AI is everywhere—but without clean data and strategic alignment, it’s just noise. In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast, titled, Smarter Tech, Sharper Targeting: Fueling Revenue with AI, Data Quality, and GTM Alignment, Demandbase CMO Kelly Hopping joins host Kerry Curran to unpack what it really takes to make AI work for B2B revenue growth. From smarter targeting to scaling with efficiency, Kelly shares how enterprise leaders can leverage AI-powered tools only when grounded in high-quality data and a clearly defined ICP. You’ll learn why GTM alignment matters more than ever—and how to avoid the pitfalls of disconnected tech stacks and generic automation.

If you’re building or optimizing your go-to-market engine, this episode is your roadmap to doing it smarter.

Podcast transcript

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.193)
So welcome, Kelly. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.

Kelly Hopping (00:07.148)
Yeah, thanks. It's great to be here. I'm Kelly Hopping, the Chief Marketing Officer at Demandbase, which is the leading account-based go-to-market platform for B2B enterprises. I’ve been here for about a year and a half, and I’m excited to be on the show today.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:24.735)
Excellent, Kelly—we’re excited to have you here as well. I first got to know you by reading one of your books, and I loved what you had to say, especially about the importance of integrating marketing and sales teams, which is near and dear to my heart. So, thank you for joining us.

You see a lot in your role—especially in the evolution of B2B buyers and sellers—and in tech, there’s always something new. We’re really seeing the influx and impact AI is having. You can’t have a conversation about tech today without talking about AI, but it means a lot of different things. Talk to us about what you’re seeing from a trend perspective—and what are the key differences across types of AI-driven data that marketers and business leaders need to be thinking about?

Kelly Hopping (01:28.428)
Yeah, I mean, we’re using AI across the board. Demandbase itself is AI-powered and always has been, but I think it’s becoming more top of mind now. What's really been on the rise lately is generative AI. But beyond that, the large language models and mass data processing are where we’re seeing automation, efficiencies, and content generation.

Right now, I see AI primarily used in workflows—automating tasks, making products easier to use. It’s supplementing data, especially for sales or SDR roles—helping round out profiles, track executive job changes, and so on. And of course, it's used in content creation, not just through tools like ChatGPT, but also by training our own AI models on proprietary data to generate or repurpose content.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:49.362)
Yes, it’s definitely been a game-changer—from time efficiency to research to data accessibility. But it also comes with challenges, especially when it comes to data quality and transparency. Can you talk more about that?

Kelly Hopping (03:22.328)
Yeah, I mean, AI is incredible—but only if it’s built on good data. If you have bad data feeding it, it doesn’t matter how much it automates or how advanced the models are—you’ll get bad outputs. That’s where the scrutiny is coming in. I recently read a stat that said a third of AI companies won’t be around in a year.

Part of that is because they haven’t been able to operationalize their concept. But a bigger issue is that if you don’t own or source quality data, you’re building solutions on shaky foundations. For example, at Demandbase, we use the same trusted data across our entire platform—including the AI agents. So, if you trust our account-based platform, you’ll trust the AI agents running on the same data. That consistency is incredibly powerful.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (04:59.422)
Exactly. If the data isn't accurate or if there’s no transparency around where it’s coming from, it can cause problems. And like you said, a lot of AI tools claim to be AI-powered, but when you ask how they use AI, there’s no clear answer.

Kelly Hopping (05:46.092)
Right. It reminds me of when “SaaS” became the buzzword 10 years ago—everyone was a SaaS company, even if they couldn’t explain what they actually did. Now the same thing is happening with AI. Everyone rebrands as an AI company, but if there’s no real value or impact behind it, people catch on quickly.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (06:19.302)
Totally agree. It needs to actually work. So, when it comes to B2B marketing and sales—where there’s so much automation and targeting—how does AI fit into the current B2B tech stack?

Kelly Hopping (06:51.468)
There are a few key areas—content creation is one. We still write all our own content, but we use AI to help with derivatives. The key is training the models on our own messaging, brand voice, and even my own voice. We pull from podcasts, LinkedIn posts, our website, and more, so that the AI-generated content feels authentic. That’s where the productivity gains come in.

We also use AI in our SDR workflows—to respond to inbound leads quickly, to schedule discovery calls, and to augment research. Sellers spend so much time on research; if we can automate that, they spend more time actually engaging with prospects.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (09:32.583)
Yes! AI helps sellers get smarter and more customized in their outreach. But with so many tools available, how are companies deciding what to include in their tech stack? How do they optimize it from end to end?

