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What’s up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Jared DeLuca, Director of Operations at Appcues.

Summary: Jared takes us inside the mad but amazing world of martech at Appcues – the top product adoption SaaS on the planet. We cover his transition from demand gen to ops, how he’s integrated demo bookings within the product using RevenueHero, the difference between ops and revops. We also cover a ton of ground on AI topics for marketers like machine learning lifecycle management, how to QA AI-driven messages and how to leverage AI to uncover incremental lifts in your campaigns.

Jump to a Section

• How AI Tools Are Shaping HTML and CSS Learning
• Why Responsive Support is Huge for Marketing Ops
• Seamlessly Integrating Demo Bookings Within Your Product
• Navigating Multiple CRMs and Data Pipelines
• Snowflake vs Segment in a Growing Tech Stack
• Why Marketers Need to Level Up in Data Pipelines
• Expanding the Role of Operations in a Growing Organization
• How AI Could Streamline Lifecycle Marketing and Operations
• How AI Can Uncover Incremental Lifts from Drip Campaigns

About Jared

• Jared started his career with a few internships in PR before joining a Market Research firm
• That firm was later acquired by a UK based marketing data and analytics company where he worked his way up to Marketing Manager
• He then had a brief detour from SaaS at Keurig Dr Pepper in IoT Marketing Automation and Connected Panel Ops 
• Finally Jared landed at Appcues, first in Demand Gen then Senior Martech and Ops Manager 
• Today Jared is Director of Operations at Appcues

Moving from Demand Gen to Front-End Development

Jared’s shift from demand generation to front-end development was a mix of opportunity and curiosity. When his team’s operations lead left, he stepped in naturally. As the demand gen guy who relied heavily on those systems, Jared was the most logical choice. It wasn’t a calculated career move—it was about filling a gap. That’s how things go in startups, where you often find yourself doing a bit of everything.

His transition into front-end development had a different spark. Budgets were tight, and they didn’t have the luxury of hiring contractors. With years of HTML and CSS experience under his belt from working on emails and landing pages, Jared figured he could handle some of the coding work. AppCue supported the idea, allowing him to stretch into JavaScript. For small teams, having someone in-house with a broad skill set is invaluable, and Jared was more than willing to step up.

What made this shift special was Jared’s personal interest in coding. He enjoyed it. Coding wasn’t just a job; it was something fun to experiment with. One evening, while watching TV, he built a lead-gen magnet prototype in just an hour. It was born from a simple idea pitched by the content team, but Jared’s ability to quickly turn that into a working model showed the kind of spontaneous creativity that startups thrive on. The prototype may soon go live on their website.

Jared’s experience highlights the unpredictable nature of roles in smaller companies. You often find yourself taking on responsibilities you never planned for, and those unexpected opportunities can lead to new skills and career growth. For him, it wasn’t about following a clear path—it was about being adaptable and ready to learn.

Key takeaway: In a startup, being adaptable and willing to learn new skills can lead to unexpected career opportunities. It’s less about having a perfect plan and more about being open to filling gaps when they appear.

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How AI Tools Are Shaping HTML and CSS Learning

When asked if tools like ChatGPT make learning HTML and CSS easier today, Jared didn’t hesitate to agree. He pointed out how much simpler it is for anyone looking to pick up coding now compared to when he started. Back then, you had to figure things out manually, while now, AI tools can assist with the heavy lifting. However, there’s a caveat—knowing what to ask for is still crucial.

Jared challenged the idea that AI is replacing developers. Instead, he emphasized that understanding the underlying structure of HTML and CSS is still key. Tools like ChatGPT can help speed up the process, but without knowledge of where to apply that code, the benefits are limited. AI can’t tell you how to structure a website; it can only help fill in the blanks once you know what you need.

