Episodios

  • Ep.122 - Measuring Agentic AI, ROI, and the Future of GTM Benchmarks with Ray Rike - Part 1

    Ep.122 - Measuring Agentic AI, ROI, and the Future of GTM Benchmarks with Ray Rike - Part 1
    Apr 15 2026
    General Episode Description:In this episode of Selling Intelligence, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Ray Rike, founder and CEO of Benchmarkit, to tackle one of the most critical questions in enterprise AI today: how do you actually measure success in agentic AI programs?Ray shares why most AI initiatives are stuck in “pilot purgatory,” the common mistakes companies make when trying to automate broken processes, and why an AI-first mindset requires a complete rethink of data, workflows, and metrics. The conversation also explores how go-to-market teams should define ROI, what benchmarks matter in an AI-driven world, and why traditional SaaS metrics are no longer enough. What You’ll Learn:Why AI Projects Stall: The real reasons most agentic AI initiatives never scale beyond pilots.AI-First vs Human-First Thinking: How redesigning processes for AI fundamentally changes outcomes.Data Readiness Matters: Why poor CRM data and lack of governance derail AI success.Measuring AI ROI: The new metrics leaders must track to justify AI investment.The Shift in GTM Economics: Why cost structures and efficiency benchmarks are changing fast.Key Topics:“Pilot purgatory” and lack of enterprise-wide AI focusThe importance of data hygiene and enrichment for AI successRedesigning processes with AI at the center, not as an add-onThe rise of vertical AI and pre-built agent workflowsDefining success with leading, mid-term, and lagging metricsCAC ratio vs AI-driven efficiency benchmarks“COGS is the new CAC” and shifting cost structures in AI-native companiesRevenue per employee as a proxy for AI productivityToken consumption and cost predictability challengesBuilding smaller, modular agents instead of large monolithic systemsThe four-layer measurement framework: productivity, effectiveness, efficiency, and ROIGuest Spotlight: Ray RikeRay Rike is the founder and CEO of Benchmarkit, a leading source of B2B SaaS performance benchmarks with data from over 1,800 companies. He is also the host of the AI to ROI podcast and a founding member of the SaaS Metric Standards Board. With decades of experience as a go-to-market operator and executive, Ray focuses on helping companies move from intuition to data-driven decision-making in both SaaS and AI-driven environments. Resources & Mentions:BenchMarkitAI to ROI podcastConcept: Agentic AI in go-to-marketConcept: “Pilot purgatory” in AI adoptionConcept: AI-first process designConcept: COGS as the new CACOpenAI Frontier AllianceVertical AI platforms (example: Harvey for legal)Metrics framework: productivity, effectiveness, efficiency, ROI🎧 Listen now and follow Selling Intelligence for more insights on AI measurement, GTM strategy, and building data-driven revenue engines.Mark (00:31)Welcome to Selling Intelligence. We're joined today by someone who might have had the honor and privilege of calling both a collaborator and a friend. Ray Reich is the founder and CEO of BenchMarket, the industry's most comprehensive source of B2B SaaS performance benchmarks with data from over 1,800 companies.Ray is also the host of the AI to ROI podcast. He's a founding member of the SAS Metric Standards Board. And full disclosure, my co-author on data and diagnosis driven selling, Ray has spent decades as a go-to-market operator, having served as president of Simply Learn, CEO at Higher Mojo, SVP at Moment Feed,and multiple times SVP market and sales and SaaS companies before founding Benchmark it roughly five years ago. And they have a singular mission, give every B2B reoccurring revenue software operator access to data driven benchmarks so they stop flying blind. Today, we're going, well, first off, let me welcome you, Ray. Thanks so much for joining us.Ray Rike (01:43)Thank you, Mark. Sorry that I'm so old that you had it took that long to read everything I've done.Mark (01:47)Exactly. Well, you know what? That's also a good thing because you've done some amazing things throughout your career and you're not that old. So, yes, let me tell you, let's talk a little bit about today and where we're going to go on this podcast. ⁓ What we'd like to do is tackle what might be the most important and for sure most underserved question in enterprise AI right now.How do you actually measure the success of agentic AI programs? And even more specifically, what does that look like for go-to-market functions? We'll dig into what benchmark its data, what is it revealing, where the industry is setting the bar, and what separates teams that are generating real ROI from those stuck in pilot purgatory. Ray, welcome to Selling Intelligence.Ray Rike (02:36)Okay, excited to be here. Let's dive into it.Mark (02:39)All right, so Ray, you've been collecting SAS performance data for years, and now you're turning that lens on AI. From what you're seeing at Benchmark and in hearing on your podcast, what's the core reason most agentic AI programs never graduate from pilot stage? Is it a data problem, ...
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    26 m
  • Ep. 121 - AI-Driven Buyer Behavior, Trust, and the New Sales Playbook with Sabrina Parsons - Part 2

