# Crys Black: Fractional CMO & AI GTM Consultant for B2B SaaS > Crys Black is a fractional CMO and AI GTM consultant based in Colorado. She helps early-stage B2B SaaS and technology companies set go-to-market strategy, direct the execution, and operationalize AI without the hype. She started as a programmer, holds English degrees, teaches hands-on AI workshops nationally, and writes the Human Input column at Colorado AI News. This is the full-content file (llms-full.txt): it contains the complete text of her key pages and essays so an assistant can answer questions about her work directly. Contact: crys@crysblack.com. Last updated: 2026-07-19. Canonical map: https://crysblack.com/llms.txt ## Positioning & Overview ### Crys Black, Marketing Executive Source: https://crysblack.com/ Summary: Home page. Who Crys is and the four core ways she helps B2B SaaS teams. Fractional Growth & GTM Leadership Senior-level support for startups that need sharper go-to-market strategy, stronger execution, and better alignment across marketing, sales, and operations. Practical AI for GTM Teams Hands-on training for teams that want to use AI more effectively across research, content, planning, and day-to-day execution. Executive AI Coaching One-on-one coaching for founders and operators who want practical support using AI to improve strategy, communication, and decision-making. Team AI Office Hours Ongoing team support designed to turn training into adoption through live Q&A, workflow guidance, and practical problem-solving. Explore All Services & Programs Flagship Program · Six Weeks Crys Clear AI for GTM Foggy → Focused → Crystal Clear Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational, built around your team, your data, and your tools. Your team maps where the hours really go, builds a shared Business Brain, ships marketing and sales workflows that run on Monday, and vibe codes a working GTM tool by week five. Week six turns it all into habits with a 90-day roadmap. Every session ends with something running. See the Full Program Download the Brochure (PDF) How it works Private program for GTM teams of up to 10, virtual. Pre-work calls with every team lead. Six weekly live sessions: teach, build, share. Office hours after every session so nobody stalls. All templates, prompts, and frameworks stay with your team. Upcoming Events Come learn with me! Here’s where I’m teaching next. HackingHR AI@Work: Bias, Trust & Transparency HackingHR · Virtual · July 28, 2026 Register Pavilion AI in GTM School Pavilion · Virtual · July 29 – August 26, 2026 Register 43 engagements since 2019  ·  18 recordings to watch  ·  9 dates on the 2026 calendar Explore the Full 2026 Season From My Desk Recent Writing Essays and columns on AI, marketing, and human judgment. LinkedIn Article I Asked Three AI Tools to Show Me a CEO. Here’s What Happened. Before the AI even generated an image, the room already knew what it would show. What three tools actually produced reveals more about our defaults than any of us want to admit. JULY 10, 2026 Human Input The conversation we keep having about women and AI is missing half the story Reese Witherspoon urged women to embrace AI. New research reveals why access and upskilling are only part of the answer. JULY 2, 2026 LinkedIn Article I Was Going to Vibe Code It. My AI Talked Me Out of It What happens when your AI collaborator tells you the approach you’re excited about isn’t the right one? A story about what real thought partnership looks like. JUNE 11, 2026 Published & featured in See All Published Work Why Founders Hire Me Strategic leadership with practical AI experience I help early-stage and growth-stage startups connect strategy to execution. That can mean clarifying positioning, improving go-to-market performance, aligning marketing and revenue operations, or helping teams adopt AI in ways that actually support day-to-day work. What clients value most is that I bring both executive-level thinking and hands-on execution. I know how to build strategy, but I also know how to operationalize it. Technical + Market Fluency I bridge product, marketing, and operations so complex technology becomes clear, relevant, and easier to sell. AI, Applied to Real Work I help teams move beyond experimentation and into practical adoption through training, coaching, workflow design, and smart implementation. Growth Systems that Scale I build the operating rhythms, reporting visibility, and cross-functional alignment that support efficient growth. Meet Crys A few things I’ve Helped Build I’ve worked with startups and growth-stage companies across highly competitive B2B markets to strengthen positioning, improve execution, and create momentum where it matters most. Go-to-market clarity in complex markets Helped teams sharpen messaging, define category stories, and launch products with stronger market alignment. Revenue alignment through RevOps Connected sales, marketing, and customer data into dashboards and reporting rhythms that gave leadership clearer visibility into performance. Practical AI adoption Designed GPTs, automations, and workflow solutions that reduced manual work, improved speed, and supported better execution. Thought leadership that builds credibility Supported founders and executives with speaking, content, and strategic visibility programs that helped elevate their voice in market. Sales enablement that supports conversion Built tools and programs that helped teams communicate value more clearly and move opportunities forward. See Client Outcomes Companies I’ve Worked With What It’s Like to Work With Me I’m often brought in when a company needs a strategic partner who can quickly see what is missing, bring structure to the chaos, and help teams make progress without adding unnecessary complexity. She is a rare strategic thinker who can also roll up her sleeves, exactly who is needed in that startup environment, and an impressive leader in a larger corporate one. Tiffany Lyman Otten Un-Agency Owner Her wealth of experience is not only inspiring but enables her to create a vision and in turn implement that vision with amazing speed and efficiency. Eva Powell Business Development Leader Crystal is the most amazing and energetic marketing person in the business. I would say Crystal is an 11 out of 10! Jason Vaux Account Executive To put it bluntly: Crystal walks on water… Mainly because she’s smart enough to freeze it first, put some cleats on and carefully walk across it. John Hawley Engineer Read More on Linkedin Straight Answers The questions I hear most What is a fractional CMO, and how is it different from hiring an agency? A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who joins your team part time and owns strategy and results, not just deliverables. An agency executes campaigns you assign; a fractional CMO sits on your side of the table, setting direction and staying accountable to revenue. The full picture, including when an agency is the better call, is on Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS. For an outside primer, Fractionals United’s SMB AI Guide, which I contributed to, is a good place to start. What does a fractional CMO cost compared to a full-time hire? A full-time CMO in the US typically costs well into six figures plus equity, benefits, and recruiting risk. A fractional engagement delivers the same seniority for a fraction of that, scoped to what your business actually needs each month. The longer answer, including how retainers are scoped, is on the fractional CMO page. Do you work with B2B SaaS and early-stage tech companies? Yes, early-stage B2B tech is home base. I started as a programmer, so complex products do not scare me: I translate deep technology into positioning buyers understand. My clients range from B2B SaaS startups through growth-stage technology companies, plus Colorado small businesses that want the same rigor. Is “CMO as a service” the same as a fractional CMO? Mostly, yes. “CMO as a service” is how some buyers describe getting executive marketing leadership as an ongoing engagement instead of a full-time hire. Whatever name it wears, the substance is what matters: defined scope, measurable outcomes, and one accountable leader. I break down how to tell the substance from the label on Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS. Can you bring a full fractional marketing team, not just a CMO? Yes. Some engagements start with me alone and grow into a fractional marketing team: I set the strategy, then build and direct the right mix of contractors, agencies, and in-house hires to execute it. How that works, and when it makes sense, is on the fractional CMO page. What does an AI GTM consultant actually do? An AI GTM consultant helps your go-to-market team apply AI where it actually moves revenue: research, content, pipeline operations, and reporting. The goal is capability that stays after the engagement ends, not a stack of tool subscriptions. The full breakdown, including the four ways to work together, is on AI GTM Consultant. How do you bring AI into a GTM team without the hype? Foundations before tools, and a human in the lead, always. My six-week program, Crys Clear AI for GTM, takes teams from AI-curious to AI-operational: map where the hours go, build a shared Business Brain, ship real workflows, and leave with a 90-day roadmap. Every session ends with something running. No agent hype, no fear, just capability your team keeps. Free AI Visibility Scan When buyers ask AI about your market, do you show up? AI is the new front door. Run a free scan to see how your site shows up across AI search and the large language models your buyers already trust. It takes under a minute. Run my free scan Let’s Have a Conversation Email Me --- ### Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS Source: https://crysblack.com/fractional-cmo-b2b-saas/ Summary: Pillar page: what a fractional CMO for B2B SaaS does, who it's for, and how engagements work. Crys Black  ·  Services Fractional Leadership  ·  B2B SaaS Fractional Leadership for Startup Teams Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS Senior marketing leadership that joins your team part time, owns strategy and results, and costs a fraction of a full-time executive. I clarify positioning buyers understand, align marketing with sales, build the systems a board expects, and direct whoever executes. You get a CMO. Your payroll gets a line item, not an executive package. Start the Conversation See Client Outcomes B2B SaaS startups through growth-stage technology companies · Seed to Series B is home base What You Get A marketing leader, not a stack of deliverables. This is my Fractional Growth & GTM Leadership engagement, focused on B2B SaaS. I step in as a strategic partner, not an advisor who leaves a deck behind. The work typically covers: Positioning & Messaging Translating deep technology into positioning buyers can repeat to their boss. I started as a programmer, so complex products do not scare me. Go-to-Market Strategy Who the buyer is, what the message is, which channels deserve budget, and a demand generation plan your stage can actually execute. Alignment & Systems Marketing, sales, and customer success pulling one direction, with the funnel, KPI, and RevOps visibility your board keeps asking about. Team Leadership I direct whoever executes: your in-house team, contractors, or agencies. One strategy, one accountable leader, no finger-pointing. Fit Check Built for founders somewhere between seed and Series B. This is for you if - You have product-market fit, but pipeline is still founder-network and referrals. - You have marketers or an agency, and nobody steering them. - Your positioning made sense two pivots ago. - The board wants a marketing plan and CAC numbers you do not have. - You know AI should be making this cheaper and faster, and it is not. This is not for you if - You are pre-product-market fit. Your problem is learning, not marketing leadership. - The retainer would consume your entire marketing budget. Start smaller, perhaps with coaching or a workshop. - You need hands for one bounded project. That is contractor or agency work. - You are ready for a full-time CMO. Part of my job is telling you when you get there, and helping you hire that person. How It Works A conversation first, then a scoped monthly retainer. 