Pure Signal

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Businesses are transforming at a breakneck pace. Leaders need to know the latest, but more importantly they need to understand which developments actually matter (and which don’t). Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin have brought their combined expertise to companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to innovative startups. Together they’re digesting the biggest developments in tech, data, AI, and beyond to bring you the strategy-focused insights you need to position your business for an unpredictable future. This is Pure Signal. Brought to you by the experts at Credera.

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August 27, 202640 min

The Biggest AI Lessons From 2026 So Far

Companies walked into this year with a plan to increase efficiency with AI. Fewer walked in with a plan for what comes after. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter look back at the predictions everyone made at the start of the year to see which ones actually came true. They cover the shift from efficiency to growth, why the CFO now has a bigger say in AI decisions, and why people, not technology, still decide whether AI actually works. You'll also hear them talk through what's really driving competitive advantage right now, and who should be on the hook when AI moves faster than expected. For enterprise leaders separating what's real from what's just hype, this episode is a candid gut check from three people who've spent all year listening for the signal. — Quotes "You should be able to back it up with proof. You should be able to be able to understand what you did. You should be able to explain the rationale. Otherwise, it's just luck." - Kevin Erickson "The data is right, but really what we mean by that is data and data readiness. Because you can have all the data in the world, if we can't get it to the systems that we need it to be wired into, it's not that valuable." - Jake Carter "Pilots are out, MVPs are in. I don't want something that we're gonna just throw away. We want something that can grow and sustain." - Ryan Medellin — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:11 Setting up the year in review 03:20 The efficiency to growth debate 07:29 The CFO's growing role in AI decisions 09:05 The maturity curve: efficiency, productivity, growth, innovation 15:43 The human element of AI 26:21 Is data still the ultimate competitive advantage? 29:38 Elasticity in leadership 37:07 Who bears the risk as AI speeds up delivery? 39:26 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera

August 5, 202642 min

From Efficiency to Growth: How Enterprise AI Strategy Is Shifting

The first half of 2026 promised speed with AI, and it delivered. But six months of racing to plug AI into everything has surfaced a harder question: what happens when the pilots don't work the way anyone hoped? On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson and Ryan Medellin sit down with Scott Hensley, Credera's Chief Revenue Officer for North America, for a midyear pulse check on where AI adoption actually stands and where it's headed into 2027. Scott shares why the conversation has shifted from efficiency to growth, how so many AI pilots stalled by bolting new tools onto broken legacy processes, and why the fix is redesigning the work from the ground up. For enterprise leaders feeling the uncertainty of a fast-changing year, this episode offers a grounded case for stepping back before pushing forward. The teams winning right now aren't automating their old ways of working. They're rethinking the work itself. — Quotes “I think a lot of the natural reaction was to take processes as they existed, and to just sort of plug them into the tools and run them automated through the platforms. I think that's the wrong approach. We should have redesigned the entire process. We should have rethought the entire process from the ground up in the context of AI.” - Scott Hensley “ How do you make it so seamless that you don't even realize that it's AI on the other end?... How do we build the right controls, the right governance, the right guardrails? We're in those conversations every single day.” - Scott Hensley — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:14 Meet Scott Hensley 04:34 From efficiency to growth 07:42 Power, cost, and the macro picture 12:09 Why AI pilots aren't working 21:52 Is AI the villain? 25:28 Making the customer experience seamless 27:12 Muscle memory and better questions 30:59 Why the customer-facing moment matters most 34:31 Three things to watch for the back half of 2026 41:07 People over features and slowing the roll 42:00 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Scott Hensley Learn more about Credera

