketers need to learn more about: AI [17:40] What are you curious about: Robots [18:30] Largest opportunity to marketers today: "Everybody is a creator at heart" [19:50] CES trends: Embedded AI Resources mentioned: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Marketo Engage Adobe GenStudio for Performance Marketing Adobe LLM Optimizer Adobe Digital Academy Project Fizzion (Coca-Cola x Adobe) Adobe x NFL partnership CES Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Rachel Thornton and Adobe: Rachel Thornton on LinkedIn Adobe on LinkedIn Adobe on Instagram Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Alan Hart on X Alan Hart on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on Instagram Deloitte Digital on YouTube <p class="Paragraph SCX...
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32: Strategies to link marketing to revenue: Insights from Anaplan CMO Jim Freeze
Jan 2100:39:14Summary readyHow might your marketing strategy change if you could prove—with shared baselines and benchmarks—which efforts truly move the needle, and which don't? Anaplan CMO Jim Freeze explains how AI is evolving marketing workflows, elevating creative focus, and tightening the link to measurable outcomes. He details how his team sets explicit productivity goals and uses AI to support content development, enabling marketers to spend more time on strategy, creativity and smarter channel-mix decisions. He also dives into measurement fundamentals with practical advice leaders can act on now: establish transparent targets, align on baselines and industry benchmarks, and report progress regularly. The conversation also emphasizes tighter alignment with sales, stronger finance fluency for marketers, and preparing for the AI-driven search that will reshape content and site strategy. In this episode, you'll learn: Jim's tips to demonstrate marketing's value with metrics leaders trust The importance of baselines, benchmarks and transparent reporting to earn credibility with the C-suite The potential benefits of cross‑functional accountability and AI integration to pipeline velocity, win rates and team focus Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:40] Our first math major and second lawyer [04:20] From programming in C to being a CMO [07:55] The scope of Anaplan [12:15] How Anaplan is using AI [15:45] The evolution of the marketer role [18:45] Demonstrating the value of marketing [23:25] The importance of transparency [26:55] Ways to improve your measurement framework [30:00] An experience that defines you: Leaving law [32:25] Advice to your younger self: Take more risks [33:10] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Finance [34:50] Trends and subcultures to watch: AI search [35:40] Largest opportunity to marketers today: AI Resources mentioned: Anaplan Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Jim Freeze and Anaplan: Jim Freeze on LinkedIn Anaplan on LinkedIn Anaplan on YouTube Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Alan Hart on X Alan Hart on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on Instagram Deloitte Digital on YouTube Deloitte Digital on Threads
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31: Turning a marketing idea into a product: Insights from Sift's former Chief Marketing Officer Armen Najarian
Jan 700:28:39Summary readyWhat if your next marketing idea could become your company's most valuable product? Armen Najarian, former CMO at Sift, discusses the challenges of marketing in the digital fraud prevention industry, the power of incentives, and how a marketing solution became an impactful product innovation. Armen shares how creative referral programs like "Super Sifters" and a strong focus on third-party reviews have elevated Sift's market position and built lasting customer trust. He also explains how the company's Fraud Industry Benchmarking Resource (FIBR) tool began as a marketing initiative that faced internal pushback over essentially making company data open source. Despite the risks, the idea evolved into a real-time, peer comparison product feature—and ultimately became Sift's top demand generator. Armen's experience highlights the value of bold experimentation and cross-functional, innovative thinking in driving marketing-led growth. In this episode, you'll learn: The incentive strategies that move the needle for Sift How a bold marketing idea can turn into a standout product feature The benefits of finding a personal connection to your work Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:05] Escaping to eastern Maine [03:15] Armen's path to Sift [05:20] The scope of Sift [06:20] From brand management to product marketing [07:55] 10 years in cybersecurity [10:10] Incentive strategies and bobble heads [13:45] How marketing can become a product [15:10] FIBR product demonstration [18:25] An experience that defines you: Entrepreneurship [22:40] Advice to your younger self: Don't sweat the small stuff [24:00] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Experimenting with AI [25:25] Trends and subcultures to watch: Philosophy [26:00] Largest opportunity to marketers today: AI Resources mentioned: Sift FIBR G2 Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Audible Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify Connect with Armen Najarian and Sift: Armen Najarian on LinkedIn Sift on LinkedIn Sift on YouTube Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital: Alan Hart on X Alan Hart on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn Deloitte Digital on Instagram Deloitte Digital on YouTube Deloitte Digital on Threads
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