Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James sit down with Lisa Jameson, a seasoned solutions professional, to explore how she built strategic influence and became a trusted advisor to sales leadership without moving into management.    Lisa provides a practical framework for assessing your current level of trust with sales leadership, finding creative solutions beyond product limitations, and...

Rob Fallon , Director, Americas SE Strategy & Associate Program at Nutanix, has built presales academy programs at both Dell EMC and Nutanix, joins the show to discuss the strategic importance of creating structured training programs for presales professionals. Rob shares his experience transforming Dell's 12-week boot camp into a comprehensive academy and building Nutanix's current 18-month-old p...

In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Yasmeen Hyder, an enterprise solutions consulting leader from Atlanta, to explore a game-changing approach to working with AI: speaking to it instead of typing. Yasmeen shares how she uses voice-based AI interactions as a thought companion and coaching tool to enhance decision-making, reduce mental load, and work more efficiently in her presales leaders...

Jack Cochran and Matthew James welcome Kintan Brahmbhatt, CEO and co-founder of Olto, to discuss how AI agents are fundamentally reshaping the presales workflow and buyer experience. Drawing from over 12 years at Amazon building personalized experiences for Alexa, Amazon Music, and Prime Video, Kintan explores why B2B buyers receive generic "Acme Corp" demos while B2C consumers get highly personal...

Presales teams are being asked more and more to do post-sales work. This isn't a fad or something we're doing in the short term. This is a significant change for the broader profession of presales and solutions consulting. What was once occasional support for implementations or customer renewals is now becoming formal job responsibilities for solutions consultants across the industry.   In this ep...

In this episode, Jack Cochran sits down with Darlene Volas, a senior solutions engineering executive, to explore what it truly means to be an AI-enabled SE in 2025 and beyond. The conversation moves well past basic ChatGPT usage to examine sophisticated operational workflows, custom automation tools, and practical implementation strategies that enhance both efficiency and quality of work.    This...

In this episode, Jack Cochran welcomes back Manisha Raisinghani, Founder and CEO of SiftHub, exactly one year after her first appearance on the show. Together they explore the dramatic shift in how AI is being used by solutions engineers. Manisha shares what it means for SEs to become Forward Deployed Engineers, how vibe coding is changing live customer interactions, and what enterprise leaders ar...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James continue their conversation with Micah Joel, diving deep into the metrics that matter when building and justifying a demo engineering team. Micah shares practical approaches to measuring the value of demo engineering, from simple time-saving calculations to sophisticated surveys that capture SE satisfaction and retention indicators. The conversation...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James sit down with Micah Joel, GTM leader and demo engineering pioneer, to explore what it means to build a dedicated demo engineering function from scratch. Micah shares his journey from theater kid to SE to leading Salesforce's legendary Q Branch, and unpacks why demo engineering might be the most underutilized lever in presales today. They cover the di...

The Future of AI in Presales: Beyond Demo Automation In this episode, Jack Cochran is joined by Nalin Senthamil, Founder and CEO of Storylane, to discuss the evolution of AI in presales beyond simple demo automation. They explore the hidden costs of demos, how the buyer themselves are becoming AI-powered, and the emergence of AI tools for sellers, much like Storylane has developed with RepEx Thank...

In this episode recorded at the Presales Collective Leadership Next Summit in November of 2025, Jack Cochran sits down with Gretchen Fitzgibbons, Senior Manager of Strategic Solutions Consulting at Airtable, to discuss what it means to be a courageous leader in presales. They explore how to make difficult decisions under pressure, navigate organizational politics with integrity, and build the supp...

In this episode, Jack Cochran is joined by Jon Billett, Founder and CEO of StoryQuadrant, to discuss why storytelling in presales needs to be treated as an industrial skill rather than a soft skill. They explore Jon's framework for the four types of stories every SE should master, the danger of "Mad Libs" style customer stories, and why the most important story is the one told after you leave the...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Nikhil Sarma, Founder of GTM Solutions Consulting, to explore why customer indecision has become one of the biggest challenges in enterprise sales. They discuss the factors driving buyer hesitation, how to diagnose value clarity vs. organizational issues, and practical strategies for helping customers build the confidence to move forwar...