July 15, 202649 min

Getting Your Data Ready for the Moments That Matter

Every company wants to be ready for its viral moment, but very few are built to act when it arrives. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin sit down with Paul Nichols, Principal, Marketing Solutions at Credera, to talk through what it takes to build a data foundation that turns signals into outcomes. Paul shares why culture and accountability matter more than architecture, how to work backward from a single use case instead of leading with infrastructure, and what the Ticketmaster crash and Ocean Spray's viral-moment win reveal about moving at the speed of the market. If your team is drowning in analysis but starving for action, Paul's advice is refreshingly simple: start small, put a name on every decision, and build the foundation before your moment arrives. Because when it does, you won't have time to get ready. — Quotes "If you have possession and you don't score, it doesn't matter how much possession you have. It doesn't matter how much you know about your business unless you do something about it." - Paul Nichols “ AI isn't going to solve an operational problem. If you have that operational problem, you probably also have a similar issue with how you're using data.” - Paul Nichols “If it takes 30 stakeholders to agree on what the right KPI is, and the other 20 to determine the right metric for when you are reactive to a viral moment, that is evidence that you're probably not going to be able to capture the value that you need in that moment.” - Paul Nichols — Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:16 Paul's path from music production to consulting 04:16 The professional soccer years 10:19 World Cup lessons in organizational change 16:10 Ticketmaster vs. Ocean Spray 20:30 Proactive vs. reactive cultures 26:56 The biggest problems organizations face 29:05 The junk drawer data lake 33:49 What AI changes (and what it doesn't) 35:40 Agentic AI in the enterprise 41:00 The house foundation analogy 42:26 Data strategy as orchestration 44:54 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Paul Nichols Learn more about Credera

June 24, 202650 min

What Enterprise AI Transformation Actually Requires

Most organizations know they need to act on AI, but they're layering agents on top of broken processes and hoping for the best. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin and Kevin Erickson sit down with Beth Anne Wilhelm, Chief Architect & Pre-Sales Lead at Credera, and Aaron Grotzinger, Partner & Energy Sector Lead at Credera, to talk through what it actually takes to orchestrate marketing transformation in an agentic world. Beth Anne and Aaron share why a solid data foundation is non-negotiable before agents can deliver real value, how to govern a growing ecosystem of agents without costs spiraling out of control, and what a FinOps model for AI will need to look like. You'll also hear a candid exchange on why the vision of "do more with less" is the wrong rallying cry and what companies that are actually winning say instead. For marketing and technology leaders navigating the platform versus agent question, this episode offers clear, practitioner-level insights. Agents don't work until the process, the data, and the people are ready. The question is whether you're investing in all three. — Quotes “AI is only going to be as good as the info we're feeding into it and the info that it has available to it. So, having a really good underlying data foundation is going to be key.” - Beth Anne Wilhelm “ The technology is advancing faster than people, organizations can catch up to, and I think your leading companies are, at best, still two to three steps behind the solutions being rolled out.” - Aaron Grotzinger — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:58) Beth Anne and Aaron's backgrounds (03:54) Evolution of the marketing tech stack (06:25) Importance of a solid data foundation (09:06) How far behind companies really are (11:40) Platforms vs. agents (13:09) Pricing and cost of agentic AI (17:19) The AI orchestrator and coordinator approach( (23:06) When not to use an agent (28:57) Agent registry and governance (34:45) Mistakes companies are making (36:15) Change management done right (42:22) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Beth Anne Wilhelm Aaron Grotzinger Learn more about Credera

