Category: Show Notes

The AI conversation gets tactical fast. Tools. Prompts. Speed. Output. Helpful, yes. But that barely scratches the surface.

Geoff Woods is looking past the tool and straight at the leader holding it. In the right hands, AI becomes a force multiplier for strategic thinking, stronger decision-making, and a completely different idea of what’s possible at the top. In this episode, Drew sits down with Geoff, the author of The AI-Driven Leader to talk about what it actually means to own this moment as a leader. The best ones are using AI to think bigger, move their organizations faster, and build in ways that simply weren’t possible before. 

Three Leadership Mistakes with AI: 

1. Treating AI like an IT job 

1. Using AI on low-value work 

1. Treating AI like an answer machine 

What You’ll Learn: 

• How Geoff’s CRIT Framework turns AI into a stronger thought partner 

• Why AI’s first answer should be treated as a draft 

• How to find the AI use cases that matter most 

• What it takes to make AI a standard in the company 

If you’re a B2B CMO looking to become a more effective AI-driven leader, this episode is worth your time! 

We’ve spent a long time glorifying the “hero leader.” The sharpest thinker. The one with all the answers. The person everyone turns to when it’s time to make the call. 

But constant change is pushing a different kind of leader to the forefront. The system designer. A leader who puts more energy into workflows, decision paths, and team rhythm so fewer hard calls boomerang back to them. 

In this episode, Drew talks with Dan Lowden (Blackbird.AI), Katrina Klier (Sage Strategy Group), and Chris Pieper (ADP) about why this new model of leadership matters now. With AI reshaping marketing and the pace only getting faster, teams need more than a smart CMO in the middle of everything. They need a way of operating that can keep up. 

In this episode: 

• Dan shares how his team turns expert insight into a steady stream of high-value content, helping a five-person team operate at scale.
• Katrina breaks down how leaders now need to think across people, tech, and AI while building systems that keep learning and improvement in motion.
• Chris explains how operating rhythms, sprint structures, and team health checks make strong execution more repeatable.

Plus: 

• How better operating rhythms turn learning into a team advantage
• Where AI should augment the system
• How to spot work that still depends too heavily on the leader

If you’re a B2B CMO whose marketing team still depends too heavily on your decisions, this episode will help you rethink leadership, system design, and how to build a team that scales. 

Marketing teams don’t need more AI tools. They need better habits around the ones they already have. 

Experimentation got marketing teams started, but it won’t take them very far on its own. The payoff starts when teams stop treating AI like a side experiment and start using it in ways they can repeat and build on. 

In this episode, Drew Neisser talks with Nicole Leffer, one of the most practical voices in B2B AI adoption, about what it takes to make AI use more consistent and scalable. After working with more than 100 companies, Nicole has a clear view of what separates teams that stay stuck in trial mode from teams that build a repeatable advantage. 

Three AI Mistakes Marketers Make: 

1. Relying on back-and-forth prompting instead of building reusable workflows 

1. Underestimating what their core AI tool can already do 

1. Falling for hype cycles and constantly switching platforms 

In This Episode: 

• How to build workflows that save real time 

• The hidden cost of tool sprawl 

• Where AI security risks are showing up now 

• How to build AI capability across the team 

If you’re a B2B CMO working to build stronger AI habits across your team, this episode will give you plenty to work with!

If your brand sounds like everyone else’s, you’re not competing. You’re interchangeable. 

Claims like “customer-centric,” “trusted partner,” and “AI-powered” don’t do much when buyers hear them everywhere. True differentiation is bold, precise, and hard to confuse with the rest of the category. 

In this episode, Drew Neisser brings together Scott Morris (Sprout Social), Gary Sevounts (Netris), and Lesley Davis to explore what real differentiation requires in B2B. They get into how companies clarify their story, align internally, and carry that differentiation from product to pitch to customer experience. 

In this episode: 

• Scott explains why strong positioning only works when the product actually delivers on the promise, and how Sprout is building its brand around “social intelligence for breakthrough brands” 

• Gary shares how a shift from selling “just another fraud tool” to an “identity trust network” transformed growth, increased deal size, and helped drive a major acquisition 

• Lesley breaks down how differentiation shows up in a services business, especially in RFP-driven categories, where the real win comes from understanding the problem behind the problem 

Plus: 

• Why pipeline without differentiation leads to smaller deals 

• How strong positioning starts with customer frustrations 

• The difference between bold positioning and empty promises 

• Why differentiation only works when the whole company reinforces it 

If you’re a B2B CMO trying to differentiate your business and make your brand impossible to ignore, this one’s worth your time! 

Most marketers believe great work leads to great business. 

David C. Baker would disagree. 

In this episode, Drew Neisser sits down with The Business of Expertise author to unpack what really separates thriving expert firms from struggling ones. From positioning and pricing power to the myths of growth and creativity, this is a candid, no-BS look at what it actually takes to build a successful expertise-based business. 

If you’re a B2B CMO trying to sharpen your company’s positioning (and prove marketing’s impact on the business), this one will hit home. 

Key Mistakes: 

• Staying a generalist instead of narrowing your positioning

• Assuming talent or creativity alone will drive success

• Chasing growth without understanding the tradeoffs

What You’ll Learn: 

• Why saying no is the real starting point for positioning and pricing power

• How to tell if you’re acting like an expert or just an order taker

• Why most firms overestimate creativity and underestimate discipline

• What AI is actually changing—and what it’s not

• How to build demand so you’re not forced to take every client

One idea to stick with:

If clients can easily compare you to alternatives, you’re not positioned.

If you want to go deeper, David shares more at punctuation.com—but fair warning, he might tell you to stop reading business books altogether.

Do humor and serious leadership belong in the same room?

Most leaders default to staying “professional” and miss one of the simplest ways to build connection and improve communication.

In this episode of Renegade Marketers Unite, Drew Neisser talks with Jan McInnis about how leaders can use humor effectively—without telling jokes or trying to be someone they’re not.

The conversation reframes humor from something perceived as risky to something practical: A tool leaders can use to make teams more comfortable, conversations more effective, and workplaces a little more human.

What You’ll Learn: 

• Why humor can make leaders more human and approachable

• Why humor makes leaders more approachable

• How humor can acknowledge tension without derailing the moment

• When humor helps, and when it can backfire

• How small moments of levity can improve communication across teams

The takeaway: Humor isn’t about being funny. It’s about being human.

If your meetings feel a little too stiff—or your communication isn’t landing the way it should—this episode offers a simple place to start.