Crunchbase CRO Ann Davis on the pressure to show ROI from AI

Crunchbase CRO Ann Davis on the pressure to show ROI from AI

From The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® | What CMOs Need to Know About Marketing Technology, AI & CX by The Agile Brand

July 10, 2026 · 23 min · Season 8 · Episode 887

About this episode

Ann Davis discusses the challenges of demonstrating ROI from AI and the importance of addressing foundational data gaps.

What if the biggest obstacle to AI-driven ROI isn't the AI itself, but everything you’re feeding it? Agility requires not just the speed to adopt new technologies like AI, but the clarity to recognize when foundational elements, like your data strategy, must be fixed first to unlock true potential. Today, we're going to talk about the intense pressure on revenue and marketing leaders to demonstrate ROI from AI. We’ll explore the counterintuitive idea that simply chasing 'better AI' is a distraction, and that the real gains come from addressing the foundational data gaps that plague most organizations. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Ann Davis, Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase. About Ann Davis Ann Davis is the Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase, where she leads global sales strategy and drives adoption of the company’s AI-powered predictive intelligence solution. With more than 30 years of experience scaling enterprise sales teams at high-growth SaaS companies, Ann brings deep expertise in data analytics, customer engagement, and revenue growth. She joined Crunchbase from Google Cloud, where she led sales for data analytics solutions—including BigQuery and…

People in this episode

Host: Greg Kihlström

Guest: Ann Davis

Topics covered

  • AI-driven ROI
  • data strategy
  • marketing leadership
  • revenue growth
  • customer engagement

Keywords

  • AI
  • ROI
  • data strategy
  • marketing
  • revenue
  • analytics
  • customer engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crunchbase, Google Cloud, Looker

Products: BigQuery, Vertex

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