Show Notes
In this episode of The Master B2B Friday 15, hosts Jared Blank and Andy Hoar welcome former Grainger executive Meeta Kratz for a candid discussion about leadership in the AI era. Drawing on decades of experience leading commercial growth and digital transformation, Meeta shares how AI is reshaping executive roles, accelerating the rise of fractional leadership, and changing the skills organizations need most. The conversation explores:
Why executives need to rethink how they work with AI The growing role of consulting and fractional leadership How AI is transforming hiring and workforce planning Preparing the next generation of leaders for an AI-enabled workplace Practical lessons for executives navigating their own career transitions
If you're leading digital commerce, sales, marketing, technology, or business transformation, this episode offers valuable perspective on preparing for what's next.
More from Master B2B Friday 15
Andy Hoar and Master B2B's Jared Blank are joined by Christina Chatfield, Head of Growth at materials distributor Composites One, to talk about lessons learned from a digital transformation undertaking at the company. Christina talks about the importance of communicating with different departments BEFORE tech is fully built, how she got the sales team on board, and how a company knows when it's time to undertake a huge endeavor like this.
McKinsey reports that 88 percent of companies use AI in at least one function, and only 7 percent have scaled it. Andy and Brian dig into a Harvard Business Review article that names middle managers as the most common failure point in generative AI adoption, what the article recommends, and why Andy argues companies also need to rethink the work itself. Along the way: Amazon's flatter organization, Microsoft's internal AI lessons, and what the West Coast offense can teach B2B leaders.
Andy and Brian preview the 2027 Master B2B Mindshare Summit - our 5th annual! - taking place in Chicago on March 16-17, 2027. This year's event moves to a bigger venue (Convene Willis Tower), but features the small group conversations attendees rave about. In the podcast, the guys talk through some of the new sessions and improvements we're making for the event. Tickets available at summit.masterb2b.com
Andy and Brian are back from Nashville with a full recap of the B2B Exchange at Shoptalk Fall, where roughly 4,000 attendees watched B2C giants like Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren share a room with B2B companies like Uline and Schneider Electric. They break down the sessions that packed the room, what two CIOs told a room full of vendors about cold outreach and pilots, and why nearly every question all week came back to one thing: data.
Andy Didyk, CEO of Ntara, joins Andy and Brian to preview an upcoming Shoptalk Fall session on turning data into dollars in the age of agentic commerce. Only 44% of B2B marketers have the data infrastructure to support AI, and new research from Ntara found that while 79% of manufacturers have a C-suite mandate to implement AI, only 7% say their systems are actually ready. Andy Didyk breaks down why the real gap is organizational, and what it takes to give AI engines the structured product data they need to actually recommend you.