Ford Motor Company

Responsible for consolidating global marketing technology selection and management activities, overseeing marketing operations data capability intake, prioritization and compliance, and driving a long-term technology roadmap.

Marketing Technology and Governance Lead

Association of National Advertisers

Member, MarTech Leadership Council

Smartsheet

Led a large centralized marketing automation team providing global campaign operations, data orchestration, solution design, support and governance. Applied system architecture and technical expertise directly to projects. Mentored team members on effective practices and skill development.

Director, Marketing Automation

Poly

Plantronics + Polycom. Now together as Poly.

Leadership role expanded to manage MarTech stack of over 120 technologies and drive excellence in central webinar/virtual event operations.

Sr. Manager, Marketing Technology and Automation

Sr. Manager, Marketing Automation Operations

Manager, Marketing Automation Operations

Polycom

Promoted from individual contributor to marketing automation team manager at Polycom. After acquisition by Plantronics in July 2018, leadership role was expanded to lead the combined team and build the integrated function.

Sr. Manager, Marketing Automation

Technical and creative lead for marketing automation campaign and platform operations, mentorship of distributed producers, and development of innovations in capabilities and processes.

Senior Marketing Automation Manager

Marketing Automation Manager

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Functional lead for team of email and web editors and designers. Served as interim manager.

Senior E-mail and Web Designer/Marketing Automation Specialist, Customer Channels

Web and E-mail Designer, Enterprise e-Business

Sedlak Design Co.

Print, web, identity/brand and e-marketing design services

Independent Consultant

Universal Technologies, Inc.

Managed design and development team and external resources, delivering small and medium web projects, provided creative direction and technical guidance. Expanded services with business model and operational plan for email marketing services. Led major initiative to re-imagine flagship SaaS product, including new creative direction, technical architecture and business model.

Manager, Design and Development

McCue Design Consultants

Handled print graphic design for direct mail, advertisements, packaging and large format graphics. Led web design and development, adding database-driven technology to agency’s capabilities. Managed extensive packaging portfolio for leading refractories company through two re-brandings.

Web and Graphic Designer, Lead Developer

Thinking back, my career in marketing operations can be blamed mostly on my dad.

Before we owned a home computer, I’d accompany him when he had to go to the office on a Saturday. He wrote code for steel production systems, I played on a Mac nearby. He thought I’d enjoy the paint program since I had a lot of interest in art. I immediately used this new power to publish school news and sports in “The 6th Grade Post” newsletter for my classmates.

He spared no detail about how things worked, whether discussing a piece of machinery or a basic process of life. He always explained WHY something was. I was fascinated. He gave me old appliances and vacuums to take apart. I discovered how parts connected and worked together. The gears, belts and wheels told a story of design and engineering for a purpose.

Now with a family PC, we bonded over hardware and software. A good friend, a quintessential “computer nerd”, gave me my first glimpse into the online universe. I dialed in daily to local BBS’s and a university with real internet access, blocking the family phone line for hours.

I discovered Netscape when I got to college and I was hooked. There were no classes for web design, so I taught myself HTML the old-fashioned way—viewing web page source code and writing my own markup in Notepad. I learned the basics of JavaScript and one summer my dad taught me to program in C++. I learned how to be efficient in coding and to write for future flexibility and ease of maintenance.

Uninspired by the available courses of study, I elected to design my curriculum, borrowing classes from many disciplines. I turned web design into a career, which led to email marketing, which evolved into marketing automation and technology.

So here I am, still blending creativity and technical work. Here I am, still seeing all of the metaphorical gears behind a system. Here I am, still figuring out how to efficiently connect components to achieve a goal. Here I am, still trying to make work easier, scalable and maintainable. Here I am, taking what I’ve learned and sharing it with others through mentorship, community involvement and conference talks. Here I am, still learning.

Despite no artistic interest himself, my dad never dissuaded me from the arts. He knew computers and code and saw a chance to connect those dots. I realize now that he was very creative in how he approached coding and systems and I've found my own satisfaction in the concept.

He’s never said so, but I suspect he didn’t actually need all of those Saturdays at the office.

AJ Sedlak

Every year, this report spotlights where organizations need to improve, as well as where things are on track. If you’re a senior leader with marketing operations under you, read this and hear what your teams probably aren’t telling you—before it’s too late.

When it comes to Community and Marketing Ops, I'm your huckleberry. Community-led founder and CEO of MarketingOps.com and MO Pros® -- where 20K+ Marketing Operations Professionals engage and learn weekly.

The 2025 State of the MO Pro Report tells:

52% of organizations offer no formal training for their Marketing Ops teams.