He highlighted that while AI can handle repetitive keystrokes, the real value comes when you already know what you’re aiming for. It’s not about AI replacing junior developers—it’s about leveraging these tools to work more efficiently. If someone understands the basics of coding and web structure, AI can cut down the time it takes to implement those tasks significantly.

For Jared, the most significant takeaway is how much time he saves. What used to take him hours can now be done in minutes with AI. The difference is in the efficiency, not the replacement of skill. If you know what you’re doing, ChatGPT and similar tools become an incredible resource for improving speed and output, but they don’t replace the need for foundational knowledge.

Key takeaway: AI tools can dramatically speed up coding tasks, but the real advantage comes when you already understand the basics of HTML and CSS. It’s not about replacing developers, but about working smarter with the right knowledge and tools.

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Why Developers Avoid Marketing

When asked why developers often seem disinterested in marketing, Jared’s perspective was insightful. In his experience, particularly in software startups, it’s not that developers are “allergic” to marketing; they simply don’t think about it. Their focus is on building and coding—creating the product itself. Marketing, and the role it plays in attracting users, often doesn’t even cross their mind.

Jared pointed out that many developers operate with a clear mindset: give them the requirements, and they’ll build exactly what you need. They’re more concerned with functionality than how the product will reach customers. This differs from product teams, who tend to think more about market fit and bridging the gap between building something and getting it to the user.

However, Jared has worked with engineers who do think more broadly. In some cases, especially in smaller teams, developers will ask key questions about the user experience and how people will engage with the product. But this tends to fade as companies scale. Jared mentioned his time at Keurig, where engineers were more specialized—focused on delivering exactly what was requested, with little thought to the next steps.

In Jared’s view, it’s less about a lack of interest in marketing and more about developers not having the bandwidth or inclination to focus beyond the task at hand. Their job is to build, and for many, thinking about the next phase—how the product reaches customers—isn’t a priority.

Key takeaway: Developers in startups aren’t necessarily disinterested in marketing; they’re simply focused on building. For those seeking to bridge the gap between engineering and marketing, fostering collaboration and highlighting the user journey can encourage developers to think beyond their immediate tasks.

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Why Responsive Support is Huge for Marketing Ops

Jared emphasized how crucial responsive support is in marketing ops. When discussing his shift to RevenueHero, he highlighted the frustration many teams face when relying on traditional support teams. He described how long it can take to get a response—sometimes 24 to 48 hours—and how those responses are often unhelpful, requiring even more back-and-forth communication.

What made RevenueHero stand out to Jared was its approach to customer support. The team integrated seamlessly into his company’s Slack workspace, offering real-time access to their expertise. This level of support was a game changer. For Jared, it wasn’t just about the product performing well (which it did), but about the reassurance of knowing that if something went wrong, help was just a Slack message away.

One example Jared shared was when a demo request system broke—a critical part of their business. Within minutes of raising the issue, a team member from RevenueHero had responded with the solution, catching a small error Jared had missed. That level of responsiveness allowed him to quickly fix what could have been a major disruption to their lead pipeline.

Jared underscored that demo requests are the lifeblood of many startups, including his. These requests translate directly into sales opportunities, and any downtime affects the bottom line. RevenueHero’s ability to support mission-critical processes in real-time is what made the switch to their platform worthwhile.

Key takeaway: Fast, integrated support can be just as critical as the tool itself in marketing operations. For startups relying on immediate action to drive revenue, having a vendor that offers real-time solutions can save time and prevent costly delays.

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Leveraging Lead-to-Account Matching in Revenue Ops

When asked about how his team uses lead-to-account matching, Jared shared insights on the transformative impact it has had on their process. While they haven’t yet applied the feature for Customer Success Managers (CSMs), Jared noted that their focus is currently on prospects, which has been a game changer. Previously, they worked with a competitor that offered basic account matching, but it wasn’t on the level of the “fuzzy matching” RevenueHero provides. This ability to match leads with accounts—even when details aren’t an exact fit—has proven invaluable.

