Forrester

The last couple of weeks has been a bonanza of public-sector AI-related news in the UK. Rather than summarize it here, you can check out a blog from myself and my colleague Enza Iannopollo outlining the policy decisions, partnerships, lack of signing up to global accords, and not-so-subtle departmental name changes that UK-dot-gov has embarked upon. A Third Way: The UK Government Wants To Fuel Public-Sector AI Innovation The underlying signal in the recent announcements is clear: The UK government wants to fuel AI innovation. Politics aside, it seeks a third path, one that treads the line between what some see as an overregulated EU and that others see as an underregulated US — bronze-helmed, sword girded at the waist, standing a-prow of the trireme navigating the narrow strait between the deadly dangers of monstrous Scylla and Charybdis, the whirlpool. You can decide which is which in this scenario. Classics aside, this is a noble cause — perhaps the embodiment of the Brexit promise of Singapore-on-Thames. We can look to Estonia for inspiration here. But there’s a key missing component to the strategy — or, perhaps, one that’s there but has been somewhat dropped into the bilges of the galley while we row for victory. Trust Is The Killer App The Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government does a decent job of setting out the UK government’s stance on public-sector AI adoption. It presents guidelines and principles for ethics and risks and mentions “high-risk” and “high-impact” use cases in its aim to “help ensure that AI technologies are deployed in responsible and beneficial ways, safeguarding the security, well-being, and trust of the public we serve.” But it fails to: Define what drives, or erodes, citizen trust in AI systems. The word trust, or trustworthy, appears 22 times (compared to risk, which appears 176 times), but it falls short of giving civil servants guidance on what system features, characteristics, or behaviors create, or destroy, citizen trust. Anticipate divergence between private- and public-sector AI adoption. A lack of any wider legislation governing private-sector development of AI systems means that, as long as UK firms comply with existing relevant legislation such as the GDPR or the Crime and Disorder Act covering hate speech, they are free to develop AI in whatever way they want — potentially, ethics-free. A rise in spammy, hallucinating, biased, unexplainable bots could erode citizen trust in AI, damaging the government’s own efforts to convince citizens that the (hypothetical) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency license renewal bot is safe. Take A Risk-Based Approach To Building Citizen Trust In AI Forrester’s trust framework defines seven levers of trust. It defines words such as transparency, consistency, and dependability, words that also crop up in both the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government and in the EU’s 2019 Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. This is not a coincidence. The EU guidance predates, and somewhat underpins, the recent EU AI Act. But what the EU AI Act does that the UK guidance doesn’t is more clearly define levels of risk, from unacceptable, such as social scoring or biometric profiling that infer sensitive traits like ethnicity or sexual orientation, through high-risk, such as using AI to screen x-rays to spot cancer, to minimal risk, such as AI-powered NPCs in computer games or generative AI content creation for email personalization. We took our trust model (the seven levers) and looked at what drives or erodes UK consumer trust in AI applications at different levels of risk. We found: When the risk is high, empathy is the key driver of trust. Consistency is number two, and transparency is third. This makes sense. We want safety-critical use cases to be safe, consistent, and explainable, right? When the risk is low, dependability is the key trust driver. Consistency drops right to the bottom, yet empathy and transparency remain key. Again, this makes sense. We don’t really mind if the marketing copy for that tin of beans is different each time or if the NPC in “Baldur’s Gate” says something different each time we greet them. But we want them to be there. Want to know more? We will be publishing both our AI trust findings and our Government Trust Index for the UK, as well as for a number of other European countries, over the next few months. Keep an eye out, and in the meantime, if you are a client, please book a guidance session if you want to learn more. source