The State of Presales and Demo Technologies, and What's Coming in 2026 In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Justin McDonald, Co-founder and CEO of Saleo, to discuss how demo automation technology is transforming the presales landscape. They explore the evolution of presales over the past 20 years, the hidden costs of demo preparation (the "demo tax"), and how AI is revolut...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Hannah Bloking, and Allison Macalik, co-founders of 4Under3. They discuss the universal challenge of imposter syndrome in the pre-sales profession, exploring how it manifests, why it affects nearly everyone, and practical strategies to address it. Hannah and Allison share insights from their workshops, including powerful techniques like...

Episode 181: Charting Your Presales Career Path with Miriam Graf In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James welcome Miriam Graf, a presales veteran with 20 years as an individual contributor and 10 years in leadership roles. Miriam shares invaluable insights on navigating career growth in presales, from speaking up about your aspirations to recognizing when leadership is and isn't the right p...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Rob Bruce, a presales leader at Syndigo with 20 years of experience, to discuss an innovative approach to presales operations: the Pursuit Desk. Rob shares how Syndigo has built a dedicated "concierge team" that handles RFPs, security questionnaires, reference coordination, and other time-consuming tasks, freeing solutions engineers to...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Art Fromm, author of "Making Seamless Sales" and sales enablement expert, to discuss how presales and sales teams can work together more effectively. Art shares insights from his 25+ years in sales enablement, exploring the common disconnects between SEs and AEs, and provides practical strategies for building stronger partnerships that...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Wendy McHenry, Chair of WISE (Women in Solutions Excellence) at Presales Collective and Former Head of Global Solutions Engineering at CDATA, to discuss the critical need for supporting women in presales careers. They explore the challenges women face in a field where only 18% of solutions professionals are women, discuss unconscious bi...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Akash Ganapathi, CEO of Opine, to discuss how AI strategies differ between startups and enterprises in the presales space. They explore the myth of AI replacing SEs, the importance of specialization vs. generalization, and how AI can help presales teams manage more revenue per team member while focusing on strategic, relationship-buildi...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Ben Hills, Founder and CEO of Iris, to discuss how to scale presales teams effectively while avoiding burnout. They explore the difference between healthy high performance and unsustainable overwork, the role of AI in streamlining repetitive tasks like RFPs, and practical strategies for building scalable processes that enhance rather th...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Ben Pearce, founder of Elevated You, to discuss how technical professionals can effectively communicate with senior executives. They explore the critical differences between speaking to technical stakeholders versus C-suite leaders, covering everything from preparation strategies to delivery techniques. Ben shares practical frameworks f...

In this episode, Matthew James and Timmy Hendrickson are joined by Nalin Senthamil, Founder and CEO of Storylane, to discuss the future of pre-sales and AI driving influence beyond pipeline. They explore how demo automation is transforming the self-serve buyer experience, the changing role of solutions engineers, and how AI can create 10X impact in pre-sales workflows. Nalin shares insights on lev...

In this second part of our conversation with Raphael Joseph, former SE turned recruiter and founder of Brando Tech, Jack Cochran and Matthew James dive deep into why traditional job hunting methods no longer work in today's market. Raphael shares strategic insights on how SEs should approach job searching in 2025, treating themselves as products and leveraging their natural skills to navigate the...

In this episode, Jack Cochran and Matthew James are joined by Raphael Joseph to discuss the critical importance of building a strong LinkedIn profile for PreSales professionals. They explore how the platform has evolved as a powerful career tool, especially in today's competitive job market. Raphael shares practical tips on crafting a professional presence that highlights your unique value proposi...