One key challenge they face is managing the influx of hundreds of weekly sign-ups for their free trial. Their call to action once users are in the trial is to encourage them to speak with a salesperson. This is where the lead-to-account matching really shines. Within minutes of someone signing up, they are assigned a dedicated account executive, even if the new user signs up with a personal email or a different domain. By leveraging both HubSpot and Salesforce, Jared’s team ensures that prospects are quickly matched to the correct salesperson, significantly improving the customer experience.

This kind of precise matching helps speed up the sales process, ensuring that prospects are guided in the right direction from the start. Jared pointed out that for their business, account matching is the first step. If the account is already owned, the prospect gets connected right away. If not, the system categorizes them by headcount, simplifying the assignment of accounts and ensuring no lead slips through the cracks.

The process Jared described highlights the simplicity and effectiveness of their account-matching system. With territories largely based on company size, his team can focus on delivering a seamless experience for users while maximizing the impact of their sales team.

Key takeaway: Effective lead-to-account matching can dramatically improve the sales process by quickly connecting prospects with the right account executive. Automating this task, even with imperfect data, ensures no opportunity is missed and helps accelerate conversations that drive revenue.

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Seamlessly Integrating Demo Bookings Within Your Product

When asked about how Appcues integrates with RevenueHero to enhance customer interactions, Jared offered a glimpse into their evolving process. They are currently working on embedding a smoother booking experience for users directly within the product. Historically, one of the challenges with Appcues has been the inability to embed JavaScript in their product flows, which made it tricky to present calendar bookings without relying on iframes—a common but often finicky workaround.

The RevenueHero team came through with a proactive solution, helping Jared’s team create a more polished integration for booking demos within the Appcues interface. By embedding the calendar into the product itself, RevenueHero eliminated the need for users to leave the platform or fill out additional forms on the marketing website. This not only streamlines the process but removes unnecessary friction—keeping the user experience within Appcues smooth and efficient.

Jared explained that although they’re still in the process of fully implementing this feature, it will soon allow users to book demos based on specific actions. For instance, if a free trial user hits a certain limit or expresses interest in an enterprise feature, they can instantly schedule time with a sales rep without leaving the product. Similarly, demo bookings will be seamlessly integrated into Appcues’ persistent patterns, such as their trial checklists.

This approach will simplify the demo scheduling process, reducing extra clicks and creating a more integrated user journey. By working closely with RevenueHero, Jared’s team has found a way to enhance the user experience while speeding up the sales process.

Key takeaway: Embedding demo bookings directly within a product reduces friction and improves the user experience. By keeping everything in-platform, you create a more seamless journey for prospects, increasing the likelihood of conversion while enhancing overall satisfaction.

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Navigating Multiple CRMs and Data Pipelines

When asked about managing multiple CRMs and their connection to a data warehouse, Jared shared the evolving journey of Appcues’ data stack. When he first joined, the company was using Firebase to manage everything, a system that worked but presented challenges in terms of data extraction. Over his five years at Appcues, the team transitioned to Snowflake as their primary data warehouse, enabling more sophisticated data management and integrations.

Initially, HubSpot served as both the CRM and marketing platform, keeping things relatively simple. However, as the company grew, they introduced Salesforce to support the advanced needs of their sales team. This naturally led to a new challenge: syncing HubSpot and Salesforce while ensuring data consistency across both platforms. Jared recalled the complexities of making sure the same data appeared correctly in different systems, especially when those systems are performing distinct functions.

HubSpot remains critical for marketing automation, as it’s often the first touchpoint for prospects. On the other hand, Salesforce now serves as the exclusive CRM for the sales team. Ensuring these two platforms speak to each other and to the data warehouse (Snowflake) has been an ongoing project. Jared worked closely with a business intelligence partner, utilizing custom SQL queries and Python code to move data between systems and maintain accuracy.

