C5i, the pure-play AI and analytics company, has deepened its partnership with Databricks with the launch of the Marketing Data Cloud (MDC)—a validated Built on Databricks solution designed to unify fragmented marketing data and measure outcomes across channels with AI at the core.

For businesses, fragmented data has long been a barrier to understanding customers and proving ROI. MDC addresses this challenge by consolidating marketing data from every channel and touchpoint, then applying AI-driven ingestion, harmonization, predictive insights, and real-time activation. The result: marketers can achieve a 360° customer view, smarter segmentation, and hyper-personalized engagement at scale—while accelerating time-to-value.

“The Marketing Data Cloud combines C5i's expertise in data, AI, and marketing with Databricks' scalability to drive precision and impact in a complex marketing landscape,” said Ashwin Mittal, Executive Chairman of C5i. “This expanded partnership marks a significant milestone in unifying data and AI for advanced intelligence.”

Built on Databricks’ Open Lakehouse Foundation

At the core of MDC is the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, which democratizes access to analytics and AI applications by unifying all marketing data into a single environment. With open formats and governance, enterprises maintain full control of their data while tapping into AI models tuned to their specific business needs.

“C5i is a pioneer in applying advanced analytics and AI to real marketing outcomes,” said Sarah Branfman, Global Vice President, Databricks ISV. “Their Marketing Data Cloud empowers enterprises to transform raw data into actionable intelligence. Together, we’re setting a new standard for performance-driven marketing across industries.”

Advanced Analytics for Smarter Marketing

The MDC doesn’t stop at unification—it provides Performance Analytics including:

• Marketing Mix Modeling – optimize spend allocation across channels.

• Brand Measurement – track brand equity and market impact.

• Campaign Analytics – assess effectiveness across paid, owned, and earned media.

• Multitouch Attribution – evaluate how every customer touchpoint contributes to conversions.

Industry-agnostic and scalable, MDC is designed to serve enterprises of all sizes, helping marketing leaders refine strategy, improve ROI, and gain a competitive edge.

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In a global coaching market projected to surpass $20 billion by 2030, competition and client expectations are intensifying. Yet, one of the biggest challenges for coaches remains the same: building sustainable, scalable businesses. Despite deep expertise, many coaches struggle with operations, visibility, and client acquisition.

The Launch Accelerator, developed by business strategist Sai C.N.G. Blackbyrn, addresses this gap with a done-for-you business growth system designed to help coaches establish fully operational practices within just 30 days.

Meeting a Growing Demand for Predictability

Industry observers note the rise of hybrid models in coaching, where practitioners seek predictability, credibility, and measurable outcomes over generic frameworks. By combining strategy and execution, Launch Accelerator is emerging as a blueprint for modern coaching businesses in a data-driven economy.

The impact is measurable:

• 80%+ of participants report significant growth within six months.

• The program maintains a 92% satisfaction rate.

• In just three years, it has supported 500+ coaches globally, generating 124,000+ leads.

A Turnkey Infrastructure for Growth

What sets Launch Accelerator apart is its infrastructure-first approach. Rather than offering abstract guidance, the program delivers:

• A clearly defined niche and high-value offer.

• Client acquisition funnels designed for conversion.

• Automated email campaigns and tested sales copy.

• A complete business framework coaches can launch immediately.

“Coaches are often deeply skilled in their fields, but building a scalable business requires infrastructure, not just inspiration,” said Sai C.N.G. Blackbyrn, Founder of Coach Foundation. “The Launch Accelerator was designed to provide that infrastructure, so coaches can focus on their work while building long-term credibility and impact.”

Hybrid Model: Execution + Skill Development

According to Edge360 Marketing’s review, the differentiator is the hybrid design. The program pairs done-for-you execution with advanced training in sales, positioning, PR, SEO, and publishing. This ensures participants not only launch a fully functional business model but also acquire the skills to sustain and scale.

With hundreds of success stories and rising demand in an increasingly crowded coaching landscape, Launch Accelerator is positioning itself as a market-defining solution for coaches seeking growth, efficiency, and long-term impact.

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Climaty AI, a global CliMarTech company powered by Agentic AI, has officially launched under the leadership of Founder & CEO Neel Pandya. With operations spanning APAC, GCC, EU, UK, and North America, Climaty AI is set to become the default climate layer for all media decisions—delivering a SaaS platform that integrates carbon responsibility with high-performing media campaigns.

Unlike point solutions or ESG add-ons, Climaty AI introduces the industry’s first end-to-end CliMarTech infrastructure, bringing together sustainability and performance at scale.

