The Emblazers Show

What if the best way to hit quota is to stop obsessing over quota?   In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Carson Heady , Managing Director of Microsoft Elevate, about building a sales organization where winning becomes inevitable. Carson explains why sellers must become indispensable to informed buyers by delivering immediate value, reducing decision risk, and usin...

What if AI is helping sales reps sound more prepared while making them less adaptable in the moments that matter? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Dr. Leff Bonney , Founder and Director of the Florida State University Sales Institute , about new research on AI, adaptive selling, and the financial value of a sales organization. Dr. Bonney explains the risk of “c...

How can organizations use AI to help frontline sales managers spend less time analyzing data and more time leading their people? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Brian Trautschold , co-founder and COO of Ambition , about how AI is transforming sales management and coaching. Brian explains why frontline managers have long been expected to serve as sellers, data...

How can revenue leaders create more predictable growth when ownership of the customer journey is divided across marketing, sales, customer success, and service? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Alex Gill , Global Head of Strategy at Harte Hanks , about revenue experience orchestration and the moments that shape revenue across the customer lifecycle. Alex explai...

How are enablement leaders adapting to an AI-powered world where technology can increase productivity, but human expertise remains the key differentiator? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Nate Vogel , Global Vice President of Revenue Enablement at Constructor , about how AI is transforming the way sales teams operate, scale, and engage with customers. Nate shar...

How can sales organizations future-proof their revenue teams and scale enablement without getting lost in the AI tech chase? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Marcela Piñeros , Global Head of Sales Enablement at Stripe , discusses how AI is reshaping individual contributor roles, leadership strategies, and the broader go-to-market workforce. Marcela shares how organizations can look beyond th...

How are enablement leaders transforming product-heavy organizations into value-driven sellers that can differentiate and prove measurable business impact in an increasingly competitive market? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, a fireside chat replay from NEXT Revenue Summit 2026, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Anne Lake , Revenue Enablement Leader at IBM , about the shift from product-centric...

How can enablement leaders prove impact and drive predictable revenue in a world where business conditions, buyers, and AI are constantly evolving? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer speaks with Ashton Williams from Salesforce , who leads a top ranked SMB operating unit and oversees enablement for a global high velocity sales organization. Ashton shares how enablement can mo...

How can sales organizations improve seller performance and scale enablement without significantly increasing resources? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Mike Wallington , Division Vice President of Global Sales Learning & Leadership Development at ADP , discusses how AI is reshaping onboarding, coaching, and sales execution. Mike shares how ADP built a structured development journey that...

How can sales teams deliver predictable revenue in an unpredictable world while AI changes the way buyers engage? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer explores how to improve human interactions in B2B sales with AI as an enabler, not a replacement. Tim shares insights from Corporate Visions’ research on over 150,000 B2B decisions, showing that buyers still prioritize human eng...

How do sales teams succeed in a rapidly changing environment where AI is reshaping the tools but not the fundamentals of selling? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer talks with Frank Cespedes , Harvard Business School professor and expert in sales strategy, about how sales leaders can leverage AI without losing sight of the fundamentals. Frank explains that AI is a performanc...

How do you help sales teams create demand and succeed when traditional prospecting tactics no longer work and buyers are harder to engage than ever? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer talks with Becc Holland , CEO and Founder at Flip the Script , about how modern salespeople can succeed in a changing marketplace. Becc explains how understanding buyer psychology, metrics, and...

AI is either a magic wand or a massive distraction. At Stripe, they’ve decided it’s the former and they have the data to prove it.  In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer sits down with Kevin Bognar , Head of Commercial & SMB Sales - Americas at Stripe . Kevin reveals how his team moved past the AI hype to build "AI Agents" that find ICP twins, successfully slashing their SM...

How do you help sales teams stay motivated and perform consistently when the pressure is higher than ever and rejection is a constant challenge? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer talks with Dr. Debbie Qaqish , a leading expert on sales psychology and neuroscience, to discuss how salespeople can thrive in an unpredictable world. Dr. Qaqish shares her insights on how psycholo...

How do you motivate consistent sales performance when every rep responds differently to incentives, data, and pressure? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer talks with Professor Nick Lee , Assistant Dean of Research Culture and Environment at the University of Warwick - Warwick Business School , to explore what truly drives productivity inside modern sales teams. With over two...

How do you deliver predictable revenue growth when the market around you keeps shifting beneath your feet? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, host Tim Riesterer talks with Mark Niemiec , Chief Revenue Officer at SAP , to dig into what it takes to lead revenue organizations through volatility. With a background in enterprise sales leadership across major technology companies, Mark brings a grou...

How do you scale customer success and drive predictable revenue in a world shaped by constant change and AI? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Tim Riesterer talks with Ruben Rabago , Founder and Chief Advisor at Customer Revelations , to explore how the role of customer success has evolved from retention to a core driver of revenue growth. Drawing on years of experience, Ruben breaks down why...

How do you drive consistent growth when you're managing multiple priorities and facing constant change? In this episode of The Emblazers Show, Tim Riesterer talks with Ken Powell , Chief Revenue Officer at K1X, Inc. , to explore how revenue leaders can spot emerging patterns and navigate uncertain times. With decades of experience leading revenue teams, Ken digs into how growth is more of a patter...

Most salespeople are set up to fail. Here's how the best ones succeed anyway. In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer sits down with Rob Durant , CEO of US Operations at the Institute of Sales Professionals to dig into why sales still lacks the professional guardrails that define fields like law and medicine, and what the ISP is doing to fix it. Rob traces his...

What does it take to win when buyers can't tell you apart from the competition—and just default to whomever's cheapest? In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer talks with Mike Rogers , National Sales Director at Nelnet Campus Commerce , to tackle one of the hardest problems in enterprise sales: breaking through in a commoditized market. With over two decades i...

In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer talks with Michael Hubbard , Chief Customer Officer at Ping Identity . They discuss the evolving role of customer success and its integration into the growth engine of businesses.  With years of experience in revenue and customer operations, Michael shares valuable insights on how customer success has shifted from a reac...

In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer chats with a panel of top CROs at the Emblaze Revenue Summit 2025 to discuss the current state of B2B revenue.  The discussion features Ken Powell , Chief Revenue Officer, Sona Jepsen , Chief Revenue Officer/Chief Commercial Officer, Jenny Dingus , SVP, Global Sales, and Cindy Reiss-Clark , Chief Commercial Officer. They...

In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer and his expert guests, Rohail Khan , Sheila Ryan , and Preston Polk , go into the evolving dynamics of executive engagement and the critical role of risk, impact, and outcomes in securing C-suite attention. This conversation from the Emblaze Revenue Summit 2025 unravels the shift in how B2B sales teams must approach exec...

In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, Tim Riesterer shares his keynote speech from the Emblaze Revenue Summit 2025, where he states that humans are just simply too valuable to be replaced in B2B sales. Tim emphasizes the enduring importance of human interaction despite the rise of automation, explaining that human competencies remain essential in driving sales, with buyer...

In this episode of The Emblazers: B2B Leaders Igniting Revenue, hosts Abby Kerr and Tim Riesterer sit down with Sinem Hostetter , Partner at McKinsey & Company , to explore how today’s top-performing organizations are navigating volatility, rethinking their revenue engines, and moving from reactive responses to intentional pivots. The conversation explores how top teams treat pricing, coverage...