The ultimate goal, Jared explained, is for everything to run seamlessly in the background. A well-functioning martech stack should be invisible to end-users, with no discrepancies between systems. It’s about creating a robust data pipeline where all systems talk to each other without manual intervention, ensuring that nobody ever notices a misstep.

Key takeaway: A seamless data pipeline between multiple CRMs and a data warehouse ensures consistent information across platforms. The key to success is integrating systems so well that discrepancies are non-existent, allowing marketing and sales to focus on growth without getting bogged down by data inconsistencies.

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Snowflake vs Segment in a Growing Tech Stack

When asked about using Snowflake versus a CDP, Jared explained that Appcues integrates both Snowflake and Segment to manage their vast data operations. While Snowflake handles their historical data—tracking billions of data points generated by users—Segment plays a real-time role in orchestrating various integrations across their stack. The combination of these tools provides both long-term data storage and real-time processing, creating a comprehensive setup.

Snowflake, as Jared noted, is vital for managing the sheer volume of data Appcues collects. Whether it’s customers interacting with their own clients or serving experiences through the platform, Snowflake ensures that this massive amount of information is accessible quickly and efficiently. The system excels at handling historical data, which is critical when the company needs to dig deep into user behavior patterns or serve large-scale reports.

Segment, on the other hand, is more of an active player in their day-to-day operations. Jared described how Segment acts almost like a tag manager, sitting between Appcues and tools like HubSpot. It processes data in real-time, directing it to various endpoints, such as Snowflake, S3 buckets, and other platforms. Segment allows the team to manage the flow of data with flexibility and speed.

Despite having multiple layers of redundancy, Jared emphasized that this redundancy is intentional. In startups, it’s common to keep adding tools rather than removing them, which often leads to complex tech stacks. Though there are periodic efforts to simplify, Appcues continues to rely on this dual system to handle the unique demands of their growing platform.

Key takeaway: Balancing tools like Snowflake and Segment can offer both robust historical data management and real-time processing. Startups often accumulate multiple tools, and while simplifying the stack may be a goal, having a flexible and redundant system can help manage growth and complexity efficiently.

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Navigating the Reality of Complex Martech Stacks

When asked about the challenge of managing an ever-growing martech stack, Jared was quick to agree. Startups often accumulate tools as they expand, each one added to solve an immediate problem or meet a specific team’s demands. Over time, this leads to a sprawling, sometimes overwhelming collection of platforms and systems—what many call a “Frankenstack.” The irony, as Jared pointed out, is that while everyone recognizes the inefficiency, there’s rarely time to pause and streamline it.

Jared noted that unless minimizing the stack becomes a budget priority—like when an expensive tool needs to be cut—teams typically continue to bolt on more. It’s a reality of fast-paced environments, where the focus is on supporting growth and handling urgent needs rather than simplifying what’s already there. Only when cost pressures force a reevaluation does the conversation shift toward cleaning up the redundancy.

Even then, simplification often happens opportunistically. Jared shared that whenever a team wants to add something new or encounters a major issue with an existing tool, he sees that as a moment to potentially consolidate or eliminate unnecessary systems. It’s a balancing act between keeping up with new demands and revisiting old decisions, trying to reduce complexity when the timing aligns.

In the end, it’s clear that martech stack minimization, while appealing in theory, is often sidelined in practice. The pressures of a startup leave little room for a deep clean, and new priorities continually take precedence. Yet, Jared suggested that occasionally, a new tool or problem can serve as the spark to step back and reassess—if only briefly.

Key takeaway: Simplifying a martech stack is rarely a top priority in startups unless driven by budget constraints or urgent issues. While ongoing demands often overshadow the need for minimization, strategic moments, like adding new tools, can offer opportunities to reduce redundancy and streamline operations.