1 Fit conversation Tell me where your go-to-market motion is stuck. I will tell you honestly whether a fractional CMO is the fix, and if not, what I would do instead. 2 Scoped engagement A monthly retainer tied to scope, not a timesheet. Some clients need a few days a month of direction; others need an embedded leader running the whole motion. It scales up or down as priorities change. 3 Strategy, then team Direction comes first. Then, if you need execution, the engagement can grow into a fractional marketing team: I build and direct the right mix of contractors, agencies, and in-house hires, all reporting through one accountable leader. An agency pulls in whatever direction you point. A fractional CMO makes sure everyone is pointing the same way first. The Difference A fractional CMO who is also an AI practitioner. In 2026 the CMO job includes deciding where AI actually belongs in your go-to-market motion, and most marketing leaders are guessing. I work on both sides of that line, as a fractional CMO and as an AI GTM consultant: which research, content, pipeline, and reporting work should be AI-assisted, what your team can run without a consultant on retainer, and how your company shows up when buyers ask AI tools about your market. Teams that want the hands-on version take Crys Clear AI for GTM, my six-week program that goes from AI-curious to AI-operational. Foundations before tools, and a human in the lead, always. If a workflow would not survive your team running it without me, I do not ship it. Straight Answers Questions founders ask before hiring a fractional CMO What is the difference between a fractional CMO and an agency? An agency executes campaigns you assign. A fractional CMO decides what those campaigns should be, and answers for the results. The most common failure mode in early-stage SaaS is hiring an agency before anyone has set strategy. The agency does exactly what was asked, pipeline does not move, and everyone blames the agency. The missing piece was direction, not execution. Many of my clients use both, with me directing the agency work so everything pulls one way. One steers, one rows. What does a fractional CMO cost? A full-time CMO in the US typically costs well into six figures plus equity, benefits, and recruiting risk. A fractional engagement delivers the same seniority for a fraction of that. Pricing is a monthly retainer tied to scope, which is why I scope every engagement in a conversation rather than off a rate card. The comparison that matters is not fractional versus free. It is fractional versus a mis-hire, a year of unfocused agency spend, or a founder doing the CMO job at midnight. The difference often funds the marketing itself. Is “CMO as a service” the same as a fractional CMO? Mostly, yes. It is a buyer’s phrase for the same substance: executive marketing leadership delivered as an ongoing engagement instead of a full-time hire. Whatever name it wears, judge it on defined scope, measurable outcomes, and accountability. Ask who actually sets strategy and who answers when the number is missed. If it is a rotating account manager, it is an agency. If it is one senior person you can name, it is fractional leadership. What is a fractional marketing team? A working marketing function without the fixed payroll: one accountable leader who sets strategy, then builds and directs the right mix of contractors, agencies, and in-house hires. Some engagements start with me alone and grow into exactly this. Strategy first, then the team to execute it, with everything reporting through one leader so you get coordination without the org chart. When should a SaaS founder hire a fractional CMO? When marketing has become the founder’s second job and revenue has become everyone’s question. That usually happens somewhere between seed and Series B. If two or more items in the fit check above sound like your Monday, a fractional CMO is usually the fastest fix. If none do, I will be the first to say so on the call. Keep Exploring All Services Ways to Work With Me Every engagement format: fractional leadership, coaching, workshops, and programs. Flagship Program Crys Clear AI for GTM Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational, built around your team and your tools. Related Service AI GTM Consultant AI applied where it moves revenue: research, content, pipeline, and reporting. Proof Selected Client Outcomes What this looks like when it works: real clients, real numbers, honest context. Let’s find out if this is the right fit. Tell me where your go-to-market motion is stuck. I will tell you honestly whether a fractional CMO is the fix, and if it is not, what I would do instead. Either way you leave the call with a clearer picture than you came in with. Email Crys or explore all services → --- ### AI GTM Consultant Source: https://crysblack.com/ai-gtm-consultant/ Summary: Pillar page: AI GTM consulting, practical AI adoption for go-to-market teams, no hype. Crys Black  ·  Services AI Enablement  ·  Go-to-Market Practical AI for GTM Teams AI GTM Consultant An AI GTM consultant helps your go-to-market team apply AI where it actually moves revenue: research, content, pipeline operations, and reporting. I audit where the hours really go, design workflows your team can run without me, and train people hands on. The goal is capability that stays after the engagement ends, not a stack of tool subscriptions. Start the Conversation See the Six-Week Program Instructor, Pavilion AI in GTM School · 43 talks, workshops, and labs since 2019 · Started as a programmer What You Get AI where it moves revenue, not where it makes noise. Foundations before tools, and a human in the lead, always. Every engagement starts with where your team’s hours actually go, because the best AI use case is rarely the one on the conference slide. The work typically covers: The Audit Where the hours go across research, content, pipeline, and reporting, and which of those hours AI should own, assist, or never touch. Working Workflows Marketing and sales workflows your team runs without me on retainer. If a workflow would not survive your team running it alone, I do not ship it. Hands-On Training People learn AI by building something real, not by watching a demo. Every session ends with something running. AI Visibility How your company shows up when buyers ask AI tools about your market. AI is the new front door, and most companies have never checked theirs. Ways In Four ways to work together, from a scan to a program. Flagship · Six-Week Program Crys Clear AI for GTM  Foggy → Focused → Crystal Clear Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational, built around your team, your data, and your tools. Intake calls with each team lead, six weekly 90-minute working sessions, and office hours after every session so nobody stalls out. Your team maps its real GTM friction, builds a shared Business Brain, ships working workflows, and leaves with a 90-day roadmap. Full curriculum and FAQ. For Leaders Executive AI Coaching 1:1 coaching for founders and executives who want hands-on help applying AI to their own work, decision-making, and workflows. Tailored to how you actually operate. For Teams Team AI Office Hours Recurring working sessions where your team brings real work and leaves with it done better. Reinforcement that keeps adoption from stalling after the kickoff excitement fades. Ongoing Monthly AI Visibility & SEO Review A monthly read on how your site performs in search and in the AI tools your buyers ask, with fixes prioritized by impact. One Session Workshops & Executive Sessions A single high-impact session to align leadership or kickstart a team, from vibe coding to AI strategy. See the speaking page for formats. Fit Check For teams that want capability, not a vendor dependency. This is for you if - Your team is AI-curious but nothing has stuck beyond a few ChatGPT windows. - Leadership bought licenses and adoption flatlined after week two. - You want workflows your own people run, not a consultant on permanent retainer. - You care whether buyers find you when they ask AI about your market. - You want honest answers about what AI cannot do yet. This is not for you if - You want a list of tools to buy. Tools are the last step, not the first. - You want to skip straight to autonomous agents. Today the reliable wins are human-led workflows, so that is where we start. As autonomy matures, and it is maturing fast, we build toward it from a foundation that works. - You see AI primarily as a way to shrink the team. The results in my work come from making the team you have more capable, and that is where I focus. - You want someone to do the work forever. My engagements are designed to end. How It Works Audit, build, hand off. 1. Audit. We map where the hours go across your go-to-market motion and rank where AI assistance pays fastest. No tool talk yet, on purpose. 2. Build. We ship real workflows against your real work, teaching your team hands on as we go. Teach for 30, build for 45, share for 15. Every session ends with something running. 