The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

In the race to implement AI for operational efficiency, are we accidentally designing the essential human elements of creativity, judgment, and trust out of our organizations?

Agility requires not just the rapid adoption of new technologies like AI, but the deliberate and human-centered redesign of the culture and processes that support them.

Today, we're going to talk about:

- Why AI adoption is less about the technology itself and more about a fundamental cultural paradigm shift within your organization.
- Balancing AI-driven efficiency with the essential human elements of creativity, judgment, and empathy to create superior customer and employee experiences.
- How complex industries like healthcare can serve as a model for using AI to democratize knowledge and empower consumers.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Stephanie Trunzo, Chief Executive Officer at MERGE. Stephanie, welcome to the show!

About Stephanie Trunzo
Stephanie Trunzo is CEO of MERGE and a veteran tech and health leader with 20+ years of experience in technology, marketing, health, and storytelling. Formerly SVP and General Manager at Oracle, where she launched Oracle Health and led the Cerner acquisition, she also held executive roles at IBM and was President/COO of PointSource.
As a recent addition to MERGE’s board in 2024, Stephanie is poised to drive the company's growth at the dynamic intersection of consumerism and health and wellness. A pioneer in AI with over 20 patents, she’s recognized for her thought leadership and was named to the Frist Cressey Ventures Collective in 2024. In 2026, she received an MM+M Pinnacle Award, and under her leadership, MERGE was named 2025 Agency of the Year and made the 2026 MM+M Agency 100 list.

Stephanie Trunzo on LinkedIn

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MERGE

MERGE is a marketing and technology agency built for the intersection of health and wellness. They help organizations navigate AI, digital transformation, and emerging technologies with a human-centered approach, using storytelling and technology to create more meaningful connections with the people they serve.

We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save!

Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit!

Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).

The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose.

Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off.

Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show.

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more.

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology.

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the push to integrate AI into go-to-market strategies, are we optimizing for activity or for intelligence?
Agility requires not just adopting new technologies like AI, but critically evaluating how they deliver contextual intelligence. It’s about adapting your strategy based on smarter signals, not just automating existing processes at a higher volume.
Today, we're going to talk about moving beyond the hype of generic AI in sales and marketing to focus on what actually drives revenue. We'll explore the concept of vertical AI, specifically for go-to-market teams selling to technical audiences, and how decoding intent signals from public developer conversations can create a significant competitive advantage.
To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Tal Peretz, CEO and Co-Founder at Onfire.

About Tal Peretz
Tal Peretz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Onfire, a contextual AI platform that helps technology companies decode real-time market signals and drive revenue growth using developer and IT buyer intent data. Prior to Onfire, Tal was Chief Technology Officer at OwnID, a Tel Aviv based startup focused on identity security solutions. Tal served at the 8200 intelligence force and built and scaled advanced data and AI systems focused on large-scale entity resolution and signal intelligence. Drawing on this background, he recognized a fundamental gap in modern go-to-market technology: while AI promised precision, revenue teams were still operating on incomplete, noisy, and outdated data. Under his leadership, Onfire was designed from the ground up to solve the data layer for IT sales by combining structured third-party intelligence with first-party customer context into a continuously updated market map. Tal is married to Shai and is a proud father of two, Dan and Ran.

Tal Peretz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tal-peretz/

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Onfire:
The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703

We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658

Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f

Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).

The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1

Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/93531742a7625a20

Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom

Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If a brand is no longer what a company says it is, but the sum of every experience a customer has, what does that mean for the marketing department's role in the organization?
Agility requires more than just adapting to market changes; it demands a fundamental shift from broadcasting a message to engineering an experience. It requires a willingness to unlearn old definitions of brand and embrace a new reality where customer perception is the ultimate truth.
Today, we're going to talk about what some are calling a "reformation" in branding. It’s a move away from the traditional model of logos, slogans, and campaigns, and toward a new understanding where the brand is the cumulative effect of every single customer interaction. This shift has massive implications for organizational structure, strategy, and how we measure success.
To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Lou Carbone, Professor of Practice, Michigan State University & Founder/Chief Experience Officer at Experience Engineering.