    Ep. 121 - AI-Driven Buyer Behavior, Trust, and the New Sales Playbook with Sabrina Parsons - Part 2
    Apr 9 2026
    General Episode Description:In this continuation of Selling Intelligence, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software, to explore the human side of leadership, trust, and AI adoption in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.Sabrina shares her perspective on diversity in leadership, the realities of building a career as a working parent, and why creating an “integrated life” leads to stronger teams and better business outcomes. The conversation also dives into how trust has become the ultimate differentiator in an AI-driven world, and how companies must rethink how they show up as human, credible, and authentic.The episode closes with practical insights on how leaders should approach AI, where it delivers real value, and how to use it as a tool for thinking, not replacing human judgment. What You’ll Learn:Diversity as a Competitive Advantage: Why different perspectives lead to better decisions and stronger organizations.The Integrated Life Approach: How flexibility and trust improve retention, loyalty, and performance.Human Trust in an AI World: Why authenticity and real human interaction are becoming the new moat.Practical AI Usage: How to use AI for preparation, critique, and efficiency without losing credibility.Leading Through AI Disruption: How leaders can guide teams to experiment with AI while setting the right guardrails.Key Topics:The impact of diversity and inclusion on business performanceSupporting working parents and creating flexible, human-centered workplacesThe myth of “doing it all” and redefining success in leadershipWhy trust is harder to earn in a world of AI-generated contentReal vs artificial experiences in customer interactionsThe role of influencer trust and community platforms like RedditUsing real people and authentic content to build credibilityWhere AI overpromises and where it delivers real efficiencyAI as a tool for critique, feedback, and preparationUnderstanding how LLMs perceive your product and brand through consensus signalsThe shift from SEO authority to AI-driven consensus and reputationGuest Spotlight: Sabrina ParsonsSabrina Parsons is the CEO of Palo Alto Software, makers of LivePlan, and a leader with deep experience across sales, marketing, and executive leadership. She is a strong advocate for women in leadership and brings a unique perspective on building resilient organizations, fostering trust, and navigating multiple waves of technological change. Resources & Mentions:Palo Alto SoftwareLivePlanConcept: AI trust gap and authenticity in digital interactionsConcept: Integrated life vs traditional work-life balanceConcept: Consensus-driven reputation in AI search and LLMsBook: Into Thin Air by Jon KrakauerBook: Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom🎧 Listen now and follow Selling Intelligence for more insights on leadership, AI adoption, and building trust in modern go-to-market teams.Mark Petruzzi (00:31)So Sabrina, you're a strong advocate for women in sales and leadership. In your experience, what do women bring to the sales equation that often gets undervalued? And what does the data actually show?Sabrina Parsons (00:43)Yeah, that's a great question. I think that we've, well, hopefully people have, there's been a lot of data over the years that just shows a few things, I know these days, you know, talking about diversity is, you know, a hot topic and not something everybody wants to hear. But if you actually go and look at the data,Any time you're bringing different viewpoints in, it actually turns out the data shows that that's really good for an organization. That when you have six people who all come from the same background, who went, you know, got similar educations, have the same experiences, you're missing out. You're not getting some of these other alternate viewpoints that...could actually give you different insights and make your company better. So from that perspective, be it women or people of color, people from different cultural backgrounds, every time you have different people in a room, you're gonna win because they're gonna bring different information to the table. And then I think that, you know.Even though it's 2026 and I wish we were in a different place with women in leadership, the reality is that we still live in a world where, you know, there aren't as many women in technology. ⁓ And the numbers just show that and there aren't as many women in technology and leadership. And so women who are there and have made it all the way through, particularly in a leadership role, have probably worked really hard to get there.and probably have some really good insights. From my perspective, one of the things that I think is most powerful and I think can bring a lot of value to a company is recognizing particularly working moms and working parents, but as a working mom, I'm not a working dad, so I won't talk for working dads, thatYou know, there's a lot of very motivated, super smart ...
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    25 m
  • Ep.120 - AI-Driven Buyer Behavior, Trust, and the New Sales Playbook with Sabrina Parsons - Part 1

