To put the list together, we considered the profiles of those making outstanding contributions to the industry; ones undertaking pivotal roles, inspiring others and pushing the boundaries of best practice. But given the vastness of the industry, it’s important to note that a huge amount of exceptional talent has been overlooked, but such is the nature of a top-10 list.
Nonetheless, and in no particular order, here are the top 10 most influential marketers in tech as we see them:
1. Jon Miller, CEO and co-founder, Engagio (previous co-founder of Marketo)
Over the last 20-odd years, Jon has acted as something of a pathfinder for martech. He’s co-founded two extraordinary organisations: the first is possibly one of the most recognisable digital marketing solutions ever; the second, at just one year old, is already making big waves in the account-based space.
Jon is also a prolific speaker and writer, contributing to pretty much every industry conference worth knowing about, and writing blogs and books in the time it would take most to send an email through Marketo.
2. Caroline Taylor, VP global marketing and communications at IBM
Recently featured in our top 10 most influential women in martech, Caroline has consistently proven to be a global titan of software marketing. Aside from commanding the strategic excellence of a truly global marcomms team, Caroline is an adjunct professor at Imperial College Business School, London, and is also a B2B ambassador for the UK’s Marketing Society, to which she was appointed a fellow in September 2012.
3. Jeremy Waite, evangelist, EMEA, IBM
Jeremy is the Charles Dickens of technology marketing. His captivating approach leads compelling stories about IBM and other successful global companies – the use of technology in making the world a better place is a consistent theme.
The most influential person on Twitter for big data, a member of the top 30 most influential digital marketers in the world, and now in the top 10 most influential in tech, Jeremy Waite is true industry heavyweight. We’d also recommend Jeremy’s musings on his regularly updated blog – his affable approach means anything he writes is worth a read.
4. Jeremy Bevan, VP EMEAR marketing, Cisco
Driven by the desire to empower people to connect and collaborate through technology, Jeremy is a leader the industry owes a lot to. He puts emphasis on differentiation and, with 25 years of experience in the IT sector, has injected his idiosyncratic excellence into a number of huge organisations including Hewlett Packard and Cambridge Technology Partners.
The breadth and depth of his operational and customer-facing experience is demonstrated in his regular articles, if you’re yet to discover, you could do far worse than Is customer experience your North Star? as an induction.
5. Sandy Carter, CEO, CMO, Ecosystems
Three-time CMO and technology marketing enthusiast, Sandy has demonstrated excellence in myriad roles. But perhaps she’s best described by her team who awarded her a ‘character type Oscar’ which was a gigantic exclamation point, representing passion, leadership and success.
Sandy is also a board member of Girls in Tech (GIT), a non-profit focused on the empowerment of influential women in technology and entrepreneurship. We need more Sandys in the industry.
6. John Watton, marketing director, EMEA, Adobe
As a technology marketing visionary, John is another business-hold name. The compelling nature of his approach is the blend of data and creativity – the results speak for themselves in Adobe’s industry-leading marketing output. It would be hard to argue against John’s stake in the transformation of B2B into the intuitive and creative space it is today.
John is perhaps one of the most heavily decorated marketers on this list, with accolades too numerous to mention. But with his commitment and ambition, suffice to say, there’s more to follow.
7. Scott Brinker, co-founder and CTO, ion interactive; editor, chiefmartec.com; program chair, MarTech
Perhaps best summed up by Jon Miller above, ‘Scott is the definitive source for expertise in technology marketing’. Primarily he leads the product development and technical operations of the industry-renowned SaaS business that he co-founded in the late-90s, but that’s just the half of it. Scott is also the editor of the chiefmartech.com blog, which has been keeping its mid- to senior-level readership informed on the intersection of marketing and technology for the last eight years.
Those achievements aside, he also gets an extra hat tip for having the longest title on this list.
8. Sylvia Jensen, senior director, EMEA Marketing, Oracle Marketing Cloud
A name that you’re probably already familiar with by now – and another of our top women in martech – Sylvia Jensen is a modern marketing pioneer. She’s responsible for revolutionising many core marketing activities of her employer of five years, the little-known Oracle Marketing Cloud. Perhaps the trait that sets Sylvia above the rest is her aptitude for speaking with authority and benevolence – you can see this first hand at the many events, webinars and video testimonials she presents.
9. Deon Newman, CMO/VP marketing, IBM Watson Internet of Things
Deon is at the vanguard of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT) – in short, he’s defining our professional future. He’s been at the top of his game for around 20 years, in this time he’s conquered the technology marketing world, leading teams in Sydney, London, Paris, and New York.
Another member of our list who struggles to get out of bed without winning an award – in the last two years Deon has won five prestigious awards, including B2B marketer of the year in 2014.
10. Jo Scarlett, CMO, PA Consulting Group
Jo is one of the master strategists of technology and digital transformation that are leading the fourth industrial revolution. She’s passionate about mobilising large teams across global matrix organisations and ecosystems, and has consistently proved to be an agent of change.
Since her position of CDO and CMO of BT Global Services, Jo has vivified the digital performance of businesses, communities and individuals worldwide. We highly recommend you keep an eye on her collaboration with Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie and new entrants team Land Rover BAR, in their challenge to win the America’s Cup in 2017.