About Lou Carbone
Lou Carbone, often called the "Godfather of Experience Management," has been a pioneer in experience engineering since the 1980s. He’s a globally recognized thought leader, author of Clued In (Fast Company’s Reader’s Choice Award winner), and co-author of award-winning research like “Sticktion.” He developed the proprietary Experience Engineering® methodology and has advised top organizations including Microsoft, IBM, John Deere, Pizza Hut UK, Allstate, and the UAE government. A frequent keynote speaker and guest lecturer at leading business schools, he’s also Professor of Practice at Michigan State University, shaping future leaders in customer experience. His innovations, like the Paperless Rental Agreement at National Car Rental, have become industry standards. He holds a Distinguished Alumni Award from Thiel College, where he also served as Board Chair, and is active on several healthcare and academic boards including Brown College. Lou also serves as a Professor of Practice in the Eli Broad Business College at Michigan State University, teaching within the Masters of Market Research and Analytics program, as well as the startup of the Masters degree in Customer Experience Management.

Lou Carbone on LinkedIn

---------- Resources ----------

Experience Engineering

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems.

We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save!

Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit!

Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).

The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose.

Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off.

Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show.

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more.

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology.

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the marketing playbook you've relied on for the past decade is quickly failing to get results?

When customers rapidly shift their behaviors, agility requires being willing to rethink how you build and earn customer relationships from the ground up.

Today, we're going to talk about the shift away from rented audiences and unreliable signals toward building durable, first-party data assets. Specifically, we’ll cover:

- Why the classic B2B and B2C buyer intent signals are becoming less reliable and what to look for instead.
- How to navigate a new era of marketing measurement when privacy regulations and platform changes obscure the full picture.
- The practical steps required to build a first-party data strategy that creates durable customer relationships, not just a larger database.

To help me discuss this, I'd like to welcome, Alexi Hatch, CMO at Acoustic.

About Alexi Hatch
Alexi Hatch is Chief Marketing Officer at Acoustic, where she leads global marketing, brand, communications, product marketing, demand generation, and go-to-market strategy. Over the past decade, Alexi has helped enterprise SaaS companies grow by building brands people remember, modernizing marketing organizations, and turning customer insight into business impact. Her work sits at the intersection of AI, customer engagement, and modern marketing leadership.
She believes the next competitive advantage in marketing won't come from knowing more about customers but from responding to them better.

Alexi Hatch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexihatch/

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: acoustic.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703

We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658

Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f

Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).

The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1

Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/93531742a7625a20

Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom

Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are the platforms you rely on most for growth also the biggest barriers to understanding it?
Agility requires a clear view of the entire customer journey, not just the isolated moments within a single platform. This means brands must adapt their strategies to operate effectively across the open internet, not just within its walled gardens.
Today, we're going to talk about a fundamental disconnect in modern marketing: while AI is enabling a consumer journey that is more fluid and dynamic than ever, many marketers are still planning, executing, and measuring their efforts in platform-specific silos. This can create a distorted view of performance and limit a brand's ability to drive real growth.
To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Todd Parsons, Chief Product Officer & President of Performance Media at Criteo.

About Todd Parsons
Todd Parsons is Chief Product Officer and President of Performance Media at Criteo, where he leads the company’s global product and Performance Media organization. Since joining in 2020, he has been instrumental in transforming Criteo’s platform, advancing AI-powered solutions for predictive bidding, creative assembly, and merchandising, while scaling self-service activation across channels. In 2025, he assumed leadership of Performance Media to unify product, design, analytics, and go-to-market under a single vision for growth. With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of data and marketing, Todd has held leadership roles driving innovation across the industry. He previously served as Chief Product Officer at SocialCode, where he developed tools to activate and measure first-party audiences across platforms including Facebook, Amazon, and YouTube, and earlier helped establish OpenX as the first people-based programmatic marketplace. At Criteo, he continues to shape the future of commerce media, leveraging over a billion daily shopper interactions to deliver measurable outcomes for brands and retailers worldwide.

Todd Parsons on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddaparsons

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Criteo: criteo.com

This show is brought to you by Criteo.

Their new self-service platform, Criteo GO, makes AI-powered advertising simpler and more accessible for brands looking to drive demand, acquire customers, and scale performance.

By enabling cross-channel performance across display, web, video, social, and even ChatGPT, Criteo GO helps brands reach shoppers with smarter advertising powered by real-time commerce signals.

We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658

Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f

Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).

The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1

Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/93531742a7625a20

Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom

Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: agilebrandguide.com

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.