Data and AI leaders need to be ready and able to articulate their value at all times. Back in my lifeguarding days, we had a drill where a supervisor would lob a red plastic ball into the water and we had mere seconds to snag it or face the music. Data and AI leaders are playing a similar game in enterprise boardrooms and offices. Senior leaders, board members, consultants, and even peers launch the metaphorical red ball and want to hear a justification for the ongoing investments they make in you, your team, and the data and AI capabilities you build.   It’s a reality of the modern workplace: Individuals need to articulate what they do, who they work with, their objectives, and how these contribute to positive business outcomes, along with the values that drive them. The current climate is sending a clear message to data and AI executives everywhere: Now is the time to identify and articulate your story. The ability to convey the value you bring to your organization is not just about securing your position; it’s about defining your professional identity in a rapidly evolving business landscape. The Framework To Navigate This New Reality As Data And Technology Leaders In response to this urgent need, Forrester’s research, Roles, Goals, And Values: Impactful Data Leadership Starts Here, offers a lifeline. This comprehensive report delves into the intricacies of roles, goals, and values as foundational elements for outlining a cohesive, innovative, and resilient leadership vision. Understand yourself and your audience via roles, goals, and values   Understanding and articulating your role within an organization goes beyond mere job titles. It’s about pinpointing the skills and task expertise you bring to the table. Goals, on the other hand, serve as your compass, providing direction and purpose. Lastly, values act as anchors, underpinning your beliefs and actions as a leader. Together, these elements form a powerful framework that can guide executives in navigating the complexities of today’s business environment. Charting Your Course Forrester’s report, Roles, Goals, And Values: Impactful Data Leadership Starts Here, is more than just a guide; it’s a blueprint for navigating the challenges of modern leadership. By anchoring yourself before activating others, you can develop a clear narrative that not only secures your position but also enhances team communication, collaboration, and strategic alignment. The time to define and articulate your professional existence is now. The “red ball drill” of the business world waits for no one, and only by understanding and communicating your roles, goals, and values can you hope to navigate the choppy waters of today’s business landscape successfully. Explore the full report here and embark on your journey of articulation, aligning your professional identity with the evolving demands of the corporate world. Reach out to schedule an inquiry with me by emailing [email protected] to learn more. source

Each year, Forrester recognizes companies that have excelled in a particular area of marketing, sales, product, or customer engagement through our B2B Programs Of The Year (POY) Awards. These are always special occasions, but they feel particularly meaningful this year given the challenging backdrop of changing buyer behaviors, constrained budgets, expanding growth goals, and breakneck technological innovation. For 2025, our North America POY winners exemplify excellence in the following seven categories: Content Strategy & Operations Customer Engagement Demand & ABM Marketing Executives Portfolio Marketing & Product Revenue Operations Sales We’re excited to celebrate this year’s winners at B2B Summit North America, happening March 31–April 3 in Phoenix and as a digital experience. By attending, you’ll have the opportunity to learn firsthand about the innovative initiatives these companies have executed, as well as their tips and tricks in overcoming challenges and how they achieved or even exceeded their goals. And the winners are … Conga — Customer Engagement Conga, a revenue lifecycle management platform, transformed customer success digitally to drive greater adoption, retention, and expansion through data-driven insights and automation, all geared around a central community hub. At B2B Summit, Conga will show how community members enjoy usage rates as much as 28% higher than non-engaged peers. The results are more effective postsale experiences that produce higher net and gross revenue retention and up to seven times more expansion pipeline among engaged accounts. FreeWheel — Portfolio Marketing & Product FreeWheel is a global technology platform for the TV advertising industry, structured to provide a wide breadth of solutions to help the advertising industry achieve its goals. The company’s product management and product marketing leaders tackled organizational inefficiencies by adopting commercialization and product launch best practices, aligning its teams to a well-defined and structured process. At B2B Summit, representatives from the company will detail their journey, including the establishment of a standardized framework for cross-functional collaboration. The session will also cover opportunity research and prioritization, development of a strategic launch program, and standardized planning processes. HCLTech — Content Strategy & Operations HCLTech is a global technology company that delivers digital, engineering, cloud, and AI capabilities powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. Like many organizations, the company identified opportunities to optimize content creation, sparking a strategic reassessment to drive greater impact and audience relevance. At B2B Summit, HCLTech will share its transformation to a content strategy marked by efficiency, personalization, and engagement. By adopting AI and generative AI technologies, the company is reengineering how it produces, delivers, and optimizes content. Palo Alto Networks — Demand & ABM Palo Alto Networks, a leader in cybersecurity, has significantly transformed its revenue process. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it has made the change from focusing on marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) to a process focused on buying groups and opportunities. Concerned about inefficiencies in its previous MQL process, it leveraged a short six-month pilot to prove that adopting buying groups drives dramatic improvement in both process efficiency and pipeline growth. Palo Alto Networks will discuss tips and techniques for selecting and executing a successful pilot, as well as the changes in people, process, and systems being made to expand enterprisewide. TEKsystems — Sales TEKsystems, a leading provider of business and technology services, emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic seeking to address shifts in its marketplace and customer expectations. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it invested in upgraded enablement programs and sales technology and implemented tighter coordination with marketing to level up the effectiveness and efficiency of its sellers. Complemented by a more strategic buyer-aligned sales process, these initiatives informed seller upskilling and new manager-level competencies that helped generate sponsorship from internal leaders and influencers, leading to broad-based and measurable revenue team success. TriNet — Revenue Operations TriNet, a provider of full-service HR solutions, transformed its sales development representative (SDR) team to boost collaboration, improve follow-up timing, and enhance prospecting effectiveness and efficiency. At B2B Summit, TriNet will share how the company refined processes, selected new technology, updated reporting, and adjusted team structures, resulting in better insights and outcomes. Now, the SDR team focuses on both doing the right things and doing things right. Workday — Marketing Executives Workday is an AI platform that helps more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries manage their most important assets — their people and money. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it enhanced its go-to-market strategy and marketing campaigns. This led to the creation of a new, more streamlined process for unified campaign planning and execution, which fostered greater efficiency, collaboration, and a focus on measurable business outcomes. Get ready to be inspired by the full stories of these award winners’ successes at B2B Summit North America next month. Our B2B Programs Of The Year Awards sessions happen Wednesday, April 2 from 3:30–4 p.m. We hope to see you there! source

Cybersecurity vendor ThreatLocker recently hosted its fifth annual Zero Trust World (ZTW) conference in Orlando, welcoming attendees from 28 countries to learn about Zero Trust principles and ThreatLocker offerings. Over two days, the event celebrated Zero Trust as a cybersecurity model and the ThreatLocker approach for achieving Zero Trust. Industry leaders, managed service providers, security practitioners, and (most importantly) Forrester analysts attended. The event featured keynotes, track sessions, and hands-on interactive labs. ThreatLocker CEO and Cofounder Danny Jenkins set the tone with a clear message that the best defense requires not only a strong grasp of technology but also a clear understanding of how adversaries think and operate. As you might expect, the event made it clear that the best defense against these adversaries is adopting a Zero Trust mindset. ThreatLocker Gives Zero Trust Its Own Event Giving a concept like Zero Trust its own event underscores the importance of the Zero Trust approach to ThreatLocker and its customers. The event kicked off with a keynote from Danny Jenkins that included the ThreatLocker origin story and the company’s mission to “change the paradigm of cybersecurity from default-allow to default-deny.” Other keynote speakers and panelists included Reggie Fils-Aimé (former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America), Rob Allen (chief product officer, ThreatLocker), Art Ocain (VP of incident response and disaster recovery, Airiam), and Trina Ford (chief information security officer, iHeartMedia). Keelan Leyser, the “technology magician,” also wowed the ZTW crowd by combining technology and magic in interesting ways. Hector Monsegur (aka Sabu) and former FBI agent Chris Tarbell led a compelling fireside chat about Hector’s former life as a hacker and the fed who caught him. Former Forrester analyst Chase Cunningham (aka Dr. Zero Trust) also delighted the crowd with an engaging keynote that touched on themes from the need to stop throwing money at unproven technologies to how security failures impact markets. While each keynote was unique in its delivery and subject matter, the underlying messaging was clear: To fully reap the benefits of modern technologies, we must change how we approach them. This means that security pros should move away from compliance box-checking exercises and complacency and adopt a more proactive approach to prevention. ThreatLocker also hosted multiple hacking labs, interactive sessions, and live demonstrations aimed at refining both offensive and defensive cybersecurity skills. This fusion of real-time demos with theoretical discussions provided hands-on context that benefited both industry leaders and practitioners alike. ThreatLocker Embraces The Security Platform Approach ThreatLocker announcements at ZTW 2025 included many new features: ThreatLocker