    Ep.120 - AI-Driven Buyer Behavior, Trust, and the New Sales Playbook with Sabrina Parsons - Part 1
    Apr 1 2026
    General Episode Description:In this episode of Selling Intelligence, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software, to explore how AI is rapidly reshaping buyer behavior and forcing a complete rethink of how companies sell, market, and build trust.Sabrina shares how search behavior has fundamentally shifted toward AI-generated answers, reducing click-throughs and changing how buyers consume information. She explains why this creates new challenges in clarity, especially around the “build vs buy” decision, and why sales teams must now work harder to guide buyers through uncertainty.The conversation also dives into the growing importance of trust, the evolving relationship between sales and marketing, and how organizations can use AI effectively without losing the human connection that ultimately drives decisions. What You’ll Learn:The New Buyer Behavior: How AI-driven search and LLMs are reducing clicks and changing how buyers gather information.The “Muddy Middle” Problem: Why AI has blurred clarity around what buyers actually need and whether they should build or buy.Selling in an AI World: How sales teams must adapt when buyers are more informed but also more uncertain.Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why tighter collaboration is critical to address buyer confusion and build trust earlier.Using AI Without Losing Trust: Where AI enhances the sales process and where it can damage credibility.Key Topics:Shift from keyword search to question-based search behaviorAI-generated answers reducing traditional website trafficAEO vs SEO: optimizing for AI engines, not just search enginesBuyers arriving more educated but with incomplete or misleading contextThe disruption of the “why change” conversation in salesBuild vs buy vs AI: a more complex decision landscape for buyersMarketing’s role in answering buyer questions upfront and building trustThe risk of poor AI experiences damaging brand perceptionUsing AI for preparation versus customer-facing interactionsTurning AI efficiency into better personalization and human engagementGuest Spotlight: Sabrina ParsonsSabrina Parsons is the CEO of Palo Alto Software, makers of LivePlan, a leading business planning and financial forecasting platform. With experience leading both sales and marketing, she brings a unique perspective on how companies build sustainable revenue engines. Sabrina is also a strong advocate for women in leadership and technology, and has guided her company through multiple waves of technological change. Resources & Mentions:Palo Alto SoftwareLivePlanConcept: AEO (AI Engine Optimization) vs traditional SEOConcept: Build vs Buy vs AI decision-makingConcept: Trust equation in modern salesExample: Customer experience with AI chatbots (Oura Ring case)🎧 Listen now and follow Selling Intelligence for more insights on AI, modern buyer behavior, and building high-performing revenue teams.Mark Petruzzi (00:31)Welcome to Selling Intelligence. Our guest today is Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software, makers of LivePlan, one of the world's leading business planning and financial forecasting platforms. Sabrina has been the helm at the company, this company that has over four decades of history leading through multiple waves of technology disruption.Before stepping into the CEO role, she ran both sales and marketing, giving her a uniquely integrated view of how companies grow, how buyers decide, and what it really takes to build a revenue engine that lasts. She is a passionate advocate for women in leadership and technology, a thread we'll weave in throughout today's conversation as well. So three topics we'd like to cover with you and with Sabrina today.how AI is reshaping buyer behavior and what that means for how you sell. We've covered that many times on our podcasts already, but we really are excited about Sabrina's perspective and her experiences in that area as well. The second one is why the human element, why trust, story building and storytelling.And relationships are the only sustainable differentiators that we really can build in today's business climate. And third and finally, what sales and marketing leaders must do differently today and how that integrates into the CEO role and also the board of directors. What can the boards be doing to help their sales and marketing leaders evolve in the way that they need to?Sabrina, welcome to Selling Intelligence.Sabrina Parsons (02:13)Great, thanks Mark, I'm really happy to be here.Mark Petruzzi (02:15)All right, let's dive right into topic one. ⁓ Topic one, AI and the changing buyer. So Sabrina, you've described the buyer behavior online as having shifted more dramatically in the last 18 months than in the prior decade. What are you actually seeing? Why does it matter so much for how we sell and how we need to sell in the future?Sabrina Parsons (02:35)that's a great question. And I'm pretty sure as soon as I start talking, all the listeners ...
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    19 m
  • Ep. 119 – Running Uphill at Full Speed When AI Keeps Raising the GTM Bar with Sunil Rao – Part 2