3. Hand off. Your team leaves with working workflows, a shared Business Brain, and a 90-day roadmap they own. Office hours and ongoing formats exist if you want reinforcement, but independence is the design goal. No agent hype, no fear, just capability your team keeps. The Difference An AI consultant who has run the GTM motion. Most AI consultants have never owned a revenue number. Most marketing leaders have never written code. I have done both: I started as a programmer and I lead marketing as a fractional CMO for B2B SaaS companies. That combination is why my AI recommendations start from your funnel, not from a feature list, and why the workflows fit the job your team is actually paid to do. It is also why organizations have me teach this publicly: I am an instructor for Pavilion’s AI in GTM School, I facilitate HackingHR’s AI@Work series, and I lead hands-on labs for Women in AI. You can watch 18 recordings before you ever get on a call with me. Straight Answers Questions teams ask before hiring an AI GTM consultant What does an AI GTM consultant actually do? Helps your go-to-market team apply AI where it moves revenue: research, content, pipeline operations, and reporting. Audit first, then working workflows, then hands-on training. The deliverable is capability. Your team should run everything we build without me, which is why every engagement is structured around handoff from day one. How is this different from just buying AI tools? Tools without workflow design is how companies end up with licenses nobody uses. Foundations come first: where the hours go, what good output looks like, and who owns each step. Most teams already own more AI capability than they use. The gap is almost never access to tools. It is knowing which work to hand the tools, and how to check what comes back. Do we need technical people on our team for this to work? No. I teach marketers, sellers, and operators, not engineers. If your team can write a good brief, they can learn this. I started as a programmer, so when something does need a technical hand, I can build it or tell you exactly what to ask for. Your team does not need to code to run the workflows we ship. How do you bring AI into a team without the hype? Foundations before tools, and a human in the lead, always. No agent hype, and honest answers about what AI can and cannot do well today. The fastest way to kill AI adoption is overpromising. I teach what reliably works today, flag what does not, and build review steps into every workflow so quality stays a human decision. What is AI visibility, and why does it matter for GTM? AI visibility is how your company shows up when buyers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or AI search about your market. It is the new front door, and it is measurable. Buyers increasingly start research in an AI tool instead of a search box. If those tools do not know you, you are losing deals you never saw. I check this monthly for clients and fix what the models are getting wrong. When buyers ask AI about your market, do you show up? Run a free scan to see how your site appears across AI search and the large language models your buyers already trust. It takes under a minute. Run My Free Scan Keep Exploring Flagship Program Crys Clear AI for GTM Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational, built around your team and your tools. Related Service Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS Senior marketing leadership part time, from the same person teaching your team AI. Watch First Talks, Workshops & Labs 18 recordings from Grace Hopper, Pavilion, HackingHR, and more. See how I teach. All Services Ways to Work With Me Every engagement format: fractional leadership, coaching, workshops, and programs. Ready to find out where AI actually fits? Tell me where your team’s hours go and what you have already tried. I will tell you honestly where AI will pay fastest, and where it will not. Either way you leave the call knowing more about your own operation than you did before it. Email Crys or see the six-week program → --- ### About Crys Black Source: https://crysblack.com/executive-bio/ Summary: Full professional bio, background, and community leadership. Strategic Growth, Practical AI, Real Execution I help startup teams sharpen go-to-market, improve execution, and adopt AI in practical ways that save time and drive growth. Let’s Connect I help startup teams sharpen go-to-market, improve execution, and adopt AI in practical ways that save time and drive growth. I’m a fractional CMO and AI enablement partner who works with early-stage and growth-stage B2B tech companies that need clearer positioning, stronger systems, and a smarter path from strategy to execution. Over the years, I’ve learned that most startups do not need more noise. They need clarity. Clearer messaging. Better alignment. Better visibility into what is working. Better ways to move from ideas to action without getting buried in process, disconnected tools, or endless busywork. That’s the work I love most. My work sits at the intersection of strategy, marketing, operations, and practical AI adoption. Sometimes that means helping a company refine its market story. Sometimes it means building the systems behind growth. Sometimes it means helping a team actually use AI in ways that improve the way they work instead of just experimenting around the edges. Strategic Growth Leadership, Without the Theater I’ve spent more than 20 years helping B2B technology companies grow, evolve, and communicate value more clearly. My background includes leadership across startups and growth-stage companies like Origin AI, Aizon, and Saama, where I’ve helped with everything from repositioning and demand generation to sales enablement, revenue operations, category storytelling, and market expansion. I’m drawn to companies with smart people, ambitious goals, and some level of healthy chaos. That’s usually where the best work happens. What clients tend to appreciate about me is that I can zoom out and think strategically, then turn around and help make the work real. I’m not especially interested in strategy that lives in a slide deck and never changes how a team operates. I care about strategy that creates traction. Technical and Creative, on Purpose One of the things that has shaped my work the most is that I’ve always lived in both worlds: technical and creative. I started out programming in the early days of the web, and that technical foundation still influences how I think today. I naturally look for patterns, systems, friction points, and opportunities to make work flow better. At the same time, I’m equally drawn to messaging, storytelling, design, and the challenge of making complex ideas easier for people to understand. That mix is a big part of how I work now. I can talk through growth strategy, shape market positioning, build systems, map workflows, and still care deeply about whether the end result feels clear, human, and useful. My Approach to AI I’m excited about AI, but I’m also very practical about it. I’m less interested in hype and more interested in usefulness. For me, AI is most valuable when it helps teams think better, move faster, reduce repetitive work, and communicate more clearly. That might mean team training, executive coaching, custom GPT workflows, ROI calculators, automation, RevOps dashboards, or smarter systems for research, planning, and execution. I do not think most companies need AI for the sake of saying they are using AI. I think they need better ways to solve real problems, create leverage, and improve execution. That’s the lens I bring to this work. How I Work I’m collaborative, direct, and low-drama. I like smart people, honest conversations, and work that leads somewhere. I tend to do my best work with teams that want a real partner; someone who can help make sense of complexity, ask good questions, challenge assumptions when needed, and build momentum without creating more process than the team actually needs. - Clarity over jargon - Progress over posturing - Systems that support people, not the other way around - Innovation that is actually useful - Work that feels both strategic and grounded Outside of Work Outside of client work, I’m a photographer, outdoor enthusiast, and someone who pays a lot of attention to light, composition, and perspective. That creative side shows up in my work more than people might expect. It shapes how I think about storytelling, brand, design, and even problem-solving. The images across this site are my own, and they reflect another part of how I move through the world: curious, observant, and always looking for meaning in the details. I hold both B.A. and M.A. degrees from Virginia Tech, along with a leadership certificate from UC Berkeley. Leadership & Community Involvement In addition to my client work, I’m actively involved in organizations and communities focused on AI, innovation, leadership, and inclusion. I hold formal leadership and volunteer roles across several groups that are helping shape important conversations around technology, work, and community. Women in AI Labs Strategic Advisory Board Speaker, Grace Hopper Conference Instructor, Learning Labs SheBuilds Host & Facilitator Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group Board of Director, Treasurer Co-Lead, AI & Ethics Subgroup Co-Lead, AI & Marketing Subgroup AI Pioneers Club Founding Member Hacking HR Co-Lead, Boulder Chapter Pavilion Executive Member Instructor, AI & GTM School Innosphere Ventures Startup Mentor SmarterX Mastery Member Colorado AI News Contributing Writer Human Input column Let’s Find the Right Fit If you’re looking for a strategic partner to help your team grow, adopt AI more effectively, or build stronger go-to-market systems, let’s talk. Book a Strategy Call --- ## Programs & Services ### Crys Clear AI for GTM Source: https://crysblack.com/crys-clear-ai-for-gtm/ Summary: Flagship six-week program: Crys Clear AI for GTM. Curriculum, outcomes, FAQ. Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational. Yes, the pun is intentional. Crys is short for Crystal, and clarity is the whole product. Crys Clear AI for GTM is a hands-on program for go-to-market teams at small businesses and growth-stage companies. No hype. No fear-mongering. Your team, your tools, and something real running by the end of every single session. Most AI training explains what AI could do. This program leaves your team with workflows, tools, and habits that are already doing it. Download the Program Overview (PDF)  Bring It to Your Team How the Program Works 1. Intake calls before we start 30 minutes with each team lead. I learn where your team’s hours actually go and what you have already tried, so every session teaches from your world instead of generic examples. 2. Six weekly 90-minute working sessions Teach for 30, build for 45, share for 15. Hands-on-keyboard every week, because building is where AI adoption actually sticks. 3. Weekly office hours A 60-minute drop-in after every session. Anyone who kept building and hit a wall gets unstuck before the next class. Nobody stalls out. The Six Weeks Phase 1: Foggy · See Your Business Clearly First Week 1: The Fog Check Map your GTM motion, find where the hours actually go, and pick your three highest-friction targets. Most AI failures are strategy failures. This week is the fix. Week 2: The Business Brain Build a shared context pack, your positioning, personas, voice, and offers, inside the AI tools you already use. The week that makes every later week work. Phase 2: Focused · Build the Engine Week 3: Function Builds I Working sessions by function. Sales and partnerships build account planning and research workflows. Ops builds automation and reporting. Week 4: Function Builds II Each function turns last week’s build into a documented, repeatable workflow the whole team can run without them. Week 5: Vibe Week The signature week. Everyone builds a real internal tool with AI, no code background needed. First builds are imperfect. Iterating is the skill. Phase 3: Crystal Clear · Make It Stick Week 6: Operationalize Quality-control habits, an AI operating rhythm for the team, and a 90-day roadmap. We close with a lightning wins round: two minutes each to show one thing that now runs without you. What Your Team Leaves With - A shared Business Brain your whole team works from - Documented, repeatable AI workflows for every GTM function - A working tool each person built themselves - A 90-day AI roadmap your leadership can measure against - Every template, prompt, and framework stays with you Frequently Asked Questions How long is the program? Six weeks. Each week has one 90-minute