Why B2B Tech Marketing Is Outpacing Consumer Brands With Cisco CMO Carrie Palin

On this episode of the Marketing Vanguard podcast, host Jenny Rooney she sits down with Carrie Palin, CMO of communications technology firm Cisco, for an illuminating discussion on the evolution of B2B tech marketing and authentic leadership. 

From transforming Cisco’s digital presence to leveraging AI for enhanced customer experiences, Palin shares how she’s redefining what it means to be a tech CMO. 

The conversation takes an inspiring turn as she candidly discusses navigating executive leadership while being present as a parent, offering valuable insights for professionals seeking to balance career ambitions with personal priorities. 

“These days, because the world is so intensely digital and because B2C companies have made that consumer relationship so instantaneous and gratifying, we have had to catch up in B2B. And yet, now we are producing a lot of the tech in B2B that is enabling all of this AI revolution,” she says on the podcast.

With over 30 years in tech marketing at Dell, IBM, Box, SendGrid, and Splunk, Palin is a pioneer in B2B marketing. At Cisco, she has modernized the brand, overhauled the website, and leveraged AI for customer engagement. A champion of work-life integration, she has helped position Cisco as a leader in digital resilience and cybersecurity while driving business growth.

Whether you’re a marketing leader looking to drive innovation or an aspiring executive seeking to chart your path, this episode delivers actionable wisdom for modern business leadership.

Key takeaways:

[11:51] Transforming legacy brands and customer experience — Carrie shares how her team transformed Cisco’s brand from “the company that built the Internet” to a leader in digital resilience. Upon joining Cisco, she identified a critical opportunity with their 17-year-old website that had an 80% bounce rate. By securing executive buy-in and making customer experience the priority, her team replatformed the entire site and implemented a customer-first approach to all digital touchpoints, winning numerous awards for their work.

[16:31] AI framework: enhancing human connections — Carrie emphasizes Cisco’s thoughtful, intentional approach to AI implementation, focusing on safety, security, and enhancing human connections. She explains that AI should be used to fill gaps in customer experience that would be impossible to address with human resources alone, while preserving the human touch where it adds the most value. Her team uses this framework to evaluate every AI initiative, ensuring technology serves humanity rather than replacing it.