    Ep. 119 – Running Uphill at Full Speed When AI Keeps Raising the GTM Bar with Sunil Rao – Part 2
    Mar 25 2026

    In this episode of Selling the Cloud, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson continue their conversation with Sunil Rao, founder and CEO of Tribble, diving deeper into SaaS fatigue, agentic execution, and the challenge of scaling institutional knowledge in enterprise sales.

    Sunil breaks down how AI agents are reshaping the way work gets done by becoming the interface across systems, eliminating the need for constant tool-switching, and enabling teams to operate from a single layer of intelligence. He also shares how modern GTM teams can capture and scale expertise across conversations, documents, and internal knowledge to improve performance over time.

    The discussion closes with a look at the human side of selling, where trust, collaboration, and real customer engagement remain irreplaceable even as AI automates more of the workflow.

    What You’ll Learn:

    • SaaS Fatigue and the Shift to Agents: Why the future interface is not more tools, but a single AI layer that connects everything.
    • Agentic Execution in Practice: How AI can capture context across calls, RFIs, and RFPs to generate smarter, more personalized responses.
    • Scaling Institutional Knowledge: How to turn tribal knowledge, conversations, and documents into a usable system of intelligence.
    • The Failure of Static Content Systems: Why traditional enablement platforms fall behind the speed of modern business.
    • Human + AI Collaboration: Where automation should take over and where human judgment, trust, and relationships still win.

    Key Topics:

    • “Kiss your apps goodbye” and the rise of agents as the new interface
    • Eliminating tool-switching and browser tab overload for GTM teams
    • Capturing context across the full sales lifecycle, not just at the RFP stage
    • Using AI to coach reps in real time during customer interactions
    • Building knowledge graphs from calls, documents, and internal conversations
    • Denoising and validating data from sources like Slack, Gong, and CRM systems
    • Why knowledge bottlenecks exist due to limited subject matter experts
    • The limits of traditional enablement programs and static content libraries
    • Designing AI systems with humans in the loop for approval and quality control
    • Reallocating 30% of seller time from admin work to customer engagement


    Guest Spotlight: Sunil Rao

    Sunil Rao is the founder and CEO of Tribble, an AI-native platform that helps enterprise sales teams automate and optimize go-to-market workflows. With a background as an engineer at SAP and a leader at Salesforce, Sunil brings a unique perspective on both the technical and human sides of enterprise selling. At Tribble, he focuses on building systems that scale knowledge, improve response quality, and enable teams to operate more efficiently with AI.

    Resources & Mentions:

    • Tribble
    • Concept: Agentic workflows in go-to-market
    • Knowledge graphs for sales and GTM intelligence
    • SaaS consolidation and interface shift to AI
    • The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
    • Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
    • Concepts: “SaaS fatigue” and “tribal knowledge” in enterprise organizations

    🎧 Listen now and follow Selling the Cloud for more insights on AI-driven GTM strategy, enterprise sales transformation, and the future of work.


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    22 m
  • Ep. 118 – Running Uphill at Full Speed When AI Keeps Raising the GTM Bar with Sunil Rao – Part 1