live working session (teach for 30, build for 45, share for 15) plus a 60-minute office hours drop-in, and the program starts with a 30-minute intake call with each team lead. How many people can join? Up to 10 people per team. Small rooms are the point: everyone builds, everyone shares, nobody hides in the back. What AI tools do we need? The tools you already pay for. The program is tool-agnostic and runs in Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini. For private company deliveries, everything runs inside your approved AI environment. Do we need a technical background? No. Curiosity and a willingness to iterate are the only requirements. The build week (Vibe Week) is designed specifically for people who have never written code. Is it virtual or in person? Live and virtual by default. In-person delivery is available on request. What does it cost? A flat program fee per team, not per seat. Reach out for a proposal scoped to your team. What happens after the six weeks? Your team leaves with a 90-day AI roadmap and everything running. Many teams continue with monthly workflow tune-ups, and office hours make sure nothing stalls before the program ends. Ready to make your team AI-operational? Let’s Talk --- ### Ways to Work With Me Source: https://crysblack.com/service-offerings/ Summary: All the ways to work with Crys: fractional leadership, AI enablement, coaching, workshops. Fractional GTM Leadership and Practical AI Enablement for Startup Teams I help founders and startup teams turn strategy into traction through fractional marketing and operations leadership, practical AI adoption, executive coaching, and hands-on team enablement. Whether you need a strategic partner to align go-to-market, a workshop to help your team use AI effectively, or ongoing office hours to keep momentum going, I work where growth, operations, and execution meet. Book a Strategy Call Fractional Growth & GTM Leadership For startups that need experienced leadership across marketing, operations, and go-to-market execution. This is ideal for early-stage and growth-stage companies that need more than advice. I step in as a strategic partner to help clarify positioning, align teams, improve execution, and build the systems that support efficient growth. What this can include: - Go-to-market strategy and planning - Messaging and positioning refinement - Demand generation strategy - Marketing + sales + customer alignment - RevOps visibility and reporting - KPI, funnel, and dashboard development - Team leadership and cross-functional execution Best for: Founders and leadership teams who need senior-level marketing and operational guidance without hiring a full-time executive. Crys Clear AI for GTM A private, six-week program that takes your go-to-market team from AI-curious to AI-operational. Intake calls with each team lead, six weekly 90-minute working sessions, and office hours after every session so nobody stalls out. Teach for 30, build for 45, share for 15. Every class ends with something real running. The full curriculum, FAQ, and program overview are one click away. Your team leaves with: - A shared Business Brain your whole team works from - Documented, repeatable AI workflows for every GTM function - A working tool each person built themselves - A 90-day AI roadmap your leadership can measure against - Every template, prompt, and framework stays with you Best for - GTM teams of up to 10 people - Small businesses and growth-stage companies - Teams on Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini - No technical background needed See the Full Program Executive AI Coaching One-on-one coaching for founders, executives, and operators who want to use AI more strategically and effectively. These sessions are designed to help leaders apply AI directly to their own work. That might mean improving strategic thinking, accelerating research, streamlining planning, refining communications, or identifying where AI can support team performance. What we can work on: - Building better AI habits and workflows - Applying AI to strategic planning and decision support - Improving writing, research, and analysis workflows - Creating role-specific prompt libraries - Evaluating tools and use cases - Identifying AI opportunities across your team or function Best for: Founders, CMOs, COOs, chiefs of staff, and team leaders who want a practical partner in adopting AI. Team AI Office Hours Ongoing support for organizations that want help turning training into real adoption. Office hours give your team a place to bring questions, test ideas, troubleshoot workflows, and build confidence using AI in the flow of work. This is often the best next step after a workshop or training engagement. Office hours can include: - Live Q&A for team use cases - Prompt and workflow review - Feedback on AI-generated work - Problem-solving around tools and process design - Support for rollout, adoption, and change management - Department-specific working sessions Format options - Weekly office hours - Biweekly office hours - Monthly advisory sessions - Team or leadership-specific sessions Best for: Organizations that want practical, ongoing support as teams learn to use AI effectively. Monthly AI Visibility & SEO Review For teams that want to show up when buyers search on Google and when they ask AI. A monthly retainer that tracks how your brand shows up across traditional search and the AI tools your buyers now use to make decisions. Each month you get a clear report, a prioritized action list, and the strategy behind it, so your visibility keeps compounding instead of drifting. What’s included each month: - SEO health and technical site audit - AI and LLM visibility tracking across tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity - Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) so AI answers cite you - Keyword, content, and competitor analysis - A prioritized action list with clear next steps - A branded report you can share with your team - A monthly strategy review to turn findings into decisions Best for: Founders and marketing teams who want to stay findable as buyers shift from search engines to AI. Run a free scan Speaking & Executive Workshops Practical, engaging sessions for founder groups, leadership teams, accelerators, and startup communities. I speak on the real-world use of AI across marketing, operations, and go-to-market teams, with an emphasis on practical adoption, team readiness, and execution. Sample speaking topics: - From AI Curiosity to AI Capability - Practical AI for Go-to-Market Teams - How Startup Leaders Can Actually Use AI at Work - Building an AI-Ready Team - AI Workflows That Save Time and Improve Execution Best for: Conferences, leadership offsites, founder communities, accelerators, and internal team events. What Clients Typically Need Help With - Clarifying go-to-market strategy - Improving visibility into funnel performance and execution - Building repeatable workflows that save time and improve output - Creating momentum after initial AI training through office hours and coaching - Aligning marketing, operations, and revenue teams - Training teams to use AI effectively and responsibly - Supporting leaders as they adopt AI in their day-to-day work Who I Work With - Early-stage and growth-stage tech startups - Seed to Series B companies - Organizations that want practical AI adoption, not generic consulting or hype - Founder-led teams - Marketing, operations, RevOps, and go-to-market leaders Engagement Formats Engagements can be structured in a few different ways depending on your goals: Fractional leadership retainers Ongoing strategic and operational support for startups that need senior-level guidance across go-to-market, marketing, operations, and execution. Best for teams looking for an embedded partner rather than one-off consulting. Single workshops or team training sessions Focused sessions designed to help teams build practical skills, align around priorities, or explore specific AI and GTM topics. Best for organizations that want a strong starting point or a high-impact internal session. Multi-session enablement programs A series of sessions built to move teams from learning to implementation over time. Best for organizations that want deeper adoption, reinforcement, and role-specific support. 1:1 executive coaching packages Personalized coaching for founders and leaders who want hands-on support applying AI to their own work, decision-making, and workflows. Best for executives who want practical guidance tailored to how they operate. Ongoing office hours and advisory support Recurring sessions that give teams continued access for questions, workflow review, and adoption support after initial training or strategy work. Best for organizations that want momentum, accountability, and real-world application. Speaking engagements and custom workshops Practical sessions for leadership teams, founder communities, accelerators, and events. Best for organizations looking for engaging education, executive discussion, or tailored team workshops. Let’s Find the Right Fit If you’re looking for a strategic partner to help your team grow, adopt AI more effectively, or build stronger go-to-market systems, let’s talk. Book a Strategy Call --- ### Speaking Source: https://crysblack.com/speaking/ Summary: Speaking: signature programs, keynotes, labs, the 2026 season, and recordings. Crys Black  ·  AI Speaker, Instructor & Facilitator Keynotes  ·  Workshops  ·  Labs  ·  Panels Speaking AI that actually lands. For practitioners, not spectators. 2026 SeasonNow Booking Book Crys to Speak On stage and in the lab: Grace Hopper Conference, Pavilion, HackingHR, Women in AI, and more 43 Engagements since 2019 18 Recordings to watch 15+ Organizations & stages 9 Dates on the 2026 calendar Act I Signature Programs Programs your team can book directly. Each one ends with your people running something real, not holding a page of notes. Flagship · Six-Week SeriesNo. 1 Crys Clear AI for GTM Foggy → Focused → Crystal Clear Six weeks from AI-curious to AI-operational, built around your team, your data, and your tools. Your team maps where the hours really go, builds a shared Business Brain, ships marketing and sales workflows that run on Monday, and vibe codes a working GTM tool by week five. Week six turns it all into habits with a 90-day roadmap. Every session ends with something running. Best for  GTM teams of up to 10, virtual   | Includes  Pre-work calls with team leads, six live sessions, office hours after every session See the full program → WorkshopNo. 2 Vibe Coding The most requested workshop on this page. Your team ships a real, working app before the session ends, no code background needed. Fair warning from every past cohort: the first build is imperfect on purpose. Iterating is the skill. Best for  GTM teams, operators, community groups   | Recently at  Pavilion AI in GTM School, Women in AI Watch a session → Public SeriesNo. 3 AI Isn’t Magic A hands-on public series that keeps up with the news. Whatever AI just did this month becomes the session, with zero hype and zero jargon. Your audience leaves with things they can try the same afternoon. Best for  Libraries, community organizations, associations   | Running now  Loveland Public Library, every other month, four dates in 2026 Multi-Session LabNo. 