Key Differentiators of Climaty AI

• Cross-Media Carbon Intelligence – The world’s first engine measuring ad emissions across all media touchpoints, recommending AI-driven strategies to cut CO₂ footprints substantially.

• Agentic AI Suite – Autonomous AI agents that streamline workflows, personalize creatives, deliver real-time intelligence, and continuously optimize campaign performance.

• Programmatic+ – Premium, MFA-free inventory powered by direct publisher deals and carbon-aware bidding.

• Ad Net Zero Pathway – Full accountability with verified carbon credit offsets.

“Climaty AI is the answer to every CMO asking, ‘How do I grow responsibly?’” said Neel Pandya, Founder & CEO of Climaty AI. “With Agentic AI at the core and sustainability at the heart, we’re not just solving problems—we’re re-engineering the operating system of modern marketing.”

Leadership with Proven Global Impact

At the helm is Neel Pandya, a recognized Top Global Inspirational Leader and Most Powerful Influencer in the marketing industry. His career spans senior leadership roles at L'Oréal, Vodafone, and GroupM (Unilever), as well as serving as CEO of Pixis, where he helped scale the AI-driven marketing platform into a $225M-funded global brand.

Pandya has also headed the Society of Advertisers’ Media Forum, shaping industry-wide initiatives. Now, with Climaty AI, he is steering the dual wave of Agentic AI and Climate Tech to create solutions that align business growth with environmental responsibility.

“After years of working on performance optimization across global brands, agencies, and AI platforms, I felt a responsibility to lead the next critical shift where marketing intelligence integrates environmental impact,” Pandya added. “The future of marketing lies in AI-powered automation, measurable outcomes, and purpose.”

About Climaty AI

Climaty AI is a global CliMarTech (Climate + Marketing Technology) company, delivering the world’s first end-to-end AI-powered infrastructure that unites performance-driven marketing with measurable carbon responsibility. Built for CMOs, agencies, and enterprises, Climaty AI enables organizations to scale sustainably while optimizing growth outcomes.

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When a company promotes someone to Chief Marketing Officer just a year after joining, it usually means they’ve shaken things up—for the better. That’s the case at Highspring, which today announced Katie Strout as its new CMO, following her rapid ascent through the organization after spearheading a sweeping brand overhaul.

From Brand Transformation to Growth Engine

Strout didn’t waste her first year. She streamlined Highspring’s go-to-market identity, modernized its brand architecture, and aligned marketing operations with the company’s long-term strategy. The result: a marketing function no longer seen as a back-office service, but as a central growth driver.

As CMO, Strout will now oversee enterprise-wide marketing across Highspring and its talent solutions arm, Vaco by Highspring. Her mandate? Drive large-scale demand generation, build deeper market connections, and keep marketing firmly embedded in business strategy.

“Marketing has become a high-impact partner to our business units under Katie’s leadership,” said Highspring COO Steve Kass. “Her promotion is both well-earned and critical to our next chapter.”

A Track Record of Modernization

Strout isn’t new to high-stakes marketing. With nearly two decades of experience across professional services, gaming, and technology, she’s led teams where brand, digital, and demand intersect. Before Highspring, she served as VP of Performance Marketing at a Fortune 500 professional services firm, where she drove measurable results across brand campaigns and revenue-focused initiatives.

Her career also includes senior marketing roles in gaming and tech—industries where agility and customer engagement aren’t optional. That background seems to be informing her approach at Highspring, which emphasizes adaptability and data-driven execution.

Why It Matters

Highspring is betting big on marketing as a lever for growth—something not every professional services organization gets right. In an industry where marketing often plays second fiddle to sales, Strout’s elevation signals a shift: marketing isn’t just about polishing the brand anymore, it’s about fueling pipelines and scaling demand.

The move also reflects broader trends in B2B services. Firms are under pressure to modernize their marketing engines with digital-first strategies, brand clarity, and performance metrics to match. Rival organizations are making similar moves—EY recently restructured its global marketing leadership, and Accenture has doubled down on demand-generation functions in recent years. Highspring’s appointment fits neatly into this industry narrative.

Looking Ahead

For Strout, the new role is about maintaining momentum. “We’re building a brand and marketing approach that matches the scale and opportunity of this organization,” she said. That scale is significant: Highspring operates across 50+ countries, supporting more than 10,000 professionals worldwide.

The company’s challenge will be translating its brand transformation into measurable business impact—especially as professional services firms race to differentiate in a crowded, digital-first market. If Strout’s track record is any indication, Highspring’s next chapter could see marketing sitting at the head of the table, not just the sidelines.

