Why Marketing Is Back In The Driver Seat (with Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified)
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode of Exit Five, host Dave Gerhardt sits down with Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified, to explore what makes some marketing teams stick together while others experience constant turnover. Maura has been at Qualified for six years - a rarity in today's CMO landscape - and remarkably, half of her 25-person marketing team has been there for four or more years. The conversation dives deep into how product launches serve as the heartbeat of their marketing strategy, the reality of agentic marketing and AI implementation, why outbound is actually working for them right now, and how events have become central to their growth strategy. (03:32)
- Main Theme: The importance of team stability, product-marketing alignment, and embracing AI while maintaining human connections in B2B marketing
Speakers
Dave Gerhardt
Dave is the founder of Exit Five, the leading private community for B2B marketers with nearly 5,000 members. He previously served as CMO at Drift during their explosive growth phase and has built a reputation as a thought leader in B2B marketing through his podcast and content creation. He currently lives in Vermont and has established Exit Five as a hub for marketing professionals seeking education, networking, and career development.
Maura Rivera
Maura is the CMO at Qualified, where she has worked for over six years - an unusually long tenure in today's CMO landscape. She began her career at Salesforce working under Craig Swanford (now CEO of Qualified) and has extensive experience in product marketing and customer marketing. Before joining Qualified, she worked at GetFeedback and has built a reputation for creating high-performing, stable marketing teams.
Key Takeaways
Product Launches as Marketing's Heartbeat
Qualified operates on a monthly product launch cadence, with major quarterly launches supported by virtual events. (29:07) This approach creates a forcing function for continuous narrative evolution and keeps the entire marketing team aligned around shared goals. Rather than setting their corporate narrative once per year, they treat it as a "living, breathing thing" that evolves with each launch. The key is building strong relationships between marketing and product teams from day one - if you wait 18 months into a role to establish this connection, it's often too late.
Hire People Smarter Than You in Their Areas of Expertise
As a CMO, the biggest shift Maura made was moving from trying to be an expert in everything to building an A-team of specialists. (22:43) She emphasizes hiring people who can "run laps around her" in their specific domains, like her VP of marketing operations who excels in Martech and analytics, and her VP of demand gen who knows more about thought leadership and buyer journeys. This approach allows the entire team to rise together rather than being limited by one person's knowledge.
AI Agents Are Changing the Marketing Funnel
Qualified has completely replaced their 10-person inbound SDR team with Piper, their AI agent, while redeploying human resources to higher-value activities. (50:39) The key insight is that implementing AI agents isn't "set it and forget it" - it requires dedicated human oversight. They created new roles like "AI marketing operations" to manage and coach their agents, proving that AI augments rather than simply replaces human talent.
Outbound Still Works with Hyper-Personalization
While many claim outbound is dead, Qualified continues to see success through extreme personalization and research. (53:39) Their approach involves going deep on prospects - knowing their college, recent company news, and finding genuine connection points. Even with AI assistance, they maintain a high bar where their AI-generated emails must be better than what humans would send. The secret is having someone like their team member Rich, who manages the outbound agent daily and ensures quality standards.
Marketing is Back in the Driver's Seat
Rather than viewing AI as a threat, Maura sees it as returning control to marketing teams. (55:57) With agents providing 24/7 coverage and marketers having more control over their funnel (instead of SDRs reporting to sales), marketing can finally prove their strategic value. This shift allows CMOs to be seen as "heroes" in their organizations by leading the AI transformation and demonstrating measurable results.
Statistics & Facts
- Qualified's marketing team consists of 25 people, with approximately 12-15 having been there for over four years - representing roughly 50-60% team retention. (33:33) This is remarkable in an industry where most CMOs have a two-year shelf life.
- According to Maura, 54% or higher of marketers have embraced agents and are using them in production, making marketing teams more advanced in AI adoption than other departments. (57:52)
- Qualified completely eliminated their 10-person inbound SDR team and replaced them with one AI agent named Piper, demonstrating significant efficiency gains. (50:39)