33% see no defined career path for Ops professionals.

And yet... 92% believe AI will completely reshape how Ops gets done.

Let that sink in for a second.

We’re betting the future of GTM on AI but not investing in the people who’ll actually run it.

We’ll spend six figures on tools, then skip the five-grand budget that could teach someone how to use them strategically.

That’s how you end up with automation without adoption.

AI without accountability.

And dashboards that look impressive but don’t move the business an inch forward.

I believe somewhere along the way, we started treating “enablement” as a nice-to-have, instead of the engine that makes innovation sustainable.

We built tool stacks faster than we built talent stacks.

And in the process, we’ve created Ops teams that are over-burdened (with tech) and under-developed.

If we want real maturity, we need to shift how we invest:

→ Budget for Brains: Training isn’t an expense; it’s compounding ROI. Make it a line item, not an afterthought.
→ Shadow the Strategy Room: Let Ops sit in on OKR, budget, and GTM planning. Exposure creates fluency.
→ Narrative > Noise: Stop measuring activity and start storytelling. Translate data into decisions that matter.

Because the companies that win won’t be the ones with the most tech, they’ll be the ones with the most capable operators behind it.

A Question for you all…

If you could fund one team-wide course this year, would you pick AI automation or data storytelling?

Your answer probably says a lot about what kind of organization you’re building.

PS: You can download the full report from MarketingOps website

#MarketingOps #RevOps #Leadership #AI #ProfessionalDevelopment #StateOfTheMOPro2025

»» Cultivating collaborative relationships between sales, data warehouse, and business intelligence teams, focusing on improving data management and lead routing, strengthening inbound sales initiatives, and driving goal achievement.

»» Pinpointing and prioritizing opportunities for improvement, supporting short- and long-term planning for reengineering the marketing automation platform, technical and data architecture, and martech stack.

»» Evaluate new tools and integrations for scalability and operational efficiency, optimize lead routing and scoring, and drive customer segmentation and acquisition.

»» Design, build, measure, and continually improve the effectiveness of marketing automation using Marketo, defining, mapping, and documenting key processes in support of complex campaigns with a performance focus.

»» Commended for diving in and problem-solving while learning, already being seen as a ‘go-to’ resource when issues arise, and framing the relationships and partnerships to generate improvements for the SDR and BDR organizations.

Manager, Marketing Operations (Platform Operations)

Fathom

»» Recruited to create marketing automation strategies for this digital marketing agency—ultimately downsized following a 50% reduction in business by the agency’s largest automation client—clearly articulating email and marketing automation visions.

Sr. Manager, Marketing Automation 

Alight Solutions

»» Provided strategic leadership during a period of transformational growth and change, navigating M&A activity—including acquisition of data—performing interim Martech Director functions and ‘standing-up’ a newly formed Demand Generation team. 

»» Launched third-party lead generation activities to support marketing automation ecosystem optimization, partnering with sales and product teams to define the customer lifecycle, target markets, and campaign objectives.

»» Leveraged expertise in account-based marketing and design / build marketing campaigns to reach targeted audiences, build high-conversion pipelines, and ensure adherence to global branding guidelines across all marketing initiatives.

Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations & Automation 

Direct Online Marketing

»» Stepped into a brand-new position working with internal marketing teams to deliver services across a diverse client portfolio, serving as the relationship owner for each account and driving proactive communication throughout every project lifecycle.

»» Named key point of contact for major agency clients, fielding queries into marketing automation strategies—quickly earning recognition as a Marketo expert—and demonstrating deep understanding of clients’ objectives.

»» Enabled consolidation of communications by serving as a ‘go-to’ resource able to address clients’ needs, manage long-term client projects, offer strategic marketing insights, and ensure a world-class customer experience.

Digital Marketing Account Manager

BNY Mellon

»» Played an integral role in building the Marketing Center of Expertise for Digital, advancing marketing analytics solutions, nurturing a business- and data-driven culture, and creating unprecedented connectivity between LoB marketers and analytics resources.

»» Built self-service dashboards providing KPI transparency and enabling creation of reports analyzing campaign performance, lead generation activities, resulting revenue expansion, and overarching ROMI.

»» Facilitated end-user training and provided reference materials to support marketers in leveraging dashboards to drive digital activity and results, greatly expanding awareness of business and marketing analytics and insights.

»» Managed domain governance and collaborated with Legal, Risk, Technology, and Cybersecurity teams to protect brand equity and mitigate risks from internet counterfeiting, fraud, piracy, and cybersquatting.