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When generic AI tools promise speed but deliver chaos, someone eventually builds a smarter alternative. For Sappington, a firm known for its enterprise technology marketing chops, that meant creating its own: the Sappington Expedite Platform, an AI-powered solution designed to slash production time and cost for essential marketing assets—without sacrificing brand standards or human-caliber quality.

Why Not Just Use ChatGPT?

That was CEO Tim Goggin’s exact question back in 2022, when AI hype was swelling and tools like ChatGPT began creeping into marketing workflows everywhere. His answer? Because off-the-shelf AI solutions rarely deliver what enterprise marketers actually need: secure, accurate, on-brand content that can scale across complex campaigns.

“We saw where the market was headed and knew our clients needed something purpose-built,” Goggin said. “Off-the-shelf AI solutions often promise speed but deliver chaos, lack quality, or don’t align with brand standards. We built a platform that does what marketers need—to move faster and spend less while retaining human-caliber quality.”

That distinction matters. While smaller businesses can experiment freely with open AI tools, enterprise brands are governed by compliance, data security, and the need for consistency across dozens of channels. A single rogue output can be costly.

Built for the Realities of B2B Marketing

The Expedite Platform is not just a “wrapper” for a public LLM. It combines custom-trained models, advanced prompt engineering, and secure infrastructure, all layered with Sappington’s two decades of B2B marketing expertise.

The result is an AI environment where Sappington’s strategists and writers can churn out polished eBooks, case studies, competitive analyses, blogs, solution sheets, and even full campaign Bills of Materials at a fraction of the usual time and cost. Importantly, the content isn’t shipped straight from an algorithm—it still runs through human editors, brand checks, and quality assurance.

That hybrid approach addresses one of the most common complaints about AI-generated content: robotic tone, factual inaccuracy, and endless revisions. “We’ve been able to dramatically cut timelines and costs,” Goggin noted. “And help our clients be AI-forward while they navigate AI tools within their companies.”

Differentiating from the Pack

In an AI-saturated market, differentiation is tough. Microsoft, Adobe, HubSpot, and Salesforce have already injected generative AI into their marketing suites. But Sappington’s bet is that enterprises don’t just want AI baked into existing tools—they want a controlled, secure, and branded environment that matches their specific workflows.

Think of Expedite as the opposite of the “move fast and break things” mantra. It’s more “move fast and still look professional.” That’s a subtle but critical nuance in B2B, where a poorly written whitepaper or misbranded case study can tank credibility overnight.

Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI

One thing Goggin stresses is that Expedite isn’t about replacing people—it’s about scaling them. High-touch services like keynote development, executive storytelling, sales presentations, video production, and experiential marketing remain untouched. Expedite instead handles the repeatable content layer: the essential assets that can slow down marketing teams but don’t always need to start from a blank page.

In other words, Sappington isn’t handing over the creative reins to AI. It’s using AI as a force multiplier.

Industry Implications

The launch taps into a broader trend across enterprise marketing: AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of B2B marketing organizations will use AI to personalize and scale content production. But the challenge has always been balancing speed with control.

By building a proprietary platform instead of leaning on public tools, Sappington is positioning itself as both a service provider and a product innovator—something rival firms may have to consider as clients demand more AI-powered efficiency without losing the bespoke, brand-safe touch.

The Takeaway

Sappington’s Expedite Platform represents a middle path in the AI marketing arms race: faster, cheaper, but not reckless. It’s a move that could resonate strongly with enterprise clients who want to leverage AI without sacrificing brand trust.

For B2B marketers overwhelmed by the choice between generic AI tools and expensive, slow human-only processes, Expedite may just offer the “best of both worlds.”

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Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar is shaking up its leadership team with two high-profile hires aimed at accelerating marketing innovation and operational excellence. Michelle Chin joins as Chief Marketing Officer on Sept. 2, and Jerrold (Jay) Wong will start as Chief Operations Officer on Sept. 15.

The appointments come amid a period of momentum for the brand, which reported increased traffic and sales in Q2, signaling renewed growth potential in the casual dining segment.

Michelle Chin: Leading Marketing with Data and Creativity

Chin brings more than 20 years of marketing experience from global consumer brands like Starbucks, Godiva, and Unilever. At Applebee’s, she will oversee the brand’s entire marketing strategy, including national advertising, social media, digital campaigns, menu innovation, and integrated initiatives.

“Applebee’s has a unique place in American culture—welcoming, familiar, and full of heart,” Chin said. “I’m energized by the opportunity to deepen guest engagement, evolve our brand presence, and drive bold, creative marketing that keeps Applebee’s top of mind and top of table.”

Her mandate aligns with Applebee’s broader strategy: connecting with a new generation of guests while strengthening the emotional bonds with existing customers. Data-driven insights and storytelling will guide her approach, balancing bold creativity with measurable results.