June 10, 202647 min

Drive Tech Forward with an Operating-Model First Approach

The biggest barrier to transformation isn't the technology; it's the humans who have to live with it. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter sit down with Cale Maxwell, CEO of Credera Oceania, to talk through what leading change really looks like when change fatigue is already setting in. Cale shares why operating model design should come before technology investment, how to build a measurement framework that keeps transformation funded, and what his ongoing master's in neuroscience has taught him about why change initiatives stall. You'll also hear a candid exchange on how the Oceania market approaches AI adoption differently from the US and UK, and whether that caution is a feature or a liability. For leaders navigating AI adoption, organizational integration, or the pressure to move faster than your people are ready for, this episode offers a grounded, globally-informed perspective. Technology doesn't work until people make it work. The question is whether you're investing accordingly. — Quotes "Technology doesn't work until people make it work. Technology only gets you so far. You've actually got to drive real change, change in human behavior, change in the way the organization works." - Cale Maxwell " People can have data to look at, but can a marketer actually act on that data in real time? In most cases, the answer is still no. So I think we’re data rich, we're intelligence poor." - Cale Maxwell "If you're unclear on what the outcome is, what you're measuring on the other side of that, it's hard to build a business case for what is next." - Cale Maxwell — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:43) Cale Maxwell's path to Credera Oceania (04:39) Neuroscience and its relevance to transformation (06:18) The Oceania market (08:50) The case for an operating model first approach (12:07) The human side of change (14:08) Budgeting for change management (22:21) Data silos and the intelligence gap (24:21) Getting clear on measurement to unlock further investment (31:06) Leading through uncertainty (36:00) Neuroscience applied to day-to-day (37:33) Why traditional change frameworks still apply (41:32) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Cale Maxwell Learn more about Credera

May 27, 202649 min

Why Your Go-To-Market Strategy Still Needs a Human Story Behind It

Building a go-to-market plan is more than having the right strategy; it’s about having the discipline to see it through. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin, Kevin Erickson, and Jake Carter sit down with Nancy Newell, Head of Public Sector Industry Growth at Credera, to talk through what it actually takes to build something and make it stick. Nancy walks through her five-pillar go-to-market framework, which she’s started implementing in her first months at Credera, and where she has seen companies fall short. You'll also hear a candid exchange on where government agencies sit in the technology adoption curve and whether that gap is really a technology problem or a workforce and trust problem. For leaders navigating new market entry, a practice rebuild, or the pressure to modernize faster than their organization is ready for, this episode offers a practical perspective. Know your strengths, work the plan, and keep moving. — Quotes “You have to constantly reassess where you are. If you're not growing somewhere, pivot. If you don't pivot, you're going to keep going the wrong way.” - Nancy Newell “The way content marketing and branding work right now in the world is constant. You have to have something out there 24/7. And it can't just be AI-generated.” - Nancy Newell “ What I see is people that are getting that true growth, they have technology. You can't just sit back. You're not going to be here in two years if you don't.” - Nancy Newell — Time Stamps (00:00) Intro (02:06) Nancy Newell’s path to Credera (05:10) Growing practices from the ground up (06:06) Nancy's five-pillar go-to-market framework (12:53) Common go-to-market mistakes (16:56) Human connection as the throughline (19:42) Storytelling, AI tools, and keeping your own voice (29:52) When and why companies need to revisit their go-to-market (33:37) Government technology gaps, workforce costs, and agentic AI (44:02) Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Nancy Newell Kevin Erickson Jake Carter Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera

May 13, 202648 min

Implementing Agentic AI for Operational Success

Every year, conferences like Adobe Summit flood marketers with new product announcements, but the harder question isn't what's coming; it's whether your organization is set up to use it. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin and Kevin Erickson sit down with Todd Schwarz, Credera's Global Digital Platform Lead, to talk through what Adobe Summit revealed about where enterprise marketing is actually headed. Todd shares his thinking on closing the gap between roadmap announcements and day-to-day execution, why organizing your people for omni-channel is harder than adopting the technology itself, and how agentics are reshaping what marketers can realistically take off their plates. You'll also hear his take on why AI won't displace marketing jobs and what it will free them up to do instead. For CMOs and marketing technology leaders trying to move from conference inspiration to real business impact, this episode offers a grounded look at what it takes to execute. Curiosity and boldness aren't soft skills right now; they're operational requirements. — Quotes “ The brands, the customer experiences, and the businesses that are going to win are the ones who are going to be laser-focused on that customer experience. They're going to be laser-focused on meeting the customer in the moment that matters, in the context that matters, at the time that matters.” - Todd Schwarz “ The fundamental thing that clients truly are struggling with, with all of this advancement in marketing technology and certainly AI, is: How do I organize my people? How do I get the most out of my operating model?” - Todd Schwarz “I sort of fall in the camp where I believe, as more and more of this AI lives in and outside around these platforms, it's not going to displace jobs. It's actually just going to enhance people's ability to go deliver more and faster and be more productive.” - Todd Schwarz — Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 00:46 Today's topic: Agentics, operating models, and lessons from Adobe Summit 02:30 Maintaining momentum after a conference 04:00 Agentic AI and how it's reshaping org design 09:42 When vendor roadmaps meet client reality 12:38 How strategy and delivery leaders collaborate 21:41 Meeting customers in the moment with authentic personalization 27:06 Building a curiosity culture across global delivery teams 35:08 Bridging the gap between leadership vision and frontline teams 41:42 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts and guests on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Todd Schwarz Learn more about Credera

