Ep. 186 - What SaaS Leaders Get Wrong About AI

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Guest: Lara Shackelford, SVP of Growth Marketing at iCapital 

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Most SaaS companies are investing heavily in AI, yet many struggle to see meaningful ROI. In this episode of SaaS Backwards, Lara Shackelford—SVP of Growth Marketing, MarTech, and CRM at iCapital—breaks down why AI initiatives fail without the right systems, governance, and change management.

Lara explains how AI-powered revenue systems should be designed across the full customer lifecycle, from demand generation through customer success. She introduces the concept of “agent sprawl,” outlines why AI readiness assessments are critical before scaling automation, and shares practical examples of signal-based marketing and sales automation that actually work.

This conversation is essential listening for SaaS CROs, CMOs, and RevOps leaders looking to align AI strategy, revenue operations, and go-to-market execution.

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