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Why Marketers Need to Level Up in Data Pipelines

When asked whether marketing ops teams should deepen their understanding of data pipelines, Jared didn’t hesitate. He sees data as central to modern marketing ops, especially as teams work with more integrations and higher volumes of data. Jared reflected on how the expectations for accessing and using data have evolved, with marketers now needing faster, clearer answers to increasingly complex questions.

For Jared, this shift towards data-centric operations isn’t new. Earlier in his career, he worked at a market research company where data was the lifeblood of the business. He remembers the competition for data resources—product teams, customer teams, and marketing all vying for attention. Yet, even then, there was a growing recognition that marketing needed clean, accurate data to be effective. Today, this need has only increased, driven by advancements in AI and machine learning, which make it more urgent to have reliable data sources.

He pointed out that the rise of AI, while somewhat overhyped, has forced teams to reevaluate how they handle data. Teams want to get insights faster and are often frustrated when the path to those answers is long and convoluted. Jared highlighted how the AI conversation has amplified the pressure on marketing ops to deliver data quickly and accurately. Tools like ChatGPT offer quick wins but come with trade-offs in accuracy—something that’s not always acceptable for critical business decisions.

Ultimately, Jared believes that marketing ops professionals need to get comfortable with the underlying data infrastructure. Understanding how data flows from various sources, through systems like Snowflake or Segment, and into reports is becoming an essential skill. For him, it’s not just about leveraging AI but about building a solid foundation where teams can confidently answer the questions that matter.

Key takeaway: Marketing ops teams must deepen their understanding of data pipelines and how data flows through their systems. As AI tools raise expectations for faster insights, professionals in marketing ops should prioritize mastering the fundamentals of data to support better decision-making and more efficient operations.

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Expanding the Role of Operations in a Growing Organization

When asked about his transition from marketing ops to director of operations at Appcues, Jared explained how his role has broadened to cover the intersection of three core areas: marketing, sales, and customer experience (CX). Previously, each department operated somewhat independently, with Jared already supporting multiple teams in various capacities. As marketing and sales began to align more closely under the same leadership, it became clear that operations needed to centralize as well. This shift allowed for better coordination and faster decision-making.

Jared now has more authority to streamline processes, especially with the Salesforce admin reporting directly to him. This gives him the ability to make decisions on tools like Salesforce and HubSpot without needing to go through multiple layers of approval. Previously, he had to negotiate for time and resources across teams. Now, the focus is on moving faster and aligning better across departments. With operations more centralized, there’s less friction when implementing changes, allowing teams to operate with greater efficiency.

One of the key benefits Jared sees is reducing redundancy. Before this shift, each team was often working in silos, sometimes duplicating efforts with different tools and processes. Now, with a centralized operations function, they can leverage existing systems across the company, ensuring that resources are used more efficiently. This approach has helped eliminate the need for triplicate work, making it easier to respond to the needs of each department.

Ultimately, the move toward centralized operations at Appcues has been about saving time and money while creating a more cohesive strategy across marketing, sales, and CX. Jared’s expanded role allows him to provide a higher level of support across the organization, aligning teams and tools under a more unified structure.

Key takeaway: Centralizing operations across departments can eliminate redundancy, improve efficiency, and streamline decision-making. By aligning marketing, sales, and customer experience, organizations can save time and resources while responding more effectively to their teams’ needs.

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Why Operations Encompasses Revenue Operations

When asked why he chose to name his team “operations” instead of “revenue operations,” Jared explained that, in his view, good operations always contribute to revenue, whether or not it’s explicitly labeled as such. He sees no need to add the extra term “revenue” because operations naturally support the entire business, including revenue-generating activities. For Jared, operations—whether it’s for sales, marketing, or the overall business—ultimately drives results.

Jared noted that in larger companies, “rev ops” might be more common, with dedicated teams focused solely on go-to-market strategies and revenue tasks. But for a smaller company like Appcues, where his role spans 80-85% on revenue-related tasks, he also handles other business functions. From working with product and engineering teams to handling general business needs—like renewing trademarks—his operations team keeps the business running smoothly across various areas, not just revenue.