April 29, 202636 min

Why Your AI Strategy Needs a North Star

Most organizations treat compliance as a checkpoint at the end of a transformation journey. In highly regulated industries like healthcare and pharma, that approach slows things down and creates churn. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Ryan Medellin and Kevin Erickson sit down with Sajid Sayed, Director of Digital Acceleration in the Healthcare industry, to explore what it actually looks like to build governance into innovation from the start. Sajid shares his definition of true innovation, what it takes to bring cross-functional teams together as co-creators, and why AI that only delivers recommendations may be costing you more time than it saves. You'll also hear his sharp distinction between speed and velocity, and what real AI-powered decision-making looks like. For enterprise leaders navigating AI adoption in regulated environments, this episode offers a practical framework for sustainable innovation. Without a strategic North Star, transformation becomes churn rather than progress. — Quotes "Without having that strategic North Star, what ends up happening is you have transformation without compliance or guardrails. That sort of transformation is actually an enemy of governance and compliance. You end up having a situation where you're trying to innovate and transform just for the sake of doing it. " - Sajid Sayed "Innovation is all about co-creation. If you don't co-create and if you don't collaborate at the very forefront, innovation is very invasive. It will definitely rub people the wrong way because, not that they're averse to innovation, it's just that you are not able to articulate how it impacts them.” - Sajid Sayed "If AI can get you to that 60% mark where it provides you with something that's good enough for you to iterate and enables you to do that remaining 40% a lot faster, that's success. But change management is a big part of it because anything can happen between that 0 to 60. " – Sajid Sayed — Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 01:27 Today's topic: Innovation and AI in Healthcare and Pharma 01:57 Sajid's approach to conferences as strategic inputs 05:33 When regulatory requirements enter the innovation conversation 07:23 Bringing compliance teams in as co-creators 13:33 Why a strategic North Star still matters 18:58 Speed vs. velocity and AI as a decision-making engine 21:09 Change management as a day-one priority 31:24 Maintaining momentum after the conference ends 33:05 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Learn more about Credera

April 8, 202639 min

How to Get Real Value From Conferences in 2026

Conference season is back. But, for enterprise leaders, the real challenge isn't finding events to attend; it's knowing whether the investment is actually worth it. On this episode of Pure Signal , hosts Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin break down how to build a smarter conference strategy in 2026, from choosing the right events to turning attendance into measurable outcomes. The discussion opens with mapping the full conference landscape. From there, they dive into how the enterprise conference strategy has shifted over time and why traditional ROI thinking no longer holds. You'll also hear the team wrestle with some of the harder questions in conference investment: when does a curated client dinner outperform a floor pass, and how do you justify the spend when sales attribution is nearly impossible to pin down? For C-suite leaders and senior executives deciding where to focus their conference investment this quarter, this episode offers a practical, experience-grounded framework on how to define your why before you book, set clear expectations for every attendee, and stop measuring success by presence alone. — Quotes ”I view this for any training type environment. It's an opportunity for us to invest in our employees. Sometimes that is pure skill development, sometimes it's a thank you. We had a team at re:Invent that was there primarily to use a lot of the technologies, but for the most part, they were there as a thank you for the hard and amazing work that they did to serve their client. And they had a chance to spend time with their client together in that learning environment.” - Kevin Erickson "The thing that always goes through my head on these is…can you afford not to be there?... The thing that's hard for us to quantify, but I think is very real, is if we're not there, our competitors are there. If we're not spending time with our clients, they are. And so, to some degree, there's the defensive play, and that’s much harder to quantify." - Jake Carter "You have to kind of tailor the conference to your why and don't let what's not going on in the conference dictate what you're trying to do. It's kind of like you go in thinking about what's your value first versus the value that's being given at the conference, and then you can kind of work your way back into tailoring that value into what your value is." - Ryan Medellin — Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 02:22 Today's topic: Creating a 2026 conference strategy 03:52 Breaking down the conference landscape 07:58 How enterprise conference strategy has changed over time 13:23 Finding the real value of conference investment 18:07 When a curated dinner beats a floor pass 21:30 Matching the conference format to your client 29:53 Carrying conference momentum back into everyday work 32:48 Finding your why as a conference strategy framework 36:06 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Jake Carter Learn more about Credera

March 27, 202645 min

Reflecting on Q1: AI, Transformation, and Enterprise Reality

As we wrap up Q1 of 2026, it’s time to identify what is driving real progress in the current market. In this episode of Pure Signal , the team reflects on the shift from long-term transformation planning to immediate execution and what that means for leaders operating in an increasingly complex and uncertain environment. As Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin unpack the start of the year, they look at how enterprise priorities are evolving, why transformation is back at the center of the conversation, and where organizations are focusing to drive measurable outcomes. The conversation explores the growing tension between bold, long-term bets and the need for near-term results, as well as how leaders are redefining success in a landscape where clarity is limited but decisions can’t wait. From rethinking operating models and workflows to reassessing where technology actually delivers value, the team highlights a broader shift toward disciplined execution and intentional investment. They also discuss how broader external pressures like global uncertainties and evolving market dynamics are placing increased pressures on internal decision-makers. For leaders navigating this moment, this episode offers a grounded perspective on how to take meaningful action now, while building the flexibility and resilience needed for what comes next. — Quotes “Now what we're seeing is more of a more metered approach of, ‘Okay, maybe it's not AI everywhere,’ for many reasons. You could go down the path of just the cost you're incurring, towards ‘what are the places where we actually need to be using this that's going to drive value, both for us and for the customer?’ And I think that's maybe what's a little bit different now. I like the notion of the dual KPI, ‘let’s find places we can use the AI, where it's going to be accretive to the business and to the customer experience.”’ – Jake Carter “If you're an Anthropic certified consultant, what does that even mean? It's something that we have to wrestle with now in our business and see how that plays out. And what's going to be related specifically to a model and a chip or a process versus what's going to be broader and what are going to be the new verbs that come out. Jake was one of the early Googlers, what are going to be the new verbs that come out of this season?” – Kevin Erickson “To me, the interesting part when we talk about supply chain is it's like I personally do not hear as much about supply chain as I hear more about personalization and enabling the customer to get what they need a lot quicker. And I'm curious to see how those two levers work with each other because you have to have the supply to meet the demand. And it sounds like from all the companies turning their attention towards opening up all these personalization levers that the demand should theoretically go through the roof.” – Ryan Medellin — Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 00:40 Today's topics 02:40 How enterprises are grappling with the AI reality 05:00 Transformation is back 10:25 The dual KPI businesses should be focusing on 13:30 Shifting mandates and heuristics 18:55 Is the pressure on leaders as high as it's ever been? 25:50 Blending of roles and models 29:55 Is it make or break time? 33:00 The return of scenario planning 35:45 Looking towards the next quarter 43:30 Closing thoughts — Links Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn! Kevin Erickson Ryan Medellin Jake Carter Learn more about Credera