Show notes
#353 | Tara (CMO, Optimizely), Julia (Director of AI Adoption, Optimizely), Lily (CMO, Three Play Media), Pejman (CMO, Menlo Security), and Kevin (CMO, CompTIA) join Dave for a live Exit Five session on how real marketing teams are actually using AI right now. Lily shows how she replaced two BDR headcount with a HubSpot prospecting agent and went from an 18% to 46% response rate on inbound leads. Julia walks through how Optimizely's marketing team embedded AI agents directly into their content workflow, from briefing to brand voice checking to traffic monitoring, without anyone having to leave the platform. Pejman shares the framework his team uses to map workflows and find the highest-ROI AI opportunities, plus a custom brand tone tool that turns hours of manual review into minutes. And Kevin talks through what it actually looks like to lead an AI culture change on a small team with limited resources.Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro
(04:40) - - Guest intros: Tara, Julia, Lily, Pejman, and Kevin
(09:49) - - Tara on why AI adoption needs an internal owner and how to govern it without squashing enthusiasm
(12:47) - - Lily: why their first AI initiative failed and what they did differently
(15:00) - - How Lovable kicked off team-wide AI excitement at Three Play Media
(17:22) - - Lily's HubSpot prospecting agent: 18% to 46% response rate on inbound leads
(21:04) - - Julia: embedding AI agents into Optimizely's content workflow
(28:00) - - Using AI to monitor content performance and auto-assign optimization work
(30:04) - - Pejman: mapping workflows to find the highest-ROI AI opportunities
(32:35) - - Building a brand tone checker that scores and rewrites content against brand guidelines
(36:35) - - Kevin: making AI a mandate on a small team and building a culture of learning
(40:46) - - Group Q&A: optimizing spend vs. shipping faster, budget shifts, and new KPIsJoin 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive.Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive.Vector - A contact-level ads platform that lets you build audiences from actual people on your site, clicking your ads, and checking out your competitors. Learn how to build an ABM program that scales at vector.co/exitfive.Join us in Stowe, Vermont for Drive 2026 - three days away from your desk to learn what's working in B2B marketing from the people who are actually doing it. Grab your ticket at exitfive.com/drive.Walker Sands - An integrated B2B marketing and growth services agency that helps marketing leaders turn strategy into measurable business impact through their Outcome-based Marketing model. Learn more at walkersands.com/exitfive.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more