4 Generative AI Fundamentals Lab A guided lab in two movements. First your people set up an AI that truly knows their work: Projects, Skills, and custom GPTs loaded with their context. Then they make it repeatable, with connectors and scheduled runs that handle routine work the same way every time. Nothing autonomous and no agent hype, just dependable AI that works the way it was set up to. Best for  Teams and communities moving from curiosity to capability   | Recently at  Women in AI Colorado, delivered as “Build Your AI Assistant: A Foundation Lab” Mainstage KeynotesNo. 5 The Jobs Aren’t Disappearing — They’re Shape-Shifting The future of work talk that swaps dread for a plan: what actually changes, what does not, and how your people stay indispensable. Best for  Associations, company all-hands Watch it → Think Like a Director, Not a Developer Nobody needs to write code to build things anymore. Vision and direction are the new technical skills, and your audience already has them. Best for  Innovation events, GTM teams, builder audiences GenAI and the Human Spark Embracing AI without losing our humanity. A warm, honest talk for audiences who want the upside and intend to stay human while getting it. Best for  Broad audiences, values-driven organizations For lighter occasions, ask about How I Used AI to Win Valentine’s Day: a story talk with live demos and a happy ending. In Residence Recurring roles with communities that keep inviting Crys back Pavilion AI in GTM School Instructor Foundations, Build, and Vibe Coding cohorts, three times a year HackingHR AI@Work Panel Facilitator · Chapter Co-organizer The year-long series on bias, trust, governance, and the employee experience Women in AI Labs Lead Instructor · SheBuilds Host Small-room, hands-on labs that get women building with AI, not just talking about it Loveland Public Library AI Isn’t Magic Series Free, hands-on public AI education, every other month Act II This Season Catch a performance before you book one. Every date below is open for registration. Jul 28 2026 AI@Work: Bias, Trust & Transparency Panel Facilitator · HackingHR · Virtual Register → Jul–Aug 29 2026 Pavilion AI in GTM School Instructor · Pavilion · Virtual · 101: Foundations · 201: Build · Vibe Coding 101 Register → Aug 13 2026 AI Isn’t Magic: AI and the Environment Speaker · Loveland Public Library · Loveland, CO Register → Aug 15 2026 Women in AI Lab: Vibe Coding Lead Instructor · Women in AI Colorado · Boulder, CO Register → Sep 22 2026 AI@Work: The Employee Experience Panel Facilitator · HackingHR · Virtual Register → Sep 28 2026 Pavilion Women’s Summit Speaker · GTM2026 · New York City, NY Register → Oct 8 2026 AI Isn’t Magic: AI as the Collaborative Partner Speaker · Loveland Public Library · Loveland, CO Register → Nov 17 2026 AI@Work: What We Got Right and What We Didn’t Panel Facilitator · HackingHR · Virtual Register → Dec 10 2026 AI Isn’t Magic: The Accessibility of AI Platforms Speaker · Loveland Public Library · Loveland, CO Register → — Intermission — Bring Crys to your stage. Keynote, workshop, lab, or panel. Tell me about your audience and what you want them walking out able to do. I bring the practical, the tactical, and just enough of the big picture to make it stick. Book Crys to Speak Download the Speaker One-Sheet Act III In Performance Do not take the program’s word for it. Press play. AI for Good: Main Stage Moderator RMAIIG Showcase · January 2026 The Jobs Aren’t Disappearing — They’re Shape-Shifting What Keeps Marketers Up at Night · March 2026 Vibe Coding Workshop Pavilion AI in GTM School · 2026 AI Isn’t Magic: The Ethics of AI Loveland Public Library · June 2026 The Age of Avatars: AI Voices, Podcasts & Personas RMAIIG Marketing Subgroup · October 2025 AI in Action: Marketing Teams of the Future Forum for Naturals · August 2025 Standup Vibe Coding: Creativity Meets Code & Comedy RMAIIG Women in AI · June 2025 No-Code, High-Vibe: Building with Lovable RMAIIG Marketing Subgroup · June 2025 Vibe Games: Live Vibe Coding Competitor RMAIIG Product Subgroup · July 2025 AI@Work: Governance & Accountability in HR HackingHR · May 2026 The AI Toolkit Every Fractional Exec Should Know Female Fractionals · April 2025 Women in STEM Reception University of Denver · March 2026 · watch on DU MediaSpace So, What’s YOUR Tech Stack? Peak Community · February 2023 Discovering ChatGPT, Part 2 Women’s Business Club · June 2023 Discovering ChatGPT, Part 3 Women’s Business Club · June 2023 Becoming Revenue Champions: AI-Generated Content & ChatGPT CampaignStars & Field Marketing · 2023 Lessons from Building Many Aligned GTM Infrastructures Content Strategies · December 2023 Can AI Save Billions in Clinical Research Costs? AI: In Real Life · May 2019 Eighteen recordings, going all the way back to a 2019 AI panel. Past Performances 2026 13 engagements Build Your AI Assistant: A Foundation Lab — Instructor Women in AI Colorado · Boulder, CO · July 11 Women of Pavilion Signal & Scale — Speaker Pavilion · Virtual · June 24 AI Isn’t Magic: The Ethics of AI — Speaker Loveland Public Library · Loveland, CO · June 11 Watch Vibe Coding — Instructor Pavilion AI in GTM School · May Watch AI@Work: Governance & Accountability in HR — Panel Facilitator HackingHR · Virtual · May 19 Watch AI Isn’t Magic: The Essential AI Toolkit — Speaker Loveland Public Library · April Play With AI Before It Plays Without You — Launch Keynote Women in AI Northern Colorado · April Women in STEM Reception University of Denver · March 31 Watch SheBuilds — Host Women in AI · Boulder, CO · March The Jobs Aren’t Disappearing — They’re Shape-Shifting What Keeps Marketers Up at Night · March Watch Vibe Coding — Instructor Pavilion AI in GTM School · February Watch AI for Good — Main Stage Moderator RMAIIG Showcase · Boulder, CO · January Watch How I Used AI to Win Valentine’s Day RMAIIG Marketing Subgroup · Boulder, CO · January 2025 10 engagements Designing Your AI Workflow: How to Think Like a System — Workshop Grace Hopper Conference AI Studio · Chicago, IL · November Vibe Coding Fireside Chat with Gene Kim Grace Hopper Conference AI Studio · Chicago, IL · November The Age of Avatars: AI Voices, Podcasts & Personas RMAIIG Marketing Subgroup · Boulder, CO · October Watch Vibe Games — Judge RMAIIG Product Subgroup · Denver, CO · October Fractionals 101 — Panel, Main Stage Colorado Startup Week · Denver, CO · September AI in Action: Marketing Teams of the Future Forum for Naturals · Denver, CO · August Watch Vibe Games — Live Vibe Coding Competitor (Inaugural) RMAIIG Product Subgroup · Denver, CO · July Watch No-Code, High-Vibe: Building with Lovable RMAIIG Marketing Subgroup · Boulder, CO · June Watch Standup Vibe Coding: Where Creativity Meets Code and Comedy RMAIIG Women in AI · Boulder, CO · June Watch The AI Toolkit Every Fractional Exec Should Know Female Fractionals · April Watch 2023–2024 7 engagements Generative Engine Optimization: Transforming SEO VKTR & Earley Information Science · Webinar · 2024 Lessons Learned from Building Many Aligned GTM Infrastructures Content Strategies · December 2023 Watch Harnessing ChatGPT: Transforming B2B Marketing Practices CampaignStars · June 2023 Discovering ChatGPT, Parts 2 & 3 Women’s Business Club · June 2023 Watch Becoming Revenue Champions: AI-Generated Content & ChatGPT CampaignStars & Field Marketing · 2023 Watch Steal These Prompts! LinkedIn Live with Portfolio Rocket · April 2023 So, What’s YOUR Tech Stack? Peak Community · Webinar · February 2023 Watch 2019–2022 Before it was cool Building for the Win: How and When to Grow Your Marketing Team Peak Community · Webinar · June 2022 How AI Is Helping Market Products That Ultimately Save Lives MRP · May 2019 Can AI Save Billions in Clinical Research Costs? AI: In Real Life · May 2019 Watch — Curtain Call — As seen on stages with Book Crys for Your 2026 Season Program subject to change · New dates added often · crysblack.com/speaking --- ## Proof & Selected Work ### Outcomes Source: https://crysblack.com/selected-work/ Summary: Outcomes: selected client results and case studies. Real work. Real results. From global rebrands to AI-built sales tools, this is a cross-section of the work, spanning brand strategy, demand generation, revenue operations, and practical AI. Different industries, different stages, same commitment to work that actually moves the needle. Book a Strategy Call Featured Case Studies TCO Calculator Global Rebrand Brand Transition Modernize Lead Gen Campaign Dashboard Building Sales Enablement and AI Tools for Sonet Sonet needed sales teams to be able to show real savings numbers quickly, without relying on abstract claims or waiting for a technical evaluation to begin. I built an AI-assisted TCO calculator and executive summary workflow that let sellers model cost of ownership and business impact in plain language — helping prospects understand value faster and supporting progress on stalled deals. What this work included - TCO calculator and cost-of-inaction modeling - AI-generated executive summaries tailored to each prospect - Buyer-friendly business case design - Sales enablement support for complex deal cycles Outcomes - Helped unstick stalled deals by making the value case concrete - Gave sales teams a plain-language way to communicate cost and ROI - Created a reusable, AI-powered asset that improved sales readiness Repositioning Aizon for Growth in a Global Market Aizon needed more than incremental marketing support. The company was navigating a major brand shift, building new growth infrastructure, and operating across geographies during a highly disruptive period. I led the strategic global rebrand from Bigfinite to Aizon, helping reshape the company’s market identity around a stronger, more future-facing story. At the same time, I built out the marketing and sales infrastructure needed to support growth, including ABM, CRM-connected demand generation, data enrichment, video, automation, and sales enablement. What this work included - Global rebrand strategy and launch - GTM and demand generation infrastructure - CRM-connected ABM and lead generation - Sales enablement and partner support - Analyst relations, thought leadership, and PR Outcomes - 10x increase in lead generation - 36x increase in marketing-driven meetings - 6x increase in pipeline - 266x increase in quarterly revenue from initial pilots - 10x rise in marketing influence Helping Saama Shift from Services to SaaS Saama needed to evolve from a services-led business into a more scalable SaaS story while increasing credibility in a competitive market. I helped support that transition by launching the company’s first account-based marketing program, building strategic partnerships, expanding communications, and supporting the go-to-market motion around the Life Science Analytics Cloud. What this work included - ABM program design and launch - SaaS repositioning and market messaging - Strategic partner development - Multi-channel communications - Sales enablement and thought leadership Outcomes - Supported $40M in Round B funding - Helped launch the Life Science Analytics Cloud - Increased target-account engagement significantly - Contributed to Saama’s positioning as a credible SaaS provider - Supported a story later featured as a Kellogg School of Management case study Modernizing Demand Generation and Lead Processes at APTARE APTARE needed to