Insights: gathers intelligence from client endpoints to identify unusual application behaviors. This can help customers make decisions about whether or not an application should run and what controls should be in place. ThreatLocker Patch Management: helps manage application updates from the same platform being used to control access to those applications. This further illustrates the trend of security vendors competing for proactive security budgets, especially against other endpoint management solutions. The release can potentially help reduce the number of vendors (and agents) on endpoints. ThreatLocker User Store: provides ThreatLocker-vetted apps that users can freely install and use to create their own allowlisting policies. This has the potential to reduce user friction (and, therefore, improve user experience) by offering a marketplace of security-approved apps. ThreatLocker Web Control: delivers centralized web access control and filtering via a browser extension. This capability competes with existing secure web gateway and cloud access security broker solutions, further evidence that ThreatLocker is branching into other security categories. ThreatLocker Cloud Control: aims to help shut down phishing attacks and token theft by allowing only recognized IP addresses and networks to access Microsoft 365 environments. Phishing remains a primary attack method for compromising credentials. This capability promises to fight that by tying authentication not only to the user but also to the device that the user is using. ThreatLocker Detect Dashboard: aggregates alerts and incident data into a dashboard with interactive charts, policy recommendations, and recommended remediations. Understanding that prevention alone is not enough to defend enterprises, this capability adds detection and response for ThreatLocker customers. ThreatLocker was founded on the premise of taking a “default deny” approach to security, thereby enabling Zero Trust. The latest announcements expand on this original vision to include other security capabilities. This follows the cybersecurity industry trend of building platforms with multiple security capabilities instead of discrete, standalone (best-of-breed) capabilities by incorporating existing security functionality (endpoint detection and response, patching, web filtering, etc.) into its existing platform. As always, it’s important to remember that Zero Trust is not a security solution; it’s a strategy. Adopting technologies to enable a Zero Trust approach to security is only a part of achieving Zero Trust. For any questions about the ZTW conference, Zero Trust, or other security and risk topics, request an inquiry or guidance session with a Forrester analyst. source

Here’s a little fact to wrap your head around: The second-most common reason why CX leaders tell us that their organizations invest in CX initiatives is … to improve their CX score. Yes, you read that correctly. The number two driver of customer experience (CX) investment isn’t to improve your customers’ actual experiences — it’s to improve what your customers say about their experiences. It is true that, in many cases, improving a customer’s actual experience (is it easier, more effective, more emotionally resonant than before?) will result in your CX score improving, but the cause-and-effect is shaky. We’ve all seen examples of score begging — from not-so-subtle Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS) surveys that highlight 9 and 10 in bold green to blatant statements such as “Anything less than a 9 is a failure.” Three other key gaps compound the score obsession: The skills gap: Most CX teams skew toward measurement as a core competency. Defining CX metrics is the most common core competency of CX teams we survey globally. And they are doubling down, because “defining CX metrics” is the second-most common competency that teams tell us they are adding. The technology gap: CX technology budgets focus on metrics, not action. Almost half of CX teams, and three-quarters of measurement-focused teams, use customer feedback management technology, while only one in five use technologies focused on responding and driving action, such as journey orchestration. The process gap: Teams lack processes to drive action. Only around one in five voice-of-the-customer and measurement teams tell us that they have effective or very effective processes to drive outcomes such as the ability to prioritize CX initiatives or act on insights. There’s a clear gap between the overwhelming majority of CX leaders who tell us that their executives believe their firm is customer-obsessed — and the reality of the 3% of global firms that our Customer Obsession Assessment tells us actually are. Learn How To Connect Brand And CX At CX Summit EMEA Many firms still think about acquisition and retention as two discrete, separate activities. In his recent blog post, Introducing Forrester’s Brand Experience Index — Drive Growth With Both Brand And Customer Experience, Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee introduced us to the multiplicative value of combining brand and CX measurement. By cross-referencing our Brand Experience Index (BX Index) and Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) scores, he showed how brands that lead on both (i.e., that have strong customer salience, fit and trust, and