Kelly Hopping (10:29.602)
From what I’m seeing, large enterprises lean toward big, all-in-one platforms—Demandbase, Marketo, Salesforce, Outreach—combined with maybe a Snowflake CDP. They try to connect those as much as possible.

Smaller businesses or startups tend to take a more unbundled approach, using separate tools for data, email, intent, and so on. It's more affordable, but it creates backend complexity and data inconsistency.

For enterprise companies, the trend is to unlock insights from core platforms and use APIs to feed the rest of the stack. Instead of just having an account-based platform, they’re building account-based ecosystems. That’s where the magic happens.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (12:34.846)
Love that comparison—you’ve said before Demandbase is like the AWS of ABM. That makes so much sense: not just powering your platform, but powering an entire ecosystem.

Kelly Hopping (13:23.724)
Exactly. Why limit ourselves to just powering our own platform when we can power the whole go-to-market motion?

Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:36.093)
Yes. And for revenue and ops leaders, that ecosystem approach is what’s going to make companies smarter. Especially with the CEO now owning GTM as a company-wide initiative—everything from customer feedback to marketing data is becoming part of that central strategy.

Kelly Hopping (14:21.356)
Absolutely. And to do that, you have to trust your data. That’s one of our big differentiators—you can actually see and interact with the data in Demandbase, which builds confidence across the organization.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:58.558)
That’s a valuable differentiator—and increasingly critical for enterprise growth. So what do you see as next for AI tools when it comes to helping brands better connect with their B2B audiences?

Kelly Hopping (15:24.3)
I think the future is about making existing tools more efficient with AI. Demandbase is a robust platform, but we’re using AI agents to automate complexity and make it easier to use—without losing the power. Salesforce is doing the same with Agent Force. It’s all about accessibility and usability at scale.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:36.958)
Yes, exactly. So helpful. And for companies that are listening and want to get started, what foundational infrastructure does a scale-up need before it can move to a more sophisticated, company-wide strategy?

Kelly Hopping (17:19.436)
For scale-ups, it starts with alignment around your ICP. Know exactly who you're selling to—by size, region, behaviors, GTM complexity, etc. That determines your tech, your targeting, and how sales and marketing align.

Once you’ve nailed your account list, map out your customer journey. Then find the repetitive or inefficient parts—those are the places where tools can help. There’s so much tech out there, but you don’t need everything. You need what aligns with your ICP, messaging, and GTM motion.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (19:55.569)
Exactly. Too often, companies jump into tech and BDR hires without the ICP, messaging, and marketing-to-sales infrastructure. That foundation is everything.

Kelly Hopping (21:03.0)
Totally. I get invites all the time to sponsor events targeting CMOs, and on the surface, it sounds great. But once I dig into details—B2C vs. B2B, region, company size—it becomes clear they’re not my ICP. It’s not a good use of resources if the leads go nowhere.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:40.477)
Exactly. You can promise meetings all day, but if they’re the wrong fit, it doesn’t matter. This has been such a valuable conversation. Kelly, thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise. How can people connect with you?

Kelly Hopping (22:02.83)
LinkedIn is the best place—Kelly Hopping, H-O-P-P-I-N-G, just like a bunny. I’m pretty responsive and always happy to talk GTM strategy.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:17.246)
And you have a podcast too—want to give that a shout-out?

Kelly Hopping (22:20.014)
Sure! I host the NextGen CMO podcast. We feature emerging CMOs and senior leaders who are shaping the future of marketing. You can find it on all major podcast platforms.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:47.386)
Excellent. I’ll include that in the show notes. Kelly, thank you again—it was such a great conversation.

Kelly Hopping (22:56.366)
Thanks! It was great to be here. I appreciate the time.

Thanks for tuning in to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. I hope today's conversation sparked some new ideas and challenged the way you think about how your organization is ensuring data quality in your AI integrations and tech stack.

If you're serious about turning marketing into a true revenue driver, this is just the beginning. We've got more insightful conversations, expert guests, and actionable strategies coming your way. So search for us in your favorite podcast directory and hit subscribe.

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Until next time, I'm Kerry Curran, helping you connect marketing to growth, one episode at a time. We'll see you soon.