The Future of B2B Marketing with Kieran Flanagan

The Future of B2B Marketing with Kieran Flanagan

57:33 Jan 5, 2026
About this episode
#318 | Dave is joined by Kieran Flanagan, SVP of Marketing at HubSpot and former CMO at Zapier. They break down how AI is reshaping B2B marketing workflows, content creation, and team structure, plus Kieran’s leadership philosophy for managing a 300+ person team while staying deeply involved in creative execution. This episode offers a clear look at how AI is changing the game and how B2B marketers can stay creative, strategic, and indispensable in the process.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro + why AI matters now (04:02) - – Kieran’s career + the 2-year mission framework (09:32) - – The grind, early-career advice, and earning your stripes (12:02) - – Operator vs. manager + strong opinions in leadership (20:02) - – Why collaborative brainstorms fail (25:02) - – ChatGPT vs. Claude + how Kieran actually uses AI (33:52) - – Where AI is taking B2B marketing (answers ? actions) (45:22) - – Picking a lane: technical vs. creative marketers (52:52) - – The future CMO + agencies, in-person, and what still matters Join 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:AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery.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. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive.Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit
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