that deliver experiences that are easy, effective, and emotionally resonant) see an average of 2.3x revenue uplift compared to firms that score low on both indices. We’re leaning into this concept for our CX Summit EMEA this year. On June 2–4 in London, CX, digital, and marketing leaders will come together to explore the future of customer relationships and learn how to build a total experience — one that aligns brand experience and CX to fuel sustainable growth. Through a mix of keynotes, track sessions, interactive experiences, workshops, roundtables, and more, we aim to share how to: Measure and improve total experience using Forrester’s BX Index and CX Index to drive retention and revenue. Harness AI and emerging technology to create intuitive, humanlike customer interactions. Use data-driven insights to refine design strategies and enhance digital experiences. Leverage metrics to shape a customer-centric culture, ensuring that they support transformation rather than hinder it. Be a change leader, effectively managing organizational transformation while maintaining focus on people and processes. Check out the full agenda and register to start taking action that truly benefits customers — and your business. source

When I talk to B2B leaders about their generative AI (genAI) adoption efforts, I hear a mix of frustration, FOMO, and skepticism. Many feel stuck. They’re unsure whether their organization is behind, and they suspect other leaders have cracked the code. They also field tough questions about the ROI of adoption efforts. But the conversation quickly shifts when they ask the most impactful questions: “What can we do with where we are today? Are there practical steps we can take now to turn possibility into reality — or even a quick win?” These are the right questions to ask because they shift the conversation from uncertainty to action. Instead of dwelling on what’s missing or feeling behind, leaders start focusing on what’s within their control. That’s where real progress begins and things get exciting. When the focus turns to practical options, the conversations become energizing, opening the door to tangible steps that drive impact. During my keynote presentation at our upcoming B2B Summit North America, I’ll explore how leaders can turn genAI possibilities into reality by tackling the fundamental challenges that still hold them back. These challenges, once addressed, not only help organizations achieve value today but also help them adapt to whatever genAI advancements come next. Fix The Engine Before Your Competitors Do GenAI can’t deliver real business value if a foundation is broken. Too many B2B organizations are trying to layer genAI on top of scattered, siloed, and outdated technologies, data, and processes. As a result, they can’t connect the right insights, automations stall, and teams are unsure of how to apply genAI beyond basic tasks. The B2B organizations that move ahead will be the ones that fix their engine — creating the right mix of technology, data, and processes — before their competitors do. Close The AI Literacy Gap To Unlock Real Impact When I speak to leaders, they often assume that their teams will know how to apply genAI to their work, but the reality is very different. Without AI literacy, employees hesitate, unsure of where genAI adds value or questioning whether they’re “doing it right.” As one senior AI operations leader at a leading B2B technology company put it, “Whatever communication, enablement, or change management efforts you think you’ll need, plan on tripling them.” Organizations that succeed with genAI don’t just introduce new tools. They over-communicate, over-enable, and over-invest in change management to ensure that teams have the confidence, skills, and context to integrate genAI into their daily workflows. Prioritize ongoing training and learning opportunities with hands-on experimentation and clear guidelines to accelerate adoption and move beyond surface-level efficiency gains for transformation. Make Collaboration Your GenAI Advantage The majority of genAI success stories that I hear aren’t from isolated teams. They’re happening where marketing, sales, product, customer success, IT, and legal teams are collaborating with shared data, shared goals, and a clear genAI strategy. These teams also work closely with their vendors, agencies, tech providers, and partner ecosystem so that they can move faster and do the right things together. Leaders who foster alignment, break down silos, and create a culture of AI-driven innovation across their ecosystem are the best positioned to win. Choose Progress Over Perfection The leaders who see real results with genAI aren’t waiting for perfect conditions. They’re fixing what’s in their control today. The good news? You don’t have to figure it out all alone. At B2B Summit North America, I’ll be diving deeper into these challenges and sharing practical strategies to help your organization move forward without getting lost in the hype. Join me in Phoenix, March 31 to April 3, and let’s talk about what’s really working, what’s not, and what you can do right now to stay ahead. source