A big part of Jared’s philosophy is about making the business function without needing constant attention. Whether it’s solving revenue-related issues or taking care of logistical tasks, if operations are done right, it’s seamless. People don’t need to think too much about the inner workings—they just see things get done. In his mind, rev ops is simply a specialized branch of general operations.

For Jared, it’s all about keeping things simple. Why complicate things with extra terminology when the essence of the work remains the same? Operations, whether specific to revenue or not, supports the business holistically.

Key takeaway: Operations naturally support revenue in any business. Whether labeled “rev ops” or not, the focus should be on efficient processes that keep things running smoothly across the board, eliminating unnecessary complexity.

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How AI Could Streamline Lifecycle Marketing and Operations

When asked about AI’s potential in lifecycle marketing and marketing ops, Jared was optimistic. He sees us being much closer to AI automating key marketing tasks than many realize. The idea of AI orchestrating personalized messaging—getting the right message to the right person at the right time—is not only possible but increasingly within reach. This kind of automation, for Jared, represents a potential game-changer for marketing teams.

He mentioned his recent experience with Intellimise, a platform that uses AI to tailor website experiences based on which actions are most likely to convert users. It’s a powerful concept: let AI determine what message should go to whom, and when, by relying on data patterns that humans wouldn’t typically notice. For Jared, this kind of tool is compelling because, at the end of the day, the goal is clear—making more money by driving user action.

At Appcues, Jared and his team frequently grapple with the same challenge: how to deliver a consistent, well-timed message across multiple platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, email, and their own product. He emphasized the importance of data portability—being able to move data seamlessly between platforms to create a more unified customer experience. Whether it’s a push notification, an in-product message, or an email, having all channels aligned increases the likelihood that a customer will take the desired action.

Jared acknowledged that while automation and AI can help manage this complexity, there’s a fine balance. In his own team, they’ve experimented with highly complex, personalized drip campaigns that quickly became difficult to manage. At one point, they simplified everything, switching to sending regular emails every other day during a trial period. The takeaway? AI and automation should help scale personalization, but without adding so much complexity that the team becomes overwhelmed.

Key takeaway: AI can play a pivotal role in lifecycle marketing by helping teams manage complexity and deliver personalized experiences at scale. The key is finding a balance—leveraging automation to improve results while avoiding the trap of overcomplicating workflows that become unmanageable.

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The Challenge of QA in AI-Driven Messaging

When asked about the future of AI taking over messaging orchestration, particularly in regulated industries like healthcare and finance, Jared was realistic. He acknowledged that while AI advancements in SaaS are promising, where mistakes are often manageable, the stakes are far higher in industries with strict regulations. Sending the wrong message in healthcare or finance isn’t just a minor inconvenience—it can have significant legal and financial repercussions.

In SaaS, mistakes are often met with simple apology emails, and, surprisingly, those can even drive engagement. However, Jared made it clear that the same approach doesn’t work in sectors like healthcare, where sending the wrong HIPAA data or financial information can lead to serious consequences. For those industries, the controls simply aren’t robust enough yet to rely on AI for messaging orchestration at scale.

Jared touched on how current AI systems operate with a focus on what not to do, creating an ever-growing list of restrictions. While this reactive approach helps prevent specific errors, it doesn’t necessarily build a foundation for safe, proactive decision-making by AI. Rather than giving clear instructions on how the AI should behave, the systems tend to operate with a long list of “don’ts” that grows as more mistakes are made.

For now, Jared believes we’re still far from a point where AI can be trusted to handle these sensitive tasks without a high degree of human oversight. He recognizes that someone, somewhere, is working on improving these systems, but until the technology catches up, human QA is essential in regulated industries to ensure messaging accuracy and compliance.