Associate Director, Analytics & Insights

»» Researched and engaged with vendor to proactively implement privacy solution across 8 domains, readying the organization for the impact of GDPR and ensuring project milestones and deliverables were met without fail.

»» Reviewed data collection and analysis processes and associated exposure, presenting project scorecard to the Executive Steering Committee and PMO on risk mitigation initiatives and process changes.

»» Drove communication across the marketing organization—hosting weekly calls to align marketing, communications, legal, and regulatory functions—mitigated roadblocks, addressed issues, and fostered enterprise-wide synergies.

Associate Director, Data Privacy

»» Systematized the Contact Us form handling process, building routing guidelines to ensure expeditious transfer to appropriate business units, and creating roles and responsibilities, trainings, and reference documentation.

»» Expanded product and service awareness through consistent positioning and personalized campaigns, amplifying the BNY brand and catalyzing deeper visits to the corporate website and campaign metrics.

»» Led the Employee Engagement Committee and served as the Employee Engagement Champion for Corporate Marketing in Pittsburgh (40 FTEs), fueling professional development and social activities supporting a strong culture.

Associate Director, Marketing Automation, Personalization, & Operations

Deloitte

»» Managed an internal portfolio of clients, serving as their key point of contact in ensuring initiatives aligned with brand and governance strategies, delivered a consistent user experience, and drove the achievement of go-to-market objectives. 

»» Achieved significant performance gains on a high-traffic, information-drive site, reducing bounce rate 5%, increasing domain referral traffic—500% from LinkedIn and 80% from Twitter—and produced robust AdWords campaigns.

»» Built a digital-first culture, introducing training programs focused on sharing emerging trends and an evolving digital strategy, ensuring stakeholders understood best practices, supported digital transformation, and mitigated risks.

»» Led a business-critical digital and content transformation project, reducing content 70% and fueling optimization of a new responsive site, championing a total strategy refresh, and creating training series for 18 marketing teams.

Manager / Account Lead, Digital Marketing

»» Directed global online content accuracy, relevance, and completeness, managing operations within a cross-functional content management team that owned website, social media, email, and SEO / SEM content and messaging.

»» Fueled organizational efficiencies and operational excellence in the management of a digital content ecosystem and platform migration, overseeing email programs, administering SharePoint sites, and owning the content production.

Internet Producer

»» Promoted Deloitte Consulting LLP’s service lines through targeted marcom strategies and events—roundtables, conferences, and speaking engagements—driving relationship and business development across key industries and organizations.

Sales, Marketing, & Business Development

Developing and executing marketing automation strategies, plans, and systems to drive revenue growth, shape optimal customer experiences, and support business goals is what I have proven to do best. Throughout my career, I have repeatedly built digital-first cultures, evangelized continuous process and performance improvement, and nurtured the relationships vital to success.

★   ★   ★

Spending a formative decade with Deloitte, I progressed through roles focused on driving value through sales, marketing, and business development. Stepping into the marketing optimization arena as a content owner, I gained early experience shaping user experiences and managing a digital content ecosystem. As a digital marketing manager, I next developed omnichannel strategies to protect brand eminence; ensure consistency; and optimize digital initiatives, analytics, and insights.

★   ★   ★

Moving to BNY Mellon, I continued my journey in marketing automation, mobilizing a global team to deliver unprecedented personalization and segmentation of our digital marketing efforts. By defining optimal data routing, roles and responsibilities, and content and segment analysis programs, my team and I amplified the brand and deepened customer engagement. 

★   ★   ★

My last role with BNY took me into Analytics and Insights as an Associate Director, where I held a notable position in building a Center of Expertise for Digital, instilled the importance of analytics and reporting, and fueled lead generation initiatives. Delivering the domain governance to mitigate brand, noncompliance, and reputational risks, I worked diligently with cross-functional stakeholders to put digital and data as the focus of our growth strategy.

★   ★   ★

In the past few years, I worked with Direct Online Marketing and Alight in the digital marketing, automation, and operations arenas. With the latter, I improved the martech stack, fueled demand generation, and aligned sales and marketing to foster collaboration. Offering expertise spanning leading-edge tools and processes, I optimized the digital marketing ecosystem, introduced vendors, and built campaigns that catalyzed results.

★   ★   ★

Currently a Manager of Marketing Automation for Smartsheet, I am the Marketo SME as we define, map, and document key processes to optimize marketing automation. Here I am cultivating cross-team relationships to improve data and documentation, reengineer marketing automation processes, improve our technical and data infrastructure, and fuel revenue growth.

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AJ Sedlak

Erica Donaldson-Dipyatic, MBA

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Erica Donaldson-Dipyatic, MBA

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