IBM has announced its intent to acquire DataStax, a leading data platform provider. This strategic acquisition significantly boosts IBM’s AI data platform by integrating advanced vector capabilities critical for powering retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications. It positions IBM to help businesses leverage value from vast volumes of unstructured data, an area where IBM lacks a strong foothold. DataStax brings expertise to IBM in distributed databases capable of spanning multiple regions, an essential capability for enabling seamless global AI and data fabric deployments. Also, this acquisition strengthens IBM’s commitment to advancing open-source initiatives with DataStax’s support for the Apache Cassandra database and Langflow, a low-code tool for AI development. What It Means IBM has made numerous acquisitions over the years, but this one stands out as one of the most strategic moves to enhance its data platform, primarily focusing on AI. While IBM has previously acquired database companies, integrating them into its stack has often been slow. The success of this acquisition will hinge on how quickly and seamlessly it integrates with IBM’s watsonx AI platform. This acquisition positions IBM to better compete in the AI space in several key ways by adding: Enhanced support for unstructured data management at scale. While IBM supports unstructured data management with its Db2 offering, it has historically lagged in providing comprehensive and scalable solutions. This acquisition addresses that gap, enabling IBM to offer a more robust suite of AI data capabilities. Apache Cassandra, a schemaless NoSQL database, is designed to handle massive volumes of semistructured data at scale, empowering IBM to deliver a more robust and scalable data platform for AI applications. Strengthened vector capabilities for RAG applications. IBM has lagged in providing the critical vector capabilities that are now essential for powering RAG applications. Built on Apache Cassandra, Astra DB delivers high-performance advanced vector capabilities vital for AI-driven workloads requiring rapid retrieval of high-dimensional data. Recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Vector Databases, Q3 2024, DataStax has comprehensive, advanced capabilities. Integrating Astra DB with IBM watsonx.data will significantly enhance its vector capabilities, positioning IBM for greater success in the evolving AI landscape. Enablement for globally distributed data AI environments. DataStax delivers a cloud-native database as a service that simplifies deployment and management and provides a globally distributed data infrastructure ensuring flexibility across multicloud and multiregional environments. As the demand for distributed data continues to rise, this capability significantly enhances IBM’s ability to empower AI-driven solutions on a global scale. Middleware capabilities for IBM watsonx.ai with Langflow. In April 2024, DataStax acquired Logspace, the creator of Langflow — a graphical low-code platform that empowers users to visually design and manage AI workflows. Langflow offers seamless integration with diverse AI models and provides Python-based customization. This acquisition extends the IBM watsonx platform by adding dynamic middleware capabilities, streamlining the creation of advanced generative AI applications more efficiently. Expanded data fabric capabilities with a scalable data platform. IBM has a viable data fabric solution with its IBM Cloud Pak for Data and watsonx.data offerings. With this acquisition, IBM is poised to enhance its data fabric capabilities, supporting both structured and unstructured data at scale while integrating advanced vector capabilities. This expansion is also likely to help IBM deploy AI agents at scale, strengthening its position in the AI-driven data landscape. For more insights, book time with me via an inquiry or guidance session. source

FinovateEurope took place in London again this week, and I was lucky enough to attend. This year marked my 12th Finovate anniversary, making me something of a veteran (or a diehard fan!). Over the years, I’ve witnessed the hype, the growing up, and the reckoning in the sector. While fintech won’t result in full market upheaval, it was exciting to see more energy return to the event this year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was mostly thanks to AI. Sure, the event also featured the more usual set of presenters showcasing new digital banking capabilities, personal financial management, or identity authentication (presenter Keyless took home one of the “best of show” awards). But generative AI (genAI) and AI agents stole the show. As my colleague Aurélie L’Hostis (who presented on genAI in financial services) and I compared notes, here’s what stood out: AI promises new breakthroughs in automation. AI is nothing new in financial services and has featured at Finovate before,but this year’s focus on AI agents is new — promising to reshape operating models and value propositions like never before. AI agents can augment humans to support increasing workloads, reduce costs, and improve employee experience. They gather data, initiate inquiries, conduct research, and tackle a range of low- to medium-level cognitive tasks. Despite boasts of agentic AI, most demos focused either on automating specific tasks (e.g., AQ22 with generating an investment or credit memo) or processes but didn’t really show complex multiagent systems capable of adapting to dynamic conditions. Process transformation requires incorporating different AI