Key takeaway: While AI has made strides in automating messaging in SaaS, it’s not yet ready for the strict requirements of regulated industries like healthcare and finance. Until AI systems develop more proactive controls, human oversight remains crucial to prevent costly mistakes and ensure compliance.

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How AI Can Uncover Incremental Lifts from Drip Campaigns

When asked about the potential for AI to manage drip programs, Jared emphasized the value of letting AI handle the complexity that comes with orchestrating and testing workflows. Traditional drip campaigns often have numerous branches and endpoints—each one requiring manual setup and maintenance. For small teams, this can be overwhelming, leading to less focus on testing and optimization. Jared finds the idea of AI stepping in to handle this complexity both exciting and practical.

Jared acknowledged that smaller teams often resort to a “put it in production and see what happens” approach. With only a few people managing automation, there’s rarely enough bandwidth to run robust A/B tests or holdout experiments. This is especially true in lean environments where, unlike at larger organizations like Keurig, there aren’t specialized team members focusing on just one aspect of email marketing. Instead, marketers are wearing multiple hats, and AI offers a potential solution by taking on tasks like testing and optimizing campaigns.

Jared reflected on how, in larger teams, there’s often someone assigned to manage specific drip programs, such as promotional emails or onboarding sequences. But for smaller teams, the key challenge is finding ways to make technology work for you. With AI’s help, marketers could focus more on strategy while letting automation handle the testing and refining of campaigns.

The real promise, according to Jared, lies in AI’s ability to think ahead. Imagine AI autonomously setting up holdout tests or developing new campaign variations without the need for a large team. Jared is eager to see this kind of capability become more widespread, as it would free teams from many of the repetitive tasks currently slowing them down.

Key takeaway: AI has the potential to manage and optimize complex drip campaigns, especially for smaller teams that lack the resources for extensive testing. By automating A/B tests and campaign variations, AI can simplify the workflow, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and higher-level tasks.

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The Intersection of Data, Coffee, and Connected Devices at Keurig

Jared’s time at Keurig was an unexpected detour from his SaaS background, but it turned out to be an invaluable learning experience. During his two and a half years there, he worked on a beta program for an internet-connected coffee maker—a project that blended data, marketing, and product innovation. Keurig was gathering data from its connected brewers to better understand customer habits, particularly around at-home coffee consumption. The idea was to leverage that data and deliver marketing programs based on insights from users’ brewing behaviors.

Initially, the project seemed like a natural progression for Jared, given his background in data and marketing. However, once inside the large enterprise, he quickly realized how different the experience was from his previous roles. Instead of the nimble, fast-paced environments typical of SaaS, he found himself navigating a more complex, hierarchical structure. But there were still elements of innovation, particularly within Keurig’s internal “startup” unit focused on the connected brewer.

One of the most exciting parts of the job was the opportunity to interface with engineering and data teams, as well as major partners like Starbucks and Dunkin’. Jared worked closely with them, analyzing coffee consumption data to provide insights that these companies wouldn’t have had from their in-store operations alone. This gave them a deeper understanding of how their customers behaved at home, a valuable piece of the puzzle for marketing and product development.

However, one of the key challenges was getting users to connect their coffee makers to the internet in the first place. Jared and his team had to devise creative strategies and incentives to motivate users to opt-in to this connected experience. While the coffee still brewed without connectivity, the data provided invaluable marketing opportunities. It was this problem-solving aspect, translating technical challenges into business value, that ultimately cemented Jared’s love for working at the intersection of technical teams and business units.

Key takeaway: Jared’s time at Keurig highlighted the importance of interfacing between technical and business teams, particularly when translating data insights into actionable marketing strategies. His experience shows that successful innovation often hinges on effectively bridging these gaps, especially in complex, data-driven projects.

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Finding Balance in a Busy Life

When asked how he manages to stay happy and balanced with all the different roles he juggles, Jared gave a refreshingly simple answer. It’s about asking one key question: Who am I doing this for? Whether he’s cooking at home, managing operations at work, or podcasting with a friend, Jared emphasizes the importance of remembering the “why” behind each task.