    Ep. 118 – Running Uphill at Full Speed When AI Keeps Raising the GTM Bar with Sunil Rao – Part 1
    Mar 18 2026
    In this episode of Selling Intelligence Podcast, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Sunil Rao, founder and CEO of Tribble, to explore how AI is reshaping enterprise sales, go-to-market execution, and the future of software itself. Sunil shares why AI-driven productivity alone is no longer enough to create advantage, how the rise of agents is changing what software should do, and why trust, personalization, and institutional knowledge are becoming even more important in a world flooded with AI-generated noise.The conversation dives into the productivity paradox, the coming consolidation of fragmented SaaS tools, and the shift from software that assists humans to systems that can actually take action on their behalf. What You’ll Learn:The Productivity Paradox: Why AI makes everyone faster at the same time, raising the bar instead of creating instant advantage.AI and New Work Creation: How efficiency gains in one part of the workflow can create new review, oversight, and decision-making work elsewhere.Differentiation in an AI World: Why personalization, timing, and relevance matter more now that everyone has access to the same tools.From SaaS to Agents: What separates AI-assisted software from agentic systems that can actually do the work.Trust in Autonomous Systems: Why transparency, confidence, and clear decision logs are critical when AI operates inside core business systems.Key Topics:The treadmill problem in modern sales productivityWhy AI has upgraded everyone at the same timeThe flood of low-quality outbound and the need for precision engagementUsing digital exhaust and customer signals to guide better sales conversationsWhy traditional scaling models relied on people because software could not solve the problem yetHow fast-moving foundation models are changing product designThe coming consolidation of SaaS point solutionsWhy the future interface may be lighter, with more approvals and fewer manual workflowsBuilding AI-native products that can evolve with each new model releaseReducing SaaS fatigue by designing for orchestration, not more app sprawlGuest Spotlight: Sunil RaoSunil Rao is the founder and CEO of Tribble, an AI-native platform built to help enterprise sales teams scale knowledge and automate critical go-to-market workflows. Before founding Tribble, Sunil began his career as a software engineer at SAP and later held leadership roles at Salesforce, including GM of Consumer Goods. Tribble was founded in 2023 and has quickly gained traction for helping companies automate RFP responses and improve GTM efficiency with AI-native workflows. Resources & Mentions:TribbleSalesforce Ventures generative AI fundRFP automation and response workflowsAI agents versus traditional SaaS applicationsSaaS consolidation and platform orchestrationThe role of trust and transparency in AI adoption🎧 Listen now and follow Selling Intelligence Podcast for more conversations on AI, modern go-to-market strategy, and the future of enterprise sales.Mark Petruzzi (00:31)Welcome to today's episode of Selling Intelligence Podcast. I'm thrilled to welcome Sunil Rao, founder and CEO of Tribble, an AI native platform that's fundamentally changing how enterprise sales teams scale knowledge and automate critical go-to-market workflows. Sunil's journey has been fascinating. He started as a software engineer at SAP.moved into leadership roles at Salesforce, including and general manager of consumer goods, and then founded Tribble in 2023. Tribble was quickly added to Salesforce's ventures, $500 million generative AI fund, and has since revolutionized RFP automation, helping companies like Clary, Sword Health, and others slash response times by up to 80%.Today we're exploring a critical challenge facing every sales leader. AI is making us more productive, but the bar keeps rising. It's like running on a treadmill at full speed and just when you your stride, the incline keeps going up. How do you stay ahead when everyone else has access to the same productivity gains? We're gonna focus on four critical themes. The productivity paradox, why AI-driven efficientisn't enough to win anymore. From software to agents, building AI that actually does the work, not just assists, scaling institutional knowledge, the hidden competitive mode in enterprise go-to-market, and the human element, where AI should take over and where it must step back. Sunil.First off, we're really happy to have you here. Thank you for taking the time with us and welcome.Sunil Rao (02:10)Thanks for having me. It's nice to be with you all.Mark Petruzzi (02:12)Excellent. So topic one, the productivity paradox. Let's start with what you have called the treadmill problem. Every sales team now has access to AI tools, chat GPT, co-pilot, all these niche engagement and enablement platforms. And all sales teams are getting more productive, or at least the ones that are investing in this. But here's the thing, if everyone's running faster, you're not actually...
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    20 m
  • Ep. 117 – Escaping the Crisis of Sameness in Modern Sales with Doug Landis – Part 2

