cdp - Martech Therapy (Page 2)

Why the next five years of data strategy will make the last look easy

Season 2, Episode 4 of Couch Confidentials with Tealium’s Zack Wenthe

When Zack Wenthe from Tealium told me, “the next five years of data strategy will make the last look like child’s play”, I felt both intrigued and uneasy. Intrigued because Zack has been around long enough in the CDP world to know what he’s talking about. Uneasy because if the last few years already left most teams exhausted, what’s coming next?

We circled around two big forces → privacy and AI. Not in the shallow “AI will optimize your campaigns” sense, but in the way these forces are already reshaping human behavior. Zack made the point that customers

The CDP RFP Dating Game

How agencies, vendors, analysts, and executives hide behind the smiles

On paper, a Request for Proposal (RFP) looks like the fairest way to choose a Customer Data Platform, or anything else for that matter. I am sure if my wife had known about RFPs when we met, I would have been on the receiving side of one. Good thing she didn’t. An RFP is an attempt to make sense of vastly complex and different products through structure, neutrality, and vendor A vs vendor B data in neat columns. But if, like myself, you’ve been in this business for a while, you know the truth 👇🏻

Most RFPs are wired

When the customers speak, even Gartner listens

Hightouch’s Strong Performer nod shows how Voice of the Customer reshapes the CDP debate

Gartner released its 2025 Voice of the Customer report for CDPs at the end of August, and, well, I don’t want to say I told you so, “this was identified early on as a likely outcome”.

Memedroid on X: "I told you so #memes #professional #learning #itoldyouso #funny https://t.co/IRPCi2lj1x" / X

As I suggested in my earlier pieces on Gartner and the CDP market, where, based on Peer Insights, I generated a ‘review-driven’ alternative quadant, Hightouch scored a ‘Leader’ position compared to being completely excluded from the original report.

Based on the newly published official ‘review-driven’ quadrant, Hightouch has now earned a Strong Performer recognition. It’s always interesting when predictions line up with

From economics to Martech: Ana Mourão on wins, governance, and positivity

Small wins, strong processes, and the human side of Martech

I had such a pleasant conversation with Ana Mourão on Couch Confidentials. She has this rare combination of sharp Martech expertise and an optimistic outlook, even when talking about the messy side of digital transformation.

What struck me most was how Ana sees Martech not just as a stack of tools, but as a system of people and processes where small wins can make a huge difference. From building 7 million profiles globally to navigating the “Groundhog Day” of transformation projects, she’s found ways to stay positive and drive impact.

Thanks again, Ana, for sharing your experience and your

Before you deploy your CDP, train your crew

From naval drills to Martech deployments, why practice still makes the difference

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating → CDP projects don’t just test your tech stack, they test your team. And most of the time, that test happens in real time, under pressure, with stakes that no one thought to rehearse.

After I published the piece on CDPs as a kind of digital transformation stress test, the comments and direct messages lit up with something that felt oddly familiar. People weren’t just reacting to the tech insights; the internet is filled to the brim with those. They were describing moments of confusion, panic, last-minute scrambles, and hard

MAP, CEP, or CDP? Klaviyo’s James Fang on where marketing automation is headed

A conversation about consolidation, AI, and why labels like CEP or MAP might miss the bigger picture.

Season 2 of Couch Confidentials opens with James Fang, Director of Product Marketing at Klaviyo and former VP at mParticle. We get into the weeds of Martech terminology, such as CEP, MAP, CDP, and whether those labels still mean anything when platforms are converging. James shares why Klaviyo positions itself as a B2C CRM built on a shared data platform, and how that ties into the wider trend of commoditized CDP features.

We also discuss the consolidation wave I’ve written about in the CDP Reboot and Multi-CDPs series, with James pointing to real-world cases where companies are questioning the

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