modernize its messaging, sharpen how the team communicated value to enterprise buyers, and rebuild lead generation and enablement programs ahead of a changing market. I was brought in to help modernize the brand, overhaul demand generation, and build the sales enablement infrastructure the team needed to convert more effectively and support a stronger channel strategy. What this work included - Brand and messaging overhaul across web, corporate identity, and portal - Demand generation rebuild including syndication, webinar strategy, and email - Sales enablement: scripts, training assets, and channel partner programs - Marketo and Salesforce integration and business systems alignment - Global channel strategy expansion ahead of acquisition Outcomes - 500% improvement in event conversion rates - 300% increase in click-per-lead - 70% reduction in cost per click - 200% increase in email click-through rates Building a 7-Channel Campaign Dashboard with Claude Cowork The goal was 30 meetings in 60 days. Seven platforms were running simultaneously. Every morning the team was reconciling data across seven different tabs before a 15-minute standup. I used Claude Cowork to write Google Apps Script that pulled live data from all seven channels into a single Google Sheet — updated nightly, zero manual prep. Cowork didn’t just write the code. It steered me away from vibe coding toward the right tool, introduced me to Apps Script (which I didn’t know existed), and then helped build a diagnostic test layer so we could catch data issues before they corrupted our numbers. What this work included - Google Apps Script built by Claude Cowork from a plain-language description - Nightly auto-refresh pulling from HubSpot, Propensity, Google Ads, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instantly, and AiSDR - Goal tracker: 30 meetings in 60 days, paced weekly - Diagnostic test layer for data integrity and API error detection - Structured for a 15-minute daily standup with no manual data prep Outcomes - 36,245 leads reached · 27,705 emails sent · 1,060 LinkedIn touches · 45 demos booked · 4 pilots · pacing 64.3 — on track - Surfaced a Propensity API endpoint change, HubSpot logging inconsistency, and Instantly throughput drop before standup - Propensity flagged the work as a customer case study and began making platform changes based on it - Dashboard compressed build time from weeks to one afternoon Read the full case study → Additional Selected Work Accelerating Agency New Business with Custom GPT Workflows For a marketing agency, I designed custom GPT workflows in ChatGPT to support deep prospect research, synthesize transcripts and notes, and speed up slide creation using research, frameworks, and internal inputs. This reduced the time between research, synthesis, and polished output dramatically, helping the team move faster on new business opportunities. What work this included - Custom GPT design for repeatable research workflows - Transcript and note synthesis - Slide creation support - Workflow acceleration across business development steps Automating Company Enrichment for Better GTM Execution I built an automation workflow in n8n that triggered new companies entering HubSpot to be enriched through Clay automatically. This gave teams better firmographic context earlier in the process, reduced manual research, and improved readiness for segmentation, prioritization, and outreach. What work this included - HubSpot workflow design - n8n orchestration - Clay-based company enrichment - Better data support for GTM execution Keeping Lead Data in Sync Across HubSpot and Mailchimp I created an n8n automation to keep lead data synced automatically between HubSpot CRM and Mailchimp. This reduced manual cleanup, improved consistency across systems, and helped support more reliable marketing execution without adding operational drag. What work this included - CRM and email platform integration - Automated lead sync - Reduced manual data maintenance - Improved marketing list reliability Keeping Lead Data in Sync Across HubSpot and Mailchimp I created an n8n automation to keep lead data synced automatically between HubSpot CRM and Mailchimp. This reduced manual cleanup, improved consistency across systems, and helped support more reliable marketing execution without adding operational drag. What work this included - CRM and email platform integration - Automated lead sync - Reduced manual data maintenance - Improved marketing list reliability Making Tax Savings Tangible at Live Events For a tax company, I helped create an ROI calculator that allowed the team to show real savings numbers live at a trade event. This made the value proposition more concrete in the moment and gave prospects a clearer way to understand financial impact instead of relying on abstract claims. Ways I Typically Help Across these engagements, the through-lines are consistent: - Clarifying positioning in complex markets - Aligning marketing, sales, and RevOps - Equipping teams with better sales and decision-support tools - Building GTM systems that support growth - Creating practical AI workflows that save time - Turning complexity into something buyers can actually understand Looking for Similar Support? If you need help sharpening go-to-market, improving execution, building smarter systems, or applying AI in more practical ways, let’s talk. Book a Strategy Call --- ### I Asked Claude to Write My Code. It Built Me a War Room. Source: https://crysblack.com/selected-work/30-in-60-campaign-dashboard/ Summary: Case study: building a live campaign war-room dashboard with AI (vibe coding). ← Outcomes I Asked Claude to Write My Code. It Built Me a War Room. Fractional CMO Practice  ·  2026 Here is what happened when I handed Google Apps Script to an AI and stopped pretending I needed to write the whole thing myself. Campaign Progress — 30 Demos in 60 Days 36,245 Total Leads 27,705 Emails Sent 1,060 LinkedIn Touches 45 Total Demos 4 Pilots 64.3 Pacing (projected) ✓ On Track Status We had a goal. Thirty meetings in sixty days. I was working as a fractional marketing leader on a pipeline push for a B2B SaaS company, and we had seven channels running simultaneously — HubSpot for CRM and sequences, Propensity for ABM display ads and marketing emails, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads, Instantly for cold email outreach, and AiSDR for LinkedIn outreach. Every morning we were pulling numbers from seven different platforms, opening seven different tabs, and then trying to piece together whether we were actually moving toward that meeting target. Our daily standup was fifteen minutes. We did not have fifteen minutes to spend doing data archaeology. I knew the answer was some kind of unified view. My first instinct was to vibe code it. If you know me, you know I will reach for Lovable before I reach for a spreadsheet almost every time. So I opened Claude Cowork and described the problem. I told it what I was trying to track, how many channels we had, and that I wanted to build something fast. Cowork knew I like to vibe code. It said so. And then it told me, gently but clearly, that for something the whole team needed to consume and update daily, a Google Sheet would be easier. Less friction, no app to log into, already in everyone’s workflow. I had not even considered that. Then it told me about Google Apps Script — a scripting layer built directly into Google Sheets that could handle all the API calls and run on a nightly schedule automatically. I did not know Google Apps Script was a thing. Cowork did not just write code for me. It guided me to the right tool for the job first. How It Actually Went Once we aligned on the approach, I described the problem in plain language. I had seven data sources. I needed them in one place. I needed the sheet to update itself every night so I walked into standup each morning with current numbers. I wanted to see, at a glance, how each channel was contributing to the pipeline — impressions, clicks, demos booked, and meetings tracked against the 30-in-60 goal. I was not writing a technical spec. I was talking to Cowork the way I would talk to a really competent developer I trusted. Cowork wrote the Apps Script. The actual Apps Script — written by Claude Cowork from a plain-language description Not a snippet. Not a starting point. The actual code — structured triggers, API calls for each platform, error handling, and a nightly time-based trigger that ran the refresh automatically. It explained what each section did so I could follow along and make adjustments. When I had a question about the HubSpot authentication flow, it walked me through it without making me feel like I had asked something obvious. When we started hitting data issues — numbers that did not add up, sources that looked off — I asked Cowork to help me figure out where the problems were coming from. It suggested building diagnostic tests directly into the Apps Script. Each data source would have checks to validate that it was connecting correctly, that the data coming in matched the expected structure, and that nothing had quietly broken overnight. We built those together. Was it perfect on the first pass? No. There were a couple of spots where I had to give it more context about how our HubSpot properties were structured and how Propensity’s API response was formatted. But that back-and-forth took maybe forty minutes total. Building this from scratch? That would have been days. What We Built The dashboard tracked seven channels in one view: The daily tracker tab — every channel, every metric, one row per day HubSpot — active sequences, meetings booked, deal stage movement, and contacts enrolled in our outbound cadences. Propensity — ABM display ads pushed to Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, plus marketing emails sent to our target accounts. We were not using scoring or intent signals in this campaign. Propensity was the distribution engine. Google Ads — impressions, clicks, conversions, and cost per conversion across both ABM audiences pushed from Propensity and our non-ABM campaigns running in parallel. LinkedIn Ads — performance across both Propensity-pushed ABM audiences and our independent lead gen campaigns, including native form completions pulled directly into the sheet. Facebook Ads — clicks, CTR, CPC, and reach across ABM and non-ABM. (Facebook ended up being our second-best channel — which genuinely surprised us.) Instantly — emails sent, open rates, reply rates, and meetings booked from cold email outreach. AiSDR — LinkedIn outreach activity: connection requests, likes, and personalized messages going to the same contacts receiving email through Propensity and Instantly. Because there is no native LinkedIn sync between those platforms, AiSDR bridges that gap. This is the channel where we see the strongest conversion signal, and we think we know why. The personalization is real. A contact gets a relevant email and then a LinkedIn connection request that references something specific to them. That combination converts. Everything refreshed nightly via a time-based Apps Script trigger. Every morning, before standup, the data was current. One tab showed the 30-in-60 goal tracker — meetings booked versus target, paced by week. You could see in ten seconds whether we were on track. The Part That Kept Paying Off Here