Predictable Revenue Is a Design Problem

Machine-generated transcript from the episode video. Speaker labels are not included and some names and product terms may be transcribed phonetically.

[0:00] I've learned that the best founders are always selling. Welcome to the GTM Vault podcast hosted by Rick Kleta. We uncover the strategies, the pivots, and the breakthroughs turning startups into giants. Let's crack open the vault and find out how. Today on GTM vault, I'm joined by Amber Bruner, chief revenue officer at Excel and one of the most accomplished and transformational leaders in enterprise go to market. Amber has spent over 25 years leading global GTM organizations at SAP, Salesforce, Pager Duty, Informidica, guiding teams through massive waves of transformation from onrem to cloud SAS and now AIdriven GTM. Her leadership philosophy, scaling with purpose, leading with clarity, is built on accountability, transparency, and mentorship. She's known for driving alignment across sales, marketing, customer success, and operations while keeping people at the center of

[1:02] transformation. In this episode, we'll unpack how Amber designed GTM systems that s that scale sustainably, builds trust through transformation, and balances operational rigor with human leadership. Amber, you've led GTM organizations at SAP, Salesforce, Pager Duty, and and for what patterns separate companies that scale predictably from those that stall in complexity? Great question. The companies that scale predictability have one thing in common, alignment. They create clarity early by setting clear goals, metrics, and accountability. Everyone has to understand their role connects to the customer and customer value. That's at the center of everything that we do. So companies that stall usually lose that focus and they end up chasing activity instead of outcomes.

[1:50] When you inherit a large fastmoving GTM engine mid-flight, what's your diagnostic process in the first 30 to 60 days? I like to call it the AAA effect. So you assess, you align, and then you accelerate. So the first thing that I do is I listen to customers, I listen to the field, um, and I look at the data. So I map where clarity exists and where it doesn't and then I align the operating rhythm. So pipeline health, forecasting, cadence, accountability frameworks as well. It's really about finding the friction points that slow the execution. And so once you have that foundation and it's clear, you can accelerate your leadership philosophy. Scaling with purpose, leading with clarity blends operational discipline with people first culture. How do you put that into practice across global teams?

[2:42] Yes. Scaling with purpose means growth that's really intentional. It's not just you know being fast but but sustainable. So I always say leading with clarity means that people always understand the why behind things. Why are we doing this? And when you explain that it becomes very clear. And I combined you know a disciplined system with genuine trust in my teams and structure and empowerment can actually coexist. And that's how you build and that's how I built velocity without burnout. And when people feel trusted, they feel valued and they feel aligned execution becomes really effortless within the organization. How did your early experience at SAP and Salesforce shape the way you think about leading through transformation and scale?

[3:28] Yeah, definitely great learning years. Uh those years taught me that scale is never just about technology, right? It's about people and process as well. And I learned how critical it is to align around a shared vision. So investing in enablement early, making data everyone's common language. And the best transformations really happen when culture and execution move in sync. You let a major transformation around industry-based GTM and datadriven strategy. What did that look like in practice and what were the key lessons? Yes, it was really about we changed the game or I changed the game of how we went to market entirely. It was about moving away from horizontal sales motion to one that was deeply rooted in more industry and business outcomes. We shifted from just selling products and positioning products to really solving our customers business problems through data. So identifying their business imperatives, wrapping use cases that drive business outcomes to that and then

[4:32] driving a solution to solve their problem. I'd say the key lesson was that again clarity of value and not the volume of activity that drives predictability. So that was a huge lesson and once a team is speaking in the customer language, everything else falls into place. You have to understand your customers business, speak in their language, and solve their problems. You worked across both horizontal and vertical GTM motions. How do you decide when to go deep into an industry versus scaling across multiple segments? Depth creates credibility and breadth creates the scale. So I'd say the decision really depends on the maturity. So when you've proven a repeatable process in one segment, that's when you really earn the right to expand in others. But even when you're scaling horizontally, you can kind of lose the vertical lens and you don't want to do that. Every customer, as I said earlier, still expects that you understand their business, their challenges, and how to solve for what what their challenges are.

[5:34] What does the operating rhythm of a high velocity CRO look like day-to-day, and how do you balance structure and adaptability? Yes, clarity. So, every day starts with clarity. The first thing I do, I look at pipeline velocity. I look at our forecast accuracy, customer engagement, and then after that comes agility, right? So, listening to the signals that are adjusting so you can adjust fast and make pivots where needed. And I keep a consistent cadence of operating reviews and one-on- ones. Very important. So, I also create a space that's for curiosity and experimentation, right? Discipline keeps you grounded, but the adapt adaptability keeps you growing. With GTM metrics, do you believe leaders still measure the wrong way in 2025?

[6:20] I think a lot of leaders still focus on lagging indicators like bookings instead of leading ones like engagement, quality, sales cycle speed, um, and expansion velocity. And at Excel, we measure the quality of execution not just on the quantity of our outcomes because that's what drives sustainable growth. You've led teams through SAS transitions, AI adoption, and global restructuring. What's the hardest part of leading people through transformation? The hardest part is managing uncertainty while keeping trust intact. Transformation al sometimes feels like there's disruption until people understand the why behind it. I focus on overcommunicating, creating transparency and really making sure that every person sees where they fit in the future state. I truly believe that clarity builds confidence and confidence fuels performance. And I think if you have that trust and build that culture um and you know with the team I I often say to them where there's

[7:24] transformation there's sometimes disruption and disruption brings change right but with change there's opportunity and so it's identifying what those opportunities are and where they fit into the organization with those opportunities. How do you balance c how do you b c central gtm strategy with regional autonomy when designing global revenue organizations? Yeah, it's all about framework. So it's not a formula, it's about a framework. So you define a global strategy, the core value proposition, the brand promise and metrics, but you have to empower the regions to tailor execution to their local dynamics. Right? It's the art of global go to market is holding consistency in one hand and local agility on the other.

[8:08] What mechanisms do you use to sustain transparency, accountability and trust as organizations scale? At Excel, it's all about shared goals, unified metrics and consistent communication. We run integrated business reviews where sales, marketing and customer success report on all the same data set. So transparency of that eliminates silos and accountability becomes a cultural not kind of hierarchal and I think when you have all crossf functional teams aligned um I like to say I usually call it flying in formation um that's when you see you see the outputs that we're we're driving for. Having spent much of your career in datadriven companies like Informatica and Salesforce what's your honest take?

[8:55] What's real versus hype when it comes to AI and GTM? The hype is when AI is treated as a headline and the reality is when it becomes the operating system for decision making. It's really the foundation to your go to market. And at Excel, we see AI turning data into foresight. So connecting planning, execution, and outcomes into one continuous loop. It's not about replacing people. It's about giving them better intelligence to act faster and smarter. With that said, do you think it'll lead to a mass reduction in the headcount across the revenue generating organizations within the next few years? Be a shift in types of jobs. I think it will become more efficient in certain areas, right? So certain jobs will change, but I think it'll open up, you always need that human element. So I think it'll open up different opportunities for individuals.

[9:50] Where are you seeing AI create the most tangible impact today in forecasting, enablement or execution? That's a good question. All the above. No, execution. I think forecasting is definitely is valuable, but execution is where revenue happens. AI helps the teams plan, predict, and act from a pricing and promotions to retail execution in one unified system. But it's where we see the biggest ROI for our customers. As automation accelerates, which human leadership traits will define the next generation of great CRO? Empathy, adaptability, and clarity. I really truly believe the best leaders will be those who can connect deeply with people while driving precision through data. Technology may scale insight, but only humans can inspire the action.

[10:37] You're known for developing and mentoring emerging GTM leaders. What signals tell you that someone's ready to step into a CRO role? Yeah. Well, first I'll say as a in any role you're going into, I always tell everyone I mentor, you shouldn't be 100% ready, right? If you are, then you're not being challenged enough and you should be looking at a role that's more challenging. But the key indicators that I I see is when when leaders or you know mentees that are looking to go into a CR role, they stop managing activities and start leading outcomes. It's about being strategic maturity and really understanding how every lever impacts revenue and leading through influence rather than title. And what I mean by that is you have to shine the light on your people, right? And take that focus off of yourself and put it on to others. What leadership belief has evolved most for you over time?

[11:34] I would say early on in my career, I thought leadership was about having all the answers, all the right answers as well. And now I know it's about asking the right questions, right? Clarity really comes from curiosity. So as a leader, it's constantly learning. Never stop learning. Never stop educating. What have you stopped doing as a leader that's made you more effective? I definitely stopped trying to be everywhere at once. You know, earlier on in my career, I felt responsible for every detail, but true leadership, especially at a global organization like Excel, it means creating clarity, right? Not control. My focus is now being on enabling alignment, building trust, empowering others to lead. And I really believe when you hire great people and you give them context instead of instructions, you trust them to deliver and everything moves faster. And that's how you scale impact without losing the culture at a company.

[12:30] If you could go back to your SAP days, what advice would you give your younger yourself about building scalable human- centered GTM systems? Yes. Uh definitely use my ears and mouth and proportion. So listen more, simplify faster, and never underestimate the power of culture. Systems and processes are always going to change. They're going to continuously change. But the people and purpose are what really scales. I'd like to now move on to the rapid fire section of the pod. One GTM metric that deserves more attention in 2025. Pipeline velocity. It's the clearest signal of execution. Hardest but most valuable lesson you've learned as a CRO?

[13:14] Leading with empathy. Most underrated role in a modern GTM or pre-sales. They translate vision into customer conviction. For sure. a book framework or habit that's shaped how you lead. I'll go with a habit and it is a framework. I think it was from the Navy. The seven Ps. So, prior preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance. So, it's operational rigor with heart. I use it professionally and personally. In one sentence, the future of GTM is AIdriven, insightled, and human- centered. Amber, thanks for joining me and for showing us what it looks like to lead with purpose, clarity, and conviction. From scaling global teams at SAP and Salesforce to leading industry GTM at Informatica and now steering Extel into the AI era, your story shows that scaling with purpose isn't a slogan. It's a system built on clarity, trust, and cadence. If this episode helped you sharpen your GTM lens, subscribe to GTM Vault. Share it with your team and join us next time as we

[14:18] explore how today's operators are building the future of growth from 0 to 1 and beyond. Thanks Rick so much. It was a pleasure. Tech founders and VCs careers lessons GTM