Jay Wong: Operational Excellence Meets Hospitality Expertise

Wong joins with a strong background in hospitality leadership, having scaled teams and led transformations at Four Seasons, Starwood/Marriott Hotels, and Exclusive Resorts. As COO, he will focus on improving operational consistency, supporting franchisees, and driving system-wide performance to enhance the guest experience.

“Applebee’s is one of the most iconic names in American casual dining,” Wong said. “I’m thrilled to join this team and help move faster, serve guests better, and unlock new avenues for growth.”

Strategic Implications

The moves reflect Applebee’s commitment to innovation in an increasingly competitive casual dining landscape. By investing in marketing leadership and operational rigor, the brand aims to reimagine its restaurants, expand menu offerings, and create meaningful guest connections. Competitors like Chili’s and TGI Fridays are similarly focusing on experiential upgrades and digital engagement, making leadership with proven consumer-brand expertise critical.

With Chin and Wong at the helm, Applebee’s hopes to combine marketing sophistication with operational efficiency, leveraging both to sustain growth and maintain relevance in a crowded market.

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MediaOne has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Adam Bridgeford as Vice President of Brand Partnerships, signaling a renewed focus on expanding client reach and integrated marketing solutions.

Bridgeford’s hire aligns with MediaOne’s strategy to deepen its presence in the tourism, healthcare, and financial services sectors, particularly across the Midwest. In his new role, he will identify growth opportunities, develop strategic client plans, and deliver creative digital media strategies that connect brands to the destinations and experiences people value most.

A Proven Track Record in Growth and Partnerships

“Adam’s proven track record of driving significant growth and his expertise in forging strategic partnerships perfectly align with our mission to help clients achieve meaningful impact,” said Jason Fulvi, MediaOne Chief Sales & Marketing Officer.

Bridgeford brings over a decade of experience in sales and marketing leadership, consistently delivering 10–15% revenue growth across global tourism, branding, and strategic marketing sectors. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Business Development at Herrmann Global, a tourism insights and marketing agency, where he led business development initiatives and forged strategic partnerships, primarily promoting international tourism into the U.S.

Strategic Implications

Bridgeford’s appointment reflects a broader trend in integrated marketing: agencies are increasingly emphasizing destination-based marketing and tailored client solutions to stand out in competitive verticals like tourism and healthcare. His experience building networks within destination marketing organizations positions MediaOne to deliver campaigns that resonate with both brands and consumers.

By combining data-driven strategies with creative media solutions, Bridgeford is expected to accelerate MediaOne’s growth trajectory and strengthen its footprint in the Midwest, ensuring clients receive strategic, outcome-focused marketing support.

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Appian (NASDAQ: APPN) has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide Business Automation Platforms (BAPs) 2025 Vendor Assessment, highlighting its growing influence in AI-driven process automation.

The IDC report notes Appian’s robust capabilities in AI agent development and its copilot functionality for enabling interactive collaboration between users and large language models (LLMs). These features reinforce Appian’s ongoing mission: embedding AI into business processes to make them faster, smarter, and more adaptable.

Innovations Driving AI Integration

Key Appian innovations cited by IDC include:

• Agent Studio: A tool to create and manage AI agents within business workflows.

• AI Document Center: Enterprise-grade intelligent document processing.

• Smart Search: AI-driven semantic search across Appian’s unified data fabric.

These capabilities illustrate Appian’s commitment to integrating AI directly into business operations rather than treating it as a standalone tool, delivering measurable operational impact for enterprise users.

“The true power of AI lies in its integration within core business processes,” said Sanat Joshi, EVP of Product & Solutions at Appian. “Our recognition as a Leader underscores our focus on embedding AI with purpose and governance, empowering customers to accelerate operations and responsibly scale AI benefits.”

Why It Matters

As organizations across banking, insurance, government, and life sciences increasingly deploy AI, platforms like Appian provide a foundation for scalable, enterprise-wide automation. A recent Appian-sponsored IDC InfoBrief demonstrates how AI-enabled processes can amplify the value of existing automation initiatives, providing both agility and measurable business outcomes.

In a market crowded with process automation and AI vendors, Appian differentiates itself by embedding intelligence into every layer of workflow, enabling companies to orchestrate complex operations while maintaining governance, compliance, and insight-driven decision-making.

Bottom Line

Recognition by IDC MarketScape positions Appian as a go-to solution for enterprises looking to combine AI with process automation. Its approach emphasizes responsible AI adoption, process intelligence, and actionable outcomes—a model increasingly important as businesses aim to leverage AI without losing control over critical operations.

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