is the thing about a dashboard that pulls live data from seven different platforms: stuff breaks. APIs update. Someone on the team changes how they log a deal stage in HubSpot. A platform makes a backend change without announcing it. Any of those things can quietly corrupt your numbers overnight and you will not know it until you are in standup wondering why the LinkedIn data looks wrong. Because the tests were built in, I did not have to wonder for long. When something does not look right, I open Cowork and ask it to find the error. That is the whole prompt. It runs through the diagnostic layer, checks where the data flow broke, and tells me what it found. So far it has caught three things I would not have found quickly on my own: A Propensity API update where the endpoint itself moved. The script was authenticating fine and returning no errors — it was just hitting a path that no longer existed. That is a hard thing to spot without a diagnostic layer telling you exactly where the handshake failed. A data integrity issue in HubSpot where the team had been logging meetings inconsistently — some as “Meeting Booked,” some as “Demo Scheduled” — which meant our meeting count was undercounting. The dashboard did not cause that problem. It surfaced it. That is valuable. And a throughput issue where email send volume through Instantly had dropped significantly. The numbers were technically valid. The data was just telling us something was wrong with the campaign cadence. Cowork flagged it as anomalous before anyone on the team had noticed. The dashboard is not just a reporting tool. It has become an early warning system. What Standup Looked Like After Fifteen minutes. Actual fifteen minutes. The standup view — goal tracker, yesterday’s numbers, and cumulative ad activity at a glance We opened the sheet. We looked at the goal tracker first. Then we ran a quick channel-by-channel check — what moved overnight, what was stalling, where we needed to shift budget or attention. Google Ads was our top performer, pulling an extraordinary conversion rate on long-tail AI-focused keywords. Facebook was quietly delivering at a cost per click that made everyone happy. Instantly was struggling with personalization and we could see that in the data clearly, which meant we could make a decision about it rather than just feeling uneasy. The dashboard did not make the decisions. We made the decisions. But it gave us a shared surface to make them from. That matters more than it sounds. Channel comparison — email platforms and ad channels side by side, with CTR and reply rates surfacing where effort was actually paying off The Part That Surprised Me I showed the dashboard to Krystal on my monthly call with Propensity. She is their customer success lead and one of the sharpest people I work with on the platform side. She asked me to walk her through how I built it. By the end of the call, she was sharing it with her team as a potential training example. We started talking about a joint blog post. And then she told me something I did not expect: Propensity is making platform changes — partial credit to the work I did here. The way I was using their API and surfacing gaps in the workflow gave their team useful signal about what customers actually need. The thing I built to solve an internal problem had become something other marketers wanted to learn from. And apparently something a platform was building toward. That would not have happened if I had waited until I had the bandwidth to build it myself, or handed it off to a developer and gotten it back in three weeks. Cowork compressed the timeline from “someday” to “this afternoon.” What This Actually Demonstrates I talk a lot about operationalizing AI — not just using it for content or brainstorming, but weaving it into the actual systems that run your work. This dashboard is one of the clearest examples I have. Three things made it work: Plain language is enough. I did not need to write a technical brief or know the Apps Script documentation. I described what I needed in the same language I would use with a colleague. Cowork translated that into working code. The AI wrote the boring parts. The trigger setup, the authentication flows, the error handling, the loop structures — none of that is interesting work. It is necessary work. Having Cowork write it meant I spent my time on the parts that actually required judgment: how to structure the goal tracker, which metrics actually mattered for standup, what the dashboard needed to make our fifteen minutes count. A shared data surface changes how a team operates. Before the dashboard, everyone had their own version of the story. After it, we had one story. That alignment shift is real and it shows up in faster decisions and fewer “wait, what are we actually seeing from LinkedIn” moments. Try This Yourself You do not need a seven-channel program to make this useful. If you have even two data sources you are manually reconciling each week, Claude Cowork can help you build the Apps Script to pull them together automatically. Start by describing the problem exactly the way you would explain it to a smart friend. Tell it what data you have, what you want to see, and how often you need it updated. Let it write the first pass. Ask questions about the parts you do not understand. Iterate. The goal is not to become an Apps Script developer. The goal is to build the thing you need so you can spend your time on the work that actually requires you. You already know what that thing is. What are you waiting for? Have a multi-source dashboard you have been meaning to build? Tell me about it. I love a good “we finally have one source of truth” story. ← Back to Outcomes   Book a Strategy Call --- ## Experiments ### AI Experiments Source: https://crysblack.com/ai-experiments/ Summary: Hands-on AI builds, music, and video experiments. Tools I Build With These are the tools in my regular rotation. Links are referral links — if you sign up, we both benefit. Lovable Vibe code apps and tools — no traditional coding required Genspark AI-powered slides, research, and multi-agent workflows Runway AI video generation and creative editing Suno Generate original music and audio in seconds Gamma Beautiful presentations built with AI, fast Descript Edit video and podcasts by editing the transcript n8n Workflow automation that connects your entire stack Clay Data enrichment and outbound automation for GTM teams Motion AI scheduling that plans your day automatically Granola AI meeting notes that actually capture what matters AdCreative AI-generated ad creatives that convert ElevenLabs Realistic AI voice generation for audio, video, and agents Vibe Coded Projects Functional apps and tools built with AI, from scratch. Halloween Math Blaster A spooky-themed math drill game for kids. Timed challenges, Halloween characters, and enough competition to keep things interesting. Play the game → AI Bingo Bash Built live during the Women in AI Northern Colorado launch event. The audience played real-time multiplayer bingo while we talked about AI tools. Play the game → Boulder Date Night A date night suggestion app for Boulder, CO. Restaurants, activities, and vibes—built to solve decision fatigue in a city with too many good options. Try it → Cash Register Hero A cash register practice game for learners building comfort with making change and handling real transactions. Useful for customer-facing team training. Play the game → Zoe Ma Ma POS Trainer A simulated point-of-sale system for training restaurant staff on the Zoe Ma Ma menu. Practice ringing up orders, handling payments, and building speed before going live. Try it → Music & Video AI-assisted creative work produced for talks, workshops, and community events. Women of Northern Colorado Anthem Written and produced with Suno for the “Play with AI Before It Plays Without You” talk for Women of Northern Colorado. The room needed a soundtrack — so I made one. Your browser does not support the audio element. Debugging the Future Created with Suno for “Standup Vibe Coding: Where Creativity Meets Code and Comedy.” A track that sounds exactly like what it feels like when your AI agent finally stops hallucinating. Your browser does not support the audio element. Sora 2’s Copyright Clash AI avatar created for the Voice and Video session at the October 2025 Marketing RMAIIG support group. Built to explore what generative video means for creative control and copyright — before the industry had answers. Your browser does not support the video element. CrysDOS Intro An AI-generated intro built for the same October 2025 Voice and Video session. Classic DOS aesthetic, very much on purpose. Your browser does not support the video element. Valentine’s Day 2026 Demo Clip Created for the February 2026 Marketing RMAIIG “How to Win Valentine’s Day” session. The audio is from the love album; the visuals were built with Runway and Veo 3 right after launch — more of an exploration than a production. Your browser does not support the video element. --- ## Writing & Essays Selected essays and articles on AI, go-to-market, marketing leadership, and women in tech, newest first. Some entries are the on-site introduction to a piece published in full on LinkedIn or elsewhere; the source link goes to the full version. ### I Was Going to Vibe Code It. My AI Talked Me Out of It. Source: https://crysblack.com/i-was-going-to-vibe-code-it-my-ai-talked-me-out-of-it/ · 2026-06-11 I walked into this problem ready to vibe code it. Seven platforms, seven data sources, one very chaotic 15-minute standup every morning. My instinct was Lovable, something fast, something I could spin up in an afternoon. Claude Cowork had a different idea. It told me it knew I liked to vibe code. And then it told me, gently but clearly, that a Google Sheet would be easier for the whole team to use. No app to log into. Already in everyone’s workflow. And by the way — have I heard of Google Apps Script? I had not. What followed was one of the most useful builds I have done in a long time. Not because the technology was impressive (though it was), but because the AI wasn’t just executing my request. It was advising me. It steered me toward the right tool before writing a single line of code. Then it wrote the code, built the diagnostic layer, and helped me find three data issues I would not have caught on my own. One of those catches led to a conversation with Propensity’s customer success team. They are making platform changes based on what we surfaced. That is not something I expected when I started a Google Sheet. The full case study lives here on the site if you want all the technical detail. The LinkedIn article is the thought leadership version — what this actually means for how we think about AI in modern marketing ops. Read the full article on LinkedIn → If you have been waiting to build the thing you keep manually reconciling every week, this one is for you. What would your war room track? --- ### Think Like a Director, Not a Developer Source: https://crysblack.com/think-like-a-director-not-a-developer/ · 2026-06-02 I handed a room full of go-to-market leaders a single prompt and a blank screen. Sixty seconds later, a fully playable Snake game existed. Arrow keys worked. Snake grew. Somebody died on the first move and the whole room lost it. Then nobody stopped at Snake. Within ten