At home, Jared’s role as a cook and caretaker for household tasks is driven by his desire to make life easier for his wife, who works in a highly specialized field repairing musical instruments. Being able to contribute to their home life, while also balancing work from home, gives him a sense of fulfillment. It’s this notion of helping the people he cares about—whether family or colleagues—that keeps him grounded.

When it comes to his work, Jared’s perspective is much the same. He finds joy in knowing that his operations tasks make life easier for teams like marketing or customer experience. The impact may be small, and it’s often behind the scenes, but knowing that things work smoothly because of his contributions brings him satisfaction. The alternative—when things break or don’t work—is a reminder of the importance of his role, even when it’s unnoticed.

Podcasting, for Jared, is a personal project that’s mostly for himself and his close friend. While there’s an audience of listeners who likely enjoy the content, the real happiness comes from spending time with a friend and creating something they both enjoy. This balance between doing things for others and making time for personal joy is a central theme in how Jared finds equilibrium.

Key takeaway: Asking “Who am I doing this for?” helps Jared stay focused and balanced across the many aspects of his life. Whether it’s for his loved ones, colleagues, or himself, finding joy in making life a little easier or happier for someone else—even in small ways—helps him maintain a sense of fulfillment and purpose.

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Episode Recap

In this episode, Jared takes us inside the mad but amazing world of martech at Appcues – the top product adoption SaaS on the planet. We cover his transition from demand gen to ops, how he’s integrated demo bookings within the product using RevenueHero, the difference between ops and revops and we cover a ton of ground on AI topics for marketers. 

As operations expand in growing organizations, Jared sheds light on the subtle but important differences between marketing ops, rev ops, and ops in general. While each function plays a unique role, they’re all interconnected. Centralizing operations across departments helps eliminate redundancy and improve efficiency, aligning marketing, sales, and customer experience so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Whether it’s called “rev ops” or not, the focus is on creating smooth, efficient processes that support revenue and reduce complexity.

One standout example of efficient process is Appcues’ partnership with RevenueHero, where they tackled the challenge of embedding demo bookings directly into the product flow. By eliminating the need for users to jump to external forms or pages, they created a frictionless experience. Now, users can book demos without leaving the platform, increasing conversions and keeping the sales process smooth and uninterrupted. It’s the kind of subtle but powerful optimization that drives meaningful results in a startup’s growth journey.

But it’s not just about streamlining user experiences—it’s also about mastering the behind-the-scenes tech. Startups often juggle multiple CRMs, data pipelines, and martech tools, but without a solid grasp of how data flows through these systems, things can quickly fall apart. Jared emphasizes the importance of integrating data pipelines seamlessly across platforms to ensure that marketing and sales teams aren’t bogged down by inconsistencies. In today’s fast-paced environment, marketing ops teams need to level up their knowledge of data pipelines to keep everything running smoothly and make smarter, faster decisions. It’s no longer enough to rely on tech without understanding how it works under the hood.

AI also makes its mark throughout the discussion, particularly in lifecycle marketing. Jared explains how AI can help manage complex drip campaigns and deliver personalized experiences at scale, but with a cautionary note—while automation can create huge efficiencies, it’s easy to overcomplicate workflows. The key is finding balance, using AI to streamline operations without letting it take over completely. AI’s role in optimizing A/B tests and drip campaigns is a lifeline for smaller teams, but human oversight remains crucial, especially in industries like healthcare and finance where compliance and quality control can’t be left to chance.

Jared reminds us that, while the tools we use are powerful, the real value comes from understanding how to make them work together seamlessly. Whether it’s integrating demo bookings, brushing up on data pipelines, or striking the right balance with AI, the goal is always the same—create a system that scales with your growth, not against it.

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Intro music by Wowa via Unminus
Cover art created with Midjourney (check out how)

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