    Ep. 117 – Escaping the Crisis of Sameness in Modern Sales with Doug Landis – Part 2
    Mar 11 2026
    In this episode, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Doug Landis to explore why storytelling has become one of the most powerful skills in modern sales. From lessons learned in the film industry to practical strategies for enterprise selling, the conversation highlights how narratives help sellers build trust, create alignment, and close deals faster.Doug explains that buyers don’t actually buy products; they buy the story attached to the outcome those products create. When sellers focus on telling clear, meaningful stories rather than listing features, they make it easier for buyers to understand the value and communicate it internally. The discussion also dives into the shift from traditional inside-out selling (focused on CRM data and internal information) to an outside-in approach, where sellers study the buyer’s business, strategy, and external signals to craft a more relevant narrative.What You’ll LearnWhy storytelling is more powerful than product features in salesHow great stories help buyers remember your solution and sell it internallyThe difference between rambling and effective storytelling in conversationsWhy sellers should shift from inside-out CRM preparation to an outside-in perspectiveHow understanding your buyer’s business leads to stronger trust and bigger dealsWhy trust-driven selling can accelerate deal cycles and increase deal sizePractical ways sales leaders can build storytelling into their team cultureKey topics covered include:How great stories help buyers sell your solution internallyThe difference between rambling and structured storytellingWhy sellers should spend more time on outside-in researchHow AI tools can help sellers synthesize external insights fasterWhat leaders can measure to prove trust-driven selling worksRapid-fire insights on sales habits, books, and early lessonsDoug also shares a powerful reminder: people don’t buy features; they buy the outcome the story promises, whether that’s solving a problem, improving their business, or simply getting their Sundays back. Mark Petruzzi (00:31)Now that is some, that's really, really great stuff, Doug. And I'm gonna share a little bit about how I use, how I've learned to use stories into my selling process. And not only my selling process, running companies, working with private equity firms, communicating with people in all kinds of ways. And it really came down to about 15 years ago,Doug Landis (00:45)Mmm, yes.Mark Petruzzi (00:56)I was involved with a couple of ⁓ and brought in by friends of mine in a couple of films and TV series. I invested in a couple of them for a little bit of a while. was like, forget about enterprise software and selling. And I'm going to be running around with Steven Spielberg soon. That didn't happen. But we did pretty well with these movies.And I'll give you an example. Somebody I've done work with is a filmmaker by the name of Michael Corente. And he's just one example of about a half a dozen that I got to work with. But he's a producer. That's what he focuses on. And in the entertainment industry, I learned there are no, well, there are, I found in my career, there are no better storytellers, not even than the writers. Of course they know how to tell stories.Doug Landis (01:20)So cool.Mark Petruzzi (01:44)but the producers that are out there getting investments and everything else. And man man, Michael was one of them. He's done some amazing things. He's created some really just incredible films that he made happen and he does a lot of stuff with Netflix now and Hulu and incredible stuff. So my point in this is for everyone in business,Doug Landis (01:48)Yep.Mark Petruzzi (02:09)Find your way of getting exposed to individuals like that. Now we all can't typically just call up and get to know a producer. I just happen to have some friends in the industry that I grew up with and got in that track. But maybe it's about writers. It's about different people who run businesses that you just look at. And just learn that side of the equation becauseIt's as specific as you define it, in my opinion, and it's also as generic as just like if you learn how to be a good storyteller, you're going to be successful in business and life. Like I use these same skills with my two children. they love to hear stories. It's just incredible. good.Doug Landis (02:48)Amen.KK Anderson (02:49)People will like you, Yeah.Doug Landis (02:53)Well, I got a caveat to that.I have a caveat to that. Everybody loves somebody who is a good storyteller. Everybody despises somebody who not despise that's pretty aggressive, but it's not a big fan of the people who ramble. They think they're telling a story and they're just it's just one ginormous run on sentence that you never know where going to end. Because reality is it right like it's like no one wants to be the person stuck at the party with I ⁓ I got to sit next to them. ⁓ they never shut up. They always sayKK Anderson (03:09)Yes.1,000.Mark ...
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    21 m
  • Ep. 116 – Escaping the Crisis of Sameness in Modern Sales with Doug Landis – Part 1