components — such as chatbots, text analytics for document extraction, and predictive analytics and ML solutions for decision management — and linking them to data and internal apps and systems. For example, Arva AI, Intrepid Fox, and Intuitech speed up new business customer onboarding or loan decisions by using AI to extract and verify information from uploaded documents, validate online presence, search government databases for missing information, and map ownership structures. Many currently augment rather than replace the work of loan or compliance officers by providing reasoning behind alerts or drafting emails for follow-ups. GenAI holds the keys to unlocking legacy system constraints. As we have written previously, TuringBots, AI, and genAI software development assistants are transforming software development by generating code, documentation, and helping with planning, testing, and deployment. Many banking tech leaders are hopeful that TuringBots will help them modernize and migrate legacy applications. However, the most common off-the-shelf TuringBots aren’t well suited to producing new code in very old languages such as Assembler or COBOL or for industry-specific applications such as core banking systems and require additional efforts and skills. For now, Tweezr (another “best of show” winner this year) aims to support developers in navigating legacy code. The company demoed a scenario where a developer tries to create joint account functionality in COBOL. The AI assistant identifies required features, creates technical guidelines, and identifies constraints. Most importantly, the solution guides the developer on what changes to make, where, and how. If successful, this workaround might temporarily lower the pressure that banks face to modernize their legacy. But genAI also drives deepfake fraud. Deepfakes are easier to generate than ever, more convincing than ever, and permeate across all channels (including call center, mobile app, and online web). Protection against deepfakes takes many forms, from protecting the channel to understanding user behavior to looking at artifacts in data that deepfakes present. Lots of vendors are working on developing, testing, and perfecting deepfake defences. At FinovateEurope, Neural Defend demoed one such detection tool for deepfake images, audio, and video. I was excited to see so many great demos and look forward to more! As genAI empowers a new generation of builders with easy software development tools, I expect to see another wave of innovation. Please schedule an inquiry or guidance session with us to discuss trends in this space. source

In today’s fast-paced business environment, operational excellence is crucial for organizational success. The key to achieving this lies in understanding all processes. Successful organizations excel by having their operations teams categorize and sequence every B2B process, identifying where breakdowns occur and addressing them effectively. But often, go-to-market teams seem to drown in processes and operations teams struggle to understand how these processes connect. Each B2B process is like a link in a chain, interconnected and dependent on the others. Operations teams need a way to visualize and synchronize these connected B2B processes to ensure that everything flows smoothly. The Forrester B2B Process Chain Framework acts like a life preserver, providing essential support for go-to-market teams, with seven categories relating the sequence of B2B processes. Each category represents a crucial link in the chain of key processes for sales, marketing, and product. Here are the seven interconnected categories within the Forrester B2B Process Chain Framework: Strategize: establishes direction and alignment within the organization. Plan: sets clear goals and priorities to guide strategy execution. Design: creates effective and balanced processes for internal and external audiences. Build: develops scalable efficiency and effectiveness for the go-to-market strategy. Deploy: executes to achieve desired outcomes by implementing the plan. Measure: gains insight into performance to drive continuous improvement. Optimize: improves progress toward goals and ensures execution excellence. By using the Forrester B2B Process Chain Framework, organizations can align all processes with a focus on excellence and adaptability. Sales and marketing teams rely on strong processes managed by revenue operations. Sometimes, marketing and sales need to focus on their own tasks — different strokes for different folks. Forrester provides separate process-chain reports for both marketing and sales operations to accommodate this. Explore how these process chains can transform your business and unlock operational excellence in our related reports covering the Forrester B2B Process Chain Framework. And to learn even more, join us at Forrester’s B2B Summit North America from March 31 to April 3, 2025, in Phoenix. We have keynote, breakout, workshop, and roundtable sessions focused on process optimization as the key to operational excellence. source