minutes, people who would never call themselves technical were shipping branded software and cackling. That is the moment I chase every time I teach AI. Because the game was never the point. The point is the shift. And once you feel it, you cannot unfeel it. Play the game that started it all at snake.crysblack.com, then come read why I always start with something useless on purpose. Read the full article on LinkedIn → --- ### The AI Story I Want to Tell More Often Source: https://crysblack.com/the-ai-story-i-want-to-tell-more-often/ · 2026-05-26 He’s 21. First real job. Cash register. And every transaction felt like a test he hadn’t studied for. On the drive home from a weekend in the mountains, I built him a practice game. Twenty minutes in the passenger seat, Lovable app open, my boyfriend driving and tossing in suggestions to make it harder and more fun. It took that long only because we kept adding things. cash-critter-practice.crysblack.com is the result. Try it, share it, steal the idea. But the bigger thing I want to talk about is this: the best AI applications aren’t always the ones with the biggest ROI. Sometimes they’re the ones where you look at someone you love and think, “I finally have the ability to actually help with that.” And then you just… do it. In twenty minutes. In a car. Our families, our communities, the people just starting out — they deserve our ingenuity too. I wrote about it on LinkedIn, including a dare I’m throwing at anyone who reads it. Read the full article on LinkedIn → --- ### The Harassment Tax: What Women Pay to Be Visible in AI Source: https://crysblack.com/the-harassment-tax-what-women-pay-to-be-visible-in-ai/ · 2026-04-27 A woman stops posting. She skips the panel. She keeps the AI experiment private. She decides the inbox is not worth it this time. That is the harassment tax. And most leaders are not even aware they are charging it. I have been watching this pattern for a while. When Reese Witherspoon told women on Instagram to learn AI and got torched for it, I could not stop thinking about what the backlash was actually about. Not the celebrity angle. The double bind it exposed. So I wrote about it for my Human Input column at Colorado AI News. The piece covers the gender gap data (it is not great), the mental spreadsheet women run before becoming visible, and why what looks like hesitation is often intelligence. It also includes two women I have enormous respect for: Susan Frew, AI keynote speaker and author of RECODED, and Melissa Reeve, founder of Hyperadaptive Solutions and author of Hyperadaptive. And it ends with five things leaders can actually do. Because “women need more confidence” is not the answer I am interested in giving. Read the full piece at Colorado AI News. --- ### What the Vibe Games Taught Me About Play, Personas, and Creativity Source: https://crysblack.com/what-the-vibe-games-taught-me-about-play-personas-and-creativity/ · 2025-07-25 Sometimes the best lessons about AI and creativity don’t come from a boardroom, they come from play. At a recent event called The Vibe Games, I jumped on stage to “vibe code” live in front of a room full of product leaders. The twist? I had to build personas and tell stories… with dad jokes. What happened surprised me and taught me something powerful about creativity in business. Key Takeaways 1. Play is a Learning Engine We don’t learn by waiting for the “perfect” budget or timeline. Tools like GPTs and no-code builders let us test, tweak, and create on the fly. That kind of experimentation feels like play but it’s also how breakthroughs happen. 2. Personas Unlock Perspective Prompting isn’t just technical; it’s about perspective. Using personas helped me (and the audience) see problems through different lenses, a skill every startup team needs when building for real users. 3. Community Fuels Creativity The best part wasn’t the dancing gopher (yes, there was one), it was the energy of the community. Events like these remind me that AI isn’t just about tools; it’s about people supporting, challenging, and inspiring each other. I vibe code to show that these tools aren’t reserved for engineers or prompt whisperers. They’re for anyone with an idea. When we treat AI as a partner in play, we move faster from “what if” to “look what we just built.” Curious about vibe coding, or want to see the full Caddyshack-inspired moment? Read my full LinkedIn article. --- ### How to Stay on Top of AI Without Burning Out Source: https://crysblack.com/how-to-stay-on-top-of-ai-without-burning-out/ · 2025-05-06 If you’re a founder or operator, you’ve probably felt it: the AI news cycle never stops. New tools, new launches, new hot takes every day. The truth is, you don’t need to keep up with everything. You just need a filter. Here’s how I build mine, and how you can too. 3–4 Key Takeaways (condensed from LinkedIn): - Follow the Right People, Not Everyone. Thoughtful leaders like Liza Adams, Andy Crestodina, Christopher Penn, and Ethan Mollick share practical, strategy-first insights instead of hype. - Curate Your Listening. I rely on podcasts like Marketing AI Institute’s show to distill what matters for marketers and operators without drowning in the technical weeds. - Make Newsletters Work for You. SmarterX and Almost Timely News are two examples that consistently translate breaking AI news into actionable context for business leaders. - Find Local (or Virtual) Communities. For me, groups like Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group and Women in AI Colorado keep me grounded and challenged. Wherever you are, there’s likely a peer community worth tapping into. The trick isn’t to consume more, it’s to curate better. Each month, I check in with my sources, spot the patterns, and ask one question: what does this mean for early-stage founders and marketing leaders? That filter keeps me focused on the signal, not the noise. Want the full list of sources and communities I rely on? Read my original LinkedIn article. --- ### From Idea to App: How I Built a TCO Calculator with Vibe Coding (No Dev Team Required) Source: https://crysblack.com/from-idea-to-app-how-i-built-a-tco-calculator-with-vibe-coding-no-dev-team-required/ · 2025-04-08 What if you could take a product idea and turn it into a working app without a dev team, a sprint plan, or a six-figure budget? That’s exactly what I did when I built a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator using a method called vibe coding treating an LLM as a creative partner, not just a tool. Here’s how I approached it, what I learned, and why it’s a game-changer for anyone who thinks they’re “not technical enough” to build. What is Vibe Coding? Vibe coding flips traditional development: you don’t start with frameworks or repos, you start with the experience you want. Through iterative prompts, you shape an app into existence. It forces clarity in plain language, and it makes building accessible to non-engineers. My 3-Window Build Process 1. Concept — Test Feasibility One short prompt (“Build me an ROI calculator…”) returned a working UI. Not perfect, but enough to prove the concept and show me what was possible. 2. Build — Define Requirements With a clearer idea, I specified layout, UX notes, and logic. The app expanded quickly — but the model also got tangled, forgetting earlier logic. Thread sprawl was real, and it became clear I needed a reset. 3. Final — Clean Slate, Clear Prompt Armed with lessons learned, I wrote a structured, plain-language spec: features, inputs/outputs, screenshots, UX rules. The LLM delivered an output shockingly close to my vision. With a few tweaks, the app was live. Why It Matters (Especially If You Don’t Code) This wasn’t about clever hacks. It was about solving a real problem without burning months or budgets. Vibe coding turned the LLM into a collaborator, a junior dev who could take business context and turn it into working syntax. For non-technical founders, marketers, and operators, this approach puts power back in your hands. Takeaways for First-Timers - Don’t try to do it all in one thread — reset often. - Let prototypes guide requirements; you’ll learn what you need by seeing it. - Treat the LLM like a junior dev: clear specs in, better results out. - When the thread breaks, start fresh with better instructions. What might have taken $25k and months of engineering effort now took me a few sessions, prompts, and adjustments. The lesson? We’ve never had more power to turn ideas into apps on our own terms. If you’ve been waiting to test your concept, this is your sign to just start. Want the full story including my prompts? Read the original article on LinkedIn. --- ### Embracing the AI Revolution in Marketing: A Glimpse into the Future Source: https://crysblack.com/embracing-the-ai-revolution-in-marketing-a-glimpse-into-the-future/ · 2024-02-01 Just read this insightful piece by McKinsey on the transformative potential of generative AI. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the future of productivity and innovation: The Economic Potential of Generative AI. In 2019, McKinsey predicted AI in sales and marketing could add $1.4-$2.6 trillion in business value with most of that coming from sales and marketing. In this article from June of last year, post launch of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, that number exploded to $2.6-$4.4 trillion annually. That’s staggering. In the world of marketing, AI is not just a buzzword; it’s a game-changer. Teams are already stretched thin and AI will augment all kinds of ways we do sales and marketing. Today, we’re seeing some of the most common and impactful uses of AI in content creation. Whether it’s blogs, social media posts, emails, or ads, AI is playing a pivotal role. The ability to generate personalized content at scale is nothing short of revolutionary. Personalization, powered by AI, allows us to create more relevant and engaging experiences for each customer, significantly enhancing the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. But AI’s magic doesn’t stop there. The automation of campaigns, testing, data synchronization, and workflows is streamlining our marketing processes like never before. These tools are not just about efficiency; they’re about enabling us to focus on what really matters – creativity and strategy. Speaking of strategy, my favorite use of AI in marketing is in the realms of strategy and analytics. From conducting win-loss reviews to predicting customer retention, from competitive analysis to ideation for Go-To-Market strategies and competitive positioning – AI is a powerful ally. It offers insights that were previously inaccessible, helping us make more informed decisions and stay ahead of the curve. Let’s not forget other emerging applications of AI in marketing, such as chatbots for customer service, voice search optimization, and image recognition for social media monitoring. These tools are further expanding the landscape of what’s possible in marketing. As I gear up for my talk at Elon University on AI and The Future of Work: Mastering New Realities in Your Career, it’s clear that AI is not just transforming how we work; it’s redefining the very essence of marketing strategies. The future is here, and it’s powered by AI. Register --- ### My Latest Podcast Appearance on “Content Strategies” – Insights into Building Aligