Aaron Bird

CEO @ Inflection.io - Building the future of PLG. Former SVP Product @ Marketo, Founder & CEO @ Bizible

Technology entrepreneur & investor.  Building the next generation of B2B marketing automation.

Co-Founder & CEO

Building the future of B2B marketing technology

Introducing Inflection's Slack integration for agentic marketing automation

From Slack prompt to Campaign launch in minutes ⏱️

Imagine typing this into Slack: "Draft a product launch campaign to U.S. enterprise leads who viewed the pricing page in the last 3 months."

And having an AI agent instantly:

Build the segment (using real CRM & behavioral data).

Draft the email (using your approved templates).

Create the actual marketing journey.

QA the setup (checking for errors).

That isn't the future—it's live now with Inflection’s new Campaign Operations Agent.

I see far too many teams where campaign operations is copying from Jira and building in Marketo, with then seemingly endless back and forth reviews and changes.

Now, the program owner (eg field marketing) can use AI via Slack to draft the campaign, make changes, catch errors... all before campaign ops even sees the campaign.

Campaign ops now just has to review and launch.

Why it matters:

Speed: Launch in hours, not weeks.

Accuracy: AI catches the small errors so you don't have to.

Control: MOPs sets the guardrails; the team drives the car.

Come check out Inflection and let me know what you think!

CEO @ Inflection.io & Demand and Expand - AI Native Marketing Automation. Former SVP Product @ Marketo, Founder & CEO @ Bizible

Introducing Inflection's Agentic Marketing Agent

From managing stacks to managing context.

Marketing operations job is how to make marketing run more efficiently and effectively, often using tools and data to support that process.

That’s why I think marketing operations is the right folks to lead context engineering in marketing.

Context engineering is about giving LLMs the data it needs to work well.

Giving it comprehensive insight into your business – monetization strategy, positioning, product differentiation, segmentation strategy, ICP and target users, even GTM data dictionary (eg what exactly is a "customer").

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Full announcement is here https://www.inflection.io/post/inflection-io-launches-slack-based-campaign-operations-agent

Regulatory updates with MLex, LexisNexis company

Most sales tactics are boring and outdated, agree?

"I feel pushy and salesy when I sell"
"I swear, if I hear the word 'funnel' again..."
"Do I really need to send 100 cold DMs per day?!"

You've probably thought the same thing at some point in your career, right? If you work in Marketing and Sales, chances are... you say these every day :)

But... sales doesn't have to be this "pushy" thing that makes you feel like you're cheating someone out of their hard-earned money.

Sales is human understanding. Psychology at scale.

What if selling didn't feel so salesy?
What if you made "funnels" fun and easy?
What if "sales" was more than just "cold outreach"? 

In my last 20 years working as a Marketing Manager and Head of Sales across companies of different size, I can tell you...

Sales CAN be fun.
Selling IS not that hard.
Marketing IS always needed.

Hey, if you've read this far...

I'm Iryna! Nice to meet you.

In my LinkedIn posts, I share lessons from my last 2 decades in business. And when I'm not on LinkedIn, I train my sales team members on how to a better job at growing the business. And when I'm not in the office, I like to speak on stages as a keynote speaker or look out which podcast I can jump on to talk even more... well... Sales and Marketing!

I love what I do. 

And I hope to share some of this love and lessons with you.

Thanks for reading.

------

For workshop and keynote inquiries, please send me a DM on LinkedIn or email at: irabgm@gmail.com

Iryna Begma

Work hard. Party harder. 

Grateful to be a part of an amazing LexisNexis Europe team. 

Dear customers, when you purchase LexisNexis solutions, look how many amazing (and talanted) people are working on the background 💃

2026 gonna be definitely fun 🤩 


Amine Chekili Edyta Czuprynska Liliane Dam Loubna Benachour Sébastien Bardou Stéphane Ouaki Benjamin Bloom Riad Bouchelouh Tanguy Quandalle Karine L'Eildé Clément CHARLES Yan Miranda Clara Eschenbrenner Nadir CHIBOUBI Lucie Gazo Odette Preira Arianna Valeriani

Marketing & Sales enthusiast | personal sales stories and women-in-sales support | Head of Sales at LexisNexis

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These are the exact steps I take in January to generate pipeline.

And no - it’s not about chasing new leads.

That’s where most people get it wrong.

They go prospecting in the wild…
…while their best opportunities are already in their backyard.

Here’s what I do instead - and what I’ll be doing this January 👇

1. Revisit last year’s closed-won clients.
→ Who grew? Who changed roles? Who’s ready for more?

2. Reopen ghosted leads.
→ 30% of “not now” deals turn into “maybe” - if you follow up right.

3. Audit all lost opportunities.
→ Why did they reject? Was it timing? Budget? Wrong contact?

4. Expand the list to 3 years back.
→ Even pre-pandemic leads can come back with the right signal.

5. Filter every inbound lead from last year.
→ Even the weak ones. There’s gold in those who engaged but didn’t convert.

6. Review your “champions” who moved jobs.
→ Former fans in new roles = the warmest intro you’ll ever get.

7. Mine existing accounts for expansion.
→ New teams. New regions. New budget. Just ask.

8. Leverage intent signals.
→ Hiring, funding, engagement, legislation - act when they care, not just because you want pipeline.

Build a “warm list” before touching cold leads.

You don’t need 1,000 new leads.

You need 100 warmed-up ones - with a reason to talk now.

What’s your move in January?

I used to think the perfect team was made of perfect people.

Top performers. 
Big resumes. 
Smooth talkers.

But I’ve been in sales long enough to know - that’s NOT what makes a team win.

The best teams I’ve been part of weren’t the flashiest.
They were the most committed.

People who wanted to get better. 
Together.

Even if they didn’t have it all figured out yet.

What matters to me: 

1/ Curiosity over credentials
2/ Coachability over confidence
3/ Consistency over intensity
4/ Ownership over ego
5/ Progress over perfection

Truth is…

You don’t build a team on paper.
You build it in the hard moments - when people choose to stay, try again, and help each other grow.

That’s what makes the difference.

Which one of these do you hire for?

For a long time, I thought being great at sales was enough.
It wasn’t.

I was closing deals. Hitting targets. Coaching reps.
But nobody really saw what I was doing.

No invites. No speaking slots. No opportunities landing in my inbox.

Just more pipeline. More pressure. More staying behind the scenes.

Then I realized something:
Being great at your job isn’t enough if no one knows about it.

So I started sharing.

Not to brag.
But to document. To reflect. To connect.
To make the invisible part of sales work… visible.

And everything changed.

Inbound leads. Talent reaching out. Bigger opportunities.

If you’re a high performer stuck in the shadows - start talking.

You don’t need to go viral.
You just need to show up.

Don’t do this during the discovery! 

A good discovery call is a set of questions to qualify the lead. 

If you do the pitch without a good discovery > you lose. 

How I structure my discovery calls - watch the video.

With so many free resources out there - podcasts, newsletters, tutorials, AI tools, courses…

Why do so many people just stop learning?

You might be great today.

But if you’re not evolving - especially with the pace of AI, automation, and tech shifts - you’re already behind.

Doesn’t matter if it’s:

Learning a new language (I’m currently learning two)
Mastering a new tool
Upleveling your sales skills
Understanding a new market

Being in a comfort zone is a choice.
So is growth.

And I’m surprised by how many talented people take their edge for granted.

If you haven’t planned what you’re going to learn in 2026 - now’s the time.

Start small. But start.

Three first steps I would take to build my pipeline. 

Easy. Obvious. Often ignored.

Outreach is super easy. 

You parse the list > draft email > push send > get banned. 

The story was supposed to be good but ended too soon. 

“I did not do anything wrong, but my domain was banned” 

“I created a list of prospects and got 0 replies, the list was good (I think)” 

You don’t need AI or shiny tools:

If your data is bad.
The timing is wrong. 
The people are not relevant. 

Prospeo.io V2 fixed a problem of data accuracy and created a database with:

- 24 filters to target the right people 
- job changes, hiring, funding, stack, and many more 
- double-verified emails + direct mobiles
- and a database which is refreshed at least every week 

If you’re in sales or running an agency, you’ll feel the difference.

P.S. Your reps don’t need more emails.
They need better entry points > and that’s where Prospeo.io V2 does help prospecting.

Not everyone starts strong in sales.

Some reps take off from day one.
Others? They struggle.
Doubt themselves. Almost give up.

This episode is for the second group.
And the managers trying to help them succeed.

🎙️ On this week’s Head of Sales Diary, I sat down with Henry Clayton Principal SDR at Allego.

We talked about what it actually takes to go from:
→ Struggling to hit target
→ To earning a spot in President’s Club

If you’re managing a team right now - or trying to grow into a top performer yourself - this is the episode to listen to.

📌 link to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/ee-NUBMt

PS: The biggest lesson?
You don’t have to be a “natural” to be elite.
You just have to keep going - and have someone who believes you can.

Open video: How to become a successful SDR on youtu.be

AI helps. But being human wins.

Confirmed by Henry Clayton (Allego SDR & President’s Club rep). 

We talked on the Head of Sales Diary podcast about what actually works in sales:

Coaching. Consistency. Staying human.

🎧 Listen now — link in comments.

I thought I was hired to drive numbers.

To hit quota.
To grow pipeline.
To lead strategy and make sure the deals close.

And I do all of that.
But somewhere along the way, I realized…

That’s not what people remember you for.

They remember the moment you listened when they didn’t know how to ask for help.

They remember when you said, “Take the day. I’ve got you.”

They remember you had their back - not just their performance.

A few months ago, one of my reps opened up about struggling.
Not with tools. Not with technique.
With life.

And that conversation shifted how I see leadership.

You can’t coach someone out of burnout.
You can’t forecast your way around personal overwhelm.

But you can show up.
And sometimes, that’s everything.

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The Battle

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