Each year, Forrester recognizes companies that have excelled in a particular area of marketing, sales, product, or customer engagement through our B2B Programs Of The Year (POY) Awards. These are always special occasions, but they feel particularly meaningful this year given the challenging backdrop of changing buyer behaviors, constrained budgets, expanding growth goals, and breakneck technological innovation. For 2025, our North America POY winners exemplify excellence in the following seven categories: Content Strategy & Operations Customer Engagement Demand & ABM Marketing Executives Portfolio Marketing & Product Revenue Operations Sales We’re excited to celebrate this year’s winners at B2B Summit North America, happening March 31–April 3 in Phoenix and as a digital experience. By attending, you’ll have the opportunity to learn firsthand about the innovative initiatives these companies have executed, as well as their tips and tricks in overcoming challenges and how they achieved or even exceeded their goals. And the winners are … Conga — Customer Engagement Conga, a revenue lifecycle management platform, transformed customer success digitally to drive greater adoption, retention, and expansion through data-driven insights and automation, all geared around a central community hub. At B2B Summit, Conga will show how community members enjoy usage rates as much as 28% higher than non-engaged peers. The results are more effective postsale experiences that produce higher net and gross revenue retention and up to seven times more expansion pipeline among engaged accounts. FreeWheel — Portfolio Marketing & Product FreeWheel is a global technology platform for the TV advertising industry, structured to provide a wide breadth of solutions to help the advertising industry achieve its goals. The company’s product management and product marketing leaders tackled organizational inefficiencies by adopting commercialization and product launch best practices, aligning its teams to a well-defined and structured process. At B2B Summit, representatives from the company will detail their journey, including the establishment of a standardized framework for cross-functional collaboration. The session will also cover opportunity research and prioritization, development of a strategic launch program, and standardized planning processes. HCLTech — Content Strategy & Operations HCLTech is a global technology company that delivers digital, engineering, cloud, and AI capabilities powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. Like many organizations, the company identified opportunities to optimize content creation, sparking a strategic reassessment to drive greater impact and audience relevance. At B2B Summit, HCLTech will share its transformation to a content strategy marked by efficiency, personalization, and engagement. By adopting AI and generative AI technologies, the company is reengineering how it produces, delivers, and optimizes content. Palo Alto Networks — Demand & ABM Palo Alto Networks, a leader in cybersecurity, has significantly transformed its revenue process. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it has made the change from focusing on marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) to a process focused on buying groups and opportunities. Concerned about inefficiencies in its previous MQL process, it leveraged a short six-month pilot to prove that adopting buying groups drives dramatic improvement in both process efficiency and pipeline growth. Palo Alto Networks will discuss tips and techniques for selecting and executing a successful pilot, as well as the changes in people, process, and systems being made to expand enterprisewide. TEKsystems — Sales TEKsystems, a leading provider of business and technology services, emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic seeking to address shifts in its marketplace and customer expectations. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it invested in upgraded enablement programs and sales technology and implemented tighter coordination with marketing to level up the effectiveness and efficiency of its sellers. Complemented by a more strategic buyer-aligned sales process, these initiatives informed seller upskilling and new manager-level competencies that helped generate sponsorship from internal leaders and influencers, leading to broad-based and measurable revenue team success. TriNet — Revenue Operations TriNet, a provider of full-service HR solutions, transformed its sales development representative (SDR) team to boost collaboration, improve follow-up timing, and enhance prospecting effectiveness and efficiency. At B2B Summit, TriNet will share how the company refined processes, selected new technology, updated reporting, and adjusted team structures, resulting in better insights and outcomes. Now, the SDR team focuses on both doing the right things and doing things right. Workday — Marketing Executives Workday is an AI platform that helps more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries manage their most important assets — their people and money. At B2B Summit, the company will share how it enhanced its go-to-market strategy and marketing campaigns. This led to the creation of a new, more streamlined process for unified campaign planning and execution, which fostered greater efficiency, collaboration, and a focus on measurable business outcomes. Get ready to be inspired by the full stories of these award winners’ successes at B2B Summit North America next month. Our B2B Programs Of The Year Awards sessions happen Wednesday, April 2 from 3:30–4 p.m. We hope to see you there! source