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

With the half-life of professional skills shrinking every year, is the traditional model of corporate learning and development fundamentally broken, and what role should employers play in the new era of continuous education?

Agility requires a workforce that can adapt and acquire new skills as quickly as the market changes. This means the old models of education and professional development must be re-engineered for a world that demands continuous learning integrated with professional life.

Today, we're going to talk about the evolution of higher education, specifically how online programs are being redesigned from the ground up to meet the complex needs of working adults. We'll explore how concepts we often discuss in customer experience—like personalization and flexibility—are being applied to learning to help professionals advance their careers without putting the rest of their lives on hold.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Ruth Veloria, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at University of Phoenix. About Ruth Veloria Ruth Veloria is Chief Strategy and Customer Officer at the University of Phoenix, where she leads strategic vision, customer experience innovation, and the use of student data to support progress, graduation, and career success. She joined the University in 2009 and has held roles including chief customer officer and executive dean of the Business School, with prior strategy experience at Booz Allen, BCG, and Charles Schwab. Veloria holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from New College at the University of Oxford and a master’s in management from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. Ruth Veloria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthveloria/ Resources University of Phoenix: https://www.phoenix.edu/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 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/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f 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/gregkihlstromDon'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

Most leaders see Marketing Ops as the team that keeps the trains running on time, essentially the plumbers of the marketing department. But what if I told you they’re actually positioned to be the architects of your company’s most durable competitive advantage?

Agility requires moving beyond the transactional nature of campaigns and technology. It demands building a durable, responsive ecosystem around your brand, one that can listen and adapt not just quarterly, but constantly.Today, we're going to talk about how to reframe the marketing operations function from a cost center or tactical execution engine into a strategic driver of growth. And we’ll explore a powerful, and perhaps counterintuitive, way to do it: by building a genuine community, not just as a marketing channel, but as the core of your go-to-market strategy.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Mike Rizzo, CEO at MarketingOps.

About Mike Rizzo Mike Rizzo is a career marketing operations professional passionate about using a people-first approach to building scalable and efficient solutions to the challenges faced by marketing, business operations, and client success teams.

With his extensive background in marketing Mike helped build, launch, manage and optimize Mavenlink's first user community and Client Advisory Board programs.

In 2017 he also founded the growing community of MO Pros - a place where thousands of Marketing Operations Professionals connect, collaborate and help elevate the practice of Marketing Ops. He is also the co-host of the podcast called Ops Cast.As the founder of MarketingOps.com, Mike is taking a community-led approach to building a platform purpose-built to elevate Marketing Operations Professionals. Mike Rizzo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aharze/ Resources MarketingOps: https://www.marketingops.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74

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

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

I would like to recommend a new podcast called The Interface from the BBC. It's the BBC's fiercly informed, fast and funny take on how technology is impacting all of us. I have become regular listeners and hope you enjoy it too!

As you race to adopt AI-powered shopping experiences, are you creating a new data black box that will make your customer journey less understood, not more?

Agility requires not just the speed to adopt new channels like generative AI, but the foresight to ensure these new touchpoints don't become blind spots in your customer journey. It demands that our data strategy evolves as quickly as our customer-facing technology.

Today, we're going to talk about the hidden challenge of AI-driven commerce. As major brands roll out compelling shopping experiences on platforms like Google's Gemini, they risk creating a new data black box. When customer interactions happen inside these AI environments, the insights from those conversations can become disconnected from the overall customer journey, making it difficult to measure impact and act on what you've learned.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Zack Wenthe, Director of Product Marketing & Customer Data Evangelist at Tealium. Zack, welcome to the show!

About Zack Wenthe Zack Wenthe is a seasoned product marketing and customer data expert, currently serving as Director of Product Marketing & Customer Data Evangelist at Tealium, where he helps brands unlock the power of unified customer insights and drive meaningful engagement through data-driven strategies with the power of value-add storytelling in product marketing. He’s a prolific speaker, writer, and storyteller in the martech space, known for breaking down complex ideas into practical, revenue-focused narratives. Zack Wenthe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackwenthe/ Resources Tealium : https://tealium.com/products/tealium-for-AI/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703  Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 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/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f 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/gregkihlstromDon'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

When you look at your five-year strategic plan, how much of it is dedicated to defending your current market share versus actively making it obsolete?Agility requires more than just reacting quickly to market shifts; it demands the foresight and structure to initiate those shifts yourself.

This episode is brought to by CRMC. Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more about CRMC 2026, June 1-3 in Frisco Texas at www.thecrmc.comToday, we're going to talk about the accelerating pace of change being driven by forces like artificial intelligence and digitization. These changes are creating a clear divide in the market, sorting brands into two distinct camps: the “Disruptors” and the “Disrupted.” We'll explore the patterns that separate these two groups and discuss practical frameworks for how established organizations can learn to shape the future, rather than be shaped by it.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Kaihan Krippendorff, Founder at Outthinker, and keynote speaker at CRMC, taking place June 1-3 in Frisco Texas. About Kaihan Krippendorff Kaihan Krippendorff is the Founder of Outthinker, a global think-tank of chief strategy, growth, transformation, and innovation officers shaping the future of business. He has been recognized by Thinkers50 and Global Gurus as one of the world’s top 20 business thinkers. A sought-after keynote speaker and strategic advisor, Kaihan works with CXOs from the world’s most admired companies, helping them to drive transformation, reduce risk, and chart their path to long-term growth and success. Kaihan Krippendorff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaihankrippendorff/ Resources Outthinker: https://kaihan.net/ This episode is brought to by CRMC. Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://www.thecrmc.com Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 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/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f 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/gregkihlstromDon'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