The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

Most brands are investing millions in creating seamless, generous customer experiences. But what if a small fraction of your customers are exploiting that generosity, forcing your best, most loyal customers to unknowingly pay an 'abuse tax' through higher prices or stricter policies?

Agility requires moving beyond static, one-size-fits-all policies and embedding real-time intelligence into the moments that matter. It's about empowering teams to adapt not just to who the customer is, but what they intend to do right now.

Today, we are here at eTail Palm Springs and we're going to talk about a massive, and often invisible, threat to brand profitability and customer loyalty: post-purchase abuse. While brands have spent years optimizing the path to purchase, the moments that happen after the sale—returns, refunds, and support interactions—have become a significant source of margin leakage, pitting the goals of the CX team against the financial health of the business.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Breanna Moreno, Head of CX at NoFraud. About Breanna Moreno Breanna Moreno is CX Architect at NoFraud, where she helps ecommerce brands reduce post-purchase fraud and policy abuse while empowering customer experience teams to operate more strategically. With more than 13 years of experience building and scaling high-growth CX organizations, Breanna previously served as Vice President of CX and the first employee at True Classic, leading the support function through rapid DTC expansion and transforming it from a reactive cost center into a data-driven driver of brand performance. Today, she brings that brand-side perspective to NoFraud, serving as a bridge between fraud prevention technology and the frontline teams responsible for protecting revenue, loyalty, and customer trust. Breanna Moreno on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breanna-moreno-183a8459/ Resources NoFraud: https://www.nofraud.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

What if the biggest bottleneck in your commerce strategy isn't the strategy itself, but the time it takes your team to actually perform the actions to execute it?Agility requires not just having the right insights, but also the operational capacity to act on them at the speed the market demands.Today, we're going to talk about a critical bottleneck many brands face: the delay between data-driven insight and real-world execution. Commerce teams are often drowning in data but struggle with the manual, time-consuming work of implementing changes, whether it’s updating product pages or optimizing media spend. This has led to a major shift, where brands are looking beyond traditional agency models and toward a new paradigm of 'agentic AI'—using automated agents to handle execution, freeing up human experts to focus on what they do best: strategy.We are here at eTail Palm Springs, and to help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Himanshu Jain, Co-Founder and Head of Product, and Bill Schneider, VP Product Marketing at CommerceIQ. About Himanshu Jain Himanshu Jain is the Cofounder and Head of Product at CommerceIQ, a Series D agentic AI company based in the Bay Area. CommerceIQ is a leader in retail technology, having raised $200M from SoftBank and Insights Partners, and serving 10 of the top 12 CPG brands globally. He builds vertical AI and autonomous agent platforms that help the world’s largest consumer brands win across ecommerce and omnichannel retail. Over the past decade, he has repeatedly taken AI products from zero to product–market fit, scaling them into multi-million-dollar businesses across retail media, pricing, supply chain, and digital shelf. With deep roots in machine learning, SaaS and enterprise strategy, he operates at the intersection of advanced AI systems and measurable commercial impact. Himanshu Jain on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-schneider-b32a6a/

About Bill Schneider

Bill has 20+ years of experience in product marketing and communication roles building and leading product marketing and external communications . In addition to his deep knowledge of the product marketing role, Bill has has a wealth of experience working for SaaS growth companies in analytics, mobile engagement, shopper marketing, and identity verification.

Bill Schneider on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-schneider-b32a6a/ Resources CommerceIQ: www.commerceiq.ai The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Consumers aren’t lacking for choice. Instead, they’re usually drowning in a sea of options, and it’s up to brands to find ways to go beyond simply removing friction and bring back the joy in shopping. Adding AI, and agentic AI into the mix can unlock new opportunities, but also brings with it new challenges. We’re going to talk a little about all of it.We are recording here at eTail Palm Springs, and hearing from leading brands and the platforms and companies they rely on to innovate in retail. To help me discuss these topics, I’d like to welcome back to the show Noah Zamansky, VP Product, Tech, & Design, Client Experience at Stitch Fix About Noah Zamansky Noah Zamansky serves as the Vice President of Product and Client Experience at Stitch Fix, where he leads cross-functional teams spanning Product, Design, Engineering, Algorithms, and Platform Development. A seasoned leader, Noah has a proven track record of shaping product vision and strategy, designing exceptional user experiences, and spearheading the launch of new business ventures. Before joining Stitch Fix, Noah held the role of Senior Director of Product Management at eBay, overseeing Fashion and Vertical Experiences. Noah Zamansky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nzamansky/ Resources Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703

Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

With over a billion creators projected to be active in the next decade, is the traditional distinction between a brand, a publisher, and a creator in need of an updated definition?

Agility requires not just reacting to new platforms, but fundamentally rethinking who creates your content and how you build an authentic community around it. It's about moving from a campaign mindset to an ecosystem mindset.

Today, we're going to talk about the seismic shift in the media landscape, driven by the explosive growth of the creator economy. We’ll explore how the very definition of a creator is evolving from a short-term influencer to a long-term brand builder, and what opportunities and challenges this presents for established brands that are trying to earn and keep their audience's attention.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Andrew Perlman, Co-Founder and CEO at Recurrent. About Andrew Perlman Andrew Perlman is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Recurrent. Perlman co-founded the company in 2018 with the acquisition of The Drive. Over a span of three years, he oversaw the acquisition of nearly 25 noteworthy brands, including Task & Purpose, Popular Science, Dwell, and Donut, and in the process, introduced Recurrent as the new parent company for the digital media portfolio. In 2022, Perlman rejoined the organization from his role on the board as the Head of M&A and Corporate Development before he assumed the role of CEO in 2023. Previously, Andrew spent over six years as the Chief Executive Officer of XpresSpa, FORM Holdings, and its predecessor company, Vringo, where he led the overall business operations and strategy as well as capital raising. During his tenure, he also oversaw five acquisitions and the NASDAQ listing of the company. Andrew has also served as Vice President of Business Development at EMI Music, SVP of Music and Digital at Classic Media, and held roles at early mobile content companies. Andrew Perlman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adperlman/ Resources Recurrent: https://recurrent.io/ Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

What if the biggest barrier to your AI-powered future isn't the algorithm, but the state of your data from five years ago?

Agility requires more than just fast decision-making; it demands a foundational trust in the data that fuels those decisions. It’s about having the right information, accessible and reliable, to pivot not just your campaigns, but your entire strategy.

Today, we're going to talk about the often-overlooked foundation of marketing agility and AI innovation: the data infrastructure itself. We’ll explore how the role of the CMO is shifting from a master of messaging to a master of data strategy, and what it takes to lead a marketing organization when the quality of your data directly determines the success of your most ambitious technology investments.

To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jim Kruger, CMO at Informatica. About Jim Kruger Jim currently serves as the Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer at Informatica. He has 20+ years of B2B and B2C marketing experience in the areas of cloud, SaaS, services, and hardware solutions. Jim is a results-oriented, high-integrity leader with strong business acumen and an inclusive team-building vision. His top focus as a leader is to drive accountability and make every team member feel valued for their contribution.At Informatica, he leads the global marketing organization with the charter to accelerate cloud growth, expand into new markets and industry verticals, and lead the company's brand momentum. Jim Kruger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkruger1/ Resources Informatica: https://www.informatica.com Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company