    Ep. 116 – Escaping the Crisis of Sameness in Modern Sales with Doug Landis – Part 1
    Mar 3 2026
    In this episode of Selling the Cloud, Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Doug Landis, Co-Founder of StoryPath.ai and host of Sales Stories, to unpack how AI is reshaping the buyer seller relationship and why most sales teams are still playing by outdated rules.Doug shares why AI has enhanced the buyer’s world more than the seller’s, what he calls the invisible evaluation, and how today’s buyers are 80 to 90 percent through their decision process before ever speaking to a rep.The conversation dives deep into the crisis of sameness in modern sales, why traditional discovery no longer works, and how trust and story have become the last true differentiators in a crowded market.If you are leading a sales team, building a pipeline, or navigating complex enterprise deals, this episode will challenge how you think about first meetings, process, and positioning in an AI driven world.What You’ll Learn:AI and the Buyer Shift: Why 89 percent of B2B buyers are using generative AI and how 83 percent of the journey now happens without a seller.The Invisible Evaluation: How buyers are researching, comparing, and shortlisting vendors without leaving digital breadcrumbs.The Crisis of Sameness: Why AI tools are causing sellers to sound identical and how that kills differentiation.First Meeting Reimagined: How to show up with a hypothesis, point of view, and buyer language instead of running outdated discovery scripts.Trust and Story as Strategy: Why storytelling is not case studies and how narrative builds alignment across large buying committees.CEO of the Territory: Why modern reps must think like business leaders, not process followers.Key Topics:AI’s impact on B2B buying behaviorRethinking the traditional sales processDiscovery versus hypothesis led sellingBuilding trust through empathy and buyer ontologyStory as a tool for alignment and influenceCoaching sales teams in a new paradigmDifferentiation in enterprise SaaS and AI marketsGuest Spotlight: Doug LandisDoug Landis is Co-Founder of StoryPath.ai, an AI native guided selling and storytelling platform designed to help sellers show up with differentiated perspectives, not just better automation. He previously led global sales productivity at Salesforce, served as Chief Storyteller at Box, and was a growth partner at Emergence Capital.Doug is also the host of Sales Stories and a long time advocate for trust based, story driven enterprise selling.🎧 Listen now and follow Selling the Cloud for more insights on modern go to market strategy, enterprise sales, and how to win in a one shot world.Mark Petruzzi (00:34)Welcome to Selling the Cloud. Our guest today is Doug Landis. We're very fortunate to have Doug, who is the co-founder of StoryPath.ai, host of the Sales Stories podcast. He's a storyteller and he's just successfully built early stage companies time and time again. Doug has led global sales productivity at Salesforce.He served as the chief storyteller at Box and spent seven years as a growth partner at Emergence Capital, helping SaaS companies scale smarter. He has sold everything from newspapers and ice cream to enterprise databases and cloud software. Today, he's really focused on and really enjoying building up StoryPath.ai.StoryPath is an AI native guided selling and storytelling platform that helps sellers show up with differentiated perspective, not just better automation. Three topics we'll cover today. How AI has changed buying behavior more than selling behavior. Why trust and story are the only real differentiators left. And how sellers can compare differently and win in a one shot world.Doug, we're so fortunate, as I said, to have you here, and welcome to Selling the Cloud.Doug Landis (01:50)Thank you. So great to be back. That was all I think I was on a long time ago. I don't even remember what we were talking about back then. And you know, it's interesting as you were doing the, you're going through the intro, I was thinking, I was like, well, given the fact that it feels like everything's shifting to be AI native AI first, everything's all AI. Just does the podcast shift to like selling AI instead of selling the cloud?Mark Petruzzi (01:53)Be back.Doug Landis (02:14)By the way, not yet. Just for a little side note, was on a webinar with about 250 operational leaders, sales and rev ops leaders. And I asked the question, Mike, what percentage on average of your entire go-to-market tech stack is still pure SaaS versus AI? And the answer was at least 85 % of their stack was still pure SaaS. So while we say everything is moving AI and it's moving fast, really fast.There's still so much that's already like fully baked in. so now everyone's been trying to figure out like, how do we actually, make it additive instead of completely rip and replace. But anyway, so the pod selling the cloud is still relevant for awhile.Mark Petruzzi (02:52)Yes and no, we're actually working on exactly that now, Doug. So you're hitting us right at the......
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    27 m
  • Ep. 115 - Building Repeatable Sales Success in Enterprise B2B with Glenn Poulos - Part 2

    Ep. 115 - Building Repeatable Sales Success in Enterprise B2B with Glenn Poulos - Part 2
    Feb 24 2026
    In Part 2 of this conversation on Selling the Cloud, Glenn Poulos dives deep into what it really takes to scale a distribution business from startup to successful exit. From growing Gap Wireless from 1 million dollars in revenue to 84 million over 15 years, Glenn shares the strategic decisions, mindset shifts, and leadership disciplines that enabled sustainable growth in the telecom technology sector.Glenn unpacks the importance of franchise vendor relationships, why brand positioning determines sales velocity, and how to structure an organization with the right people in the right seats. He also tackles one of the most critical dynamics in distribution: building trust with manufacturers while managing the real risk of going direct.The episode closes with a practical and grounded perspective on AI in sales. Glenn explains how to use AI as a powerful assistant across departments without sacrificing the human connection that ultimately closes enterprise deals. Plus, stay for the rapid fire segment where he shares hard lessons from selling his first company, advice for his 21 year old self, and the sales habits he still practices today.What You’ll Learn:Scaling from Startup to Exit: The key inflection points that helped grow Gap Wireless from 1 million to 84 million in revenue.Brand Strategy in Distribution: Why representing top tier brands is essential for competitive sales positioning.Right People, Right Seats: How organizational structure and disciplined hiring drive long term growth.Manufacturer Trust Dynamics: Navigating co-selling, exclusivity, and the risk of vendors going direct.AI as an Assistant, Not a Replacement: How to use AI for research, prep, legal review, and financial insights without losing the human edge.Sales Discipline That Compounds: Daily habits that create visibility, opportunity, and long term career growth.Key Topics:Franchise distribution models in telecom and technologyRelationship first selling in enterprise B2BOrganizational design and leadership evolutionManaging vendor partnerships and channel conflictAI in sales operations, finance, marketing, and legalCareer defining mistakes and lessons learnedGuest Spotlight: Glenn PoulosGlenn Poulos is a sales expert, author, and serial entrepreneur with over 40 years of experience in complex B2B selling. He co-founded Gap Wireless and scaled it into a multi million dollar distribution company before its acquisition. Today, Glenn leads ProgUSA and is widely recognized for his thought leadership on sales growth, leadership, and the practical application of AI in business.🎧 Listen now and follow Selling the Cloud for more conversations with leaders shaping the future of enterprise sales.Mark (00:31)So let's move to topic three, scaling a distribution business from startup to exit in the telecom technology sectors, as a whole. So let's talk a little bit about your journey building Gap Wireless. You co-founded it in 2007, hit a million dollars in revenue that first year.Glenn Poulos (00:33)Okay.Sure.Mark (00:51)and I believe it was 15 years later, sold to 10 WS. What were the major inflection points or really what were the decisions that enabled you to scale in the way that you scaled?Glenn Poulos (01:02)So numerous things. at the end, we were 1 million in the first year when we sold it to NWS and we did 84 million in revenue. So over the 15 year period, we grew from 1 to 84 million. And again, we were a small company, right? So I mean, was, you know, and at the, when we exited, there were 44 people.Right. So it was pretty good, pretty good growth. Right. So, in a distribution company or in many, I've been into the distribution my whole life. So really can't comment much on any other kind of company because I've never really experienced them. Right. But, it's the first thing is always focusing on the relationships before the transactions. Right. So that no need to really beat that to death.the people piece is very important. The relationships with the, the customers, the employees and the suppliers is critical, right? when you're a distributor, the key is having the key, the killer brands under your moniker, right? Like you need access, franchise to access.to the key brands, right? And the kind of world that we were in ⁓ and I've been in is one where it's kind of a, we'll call it monogamy based franchise relationship. Meaning I wasn't, I'm not the Rexel or Ingram Micro that has every brand and I'm a trillion dollar corporation, right? That's not what we are, right? We're a multimillion dollar company. And so, the screws, we would only represent this screw company.Right. There were other competitors, but our goal and our job was to get a franchise relationship with ABC screw and sell their screws and their screws only no competitive. Right. And so we would build the market for them. We were approached that company. They were maybe in Italy. They make the best screws in Italy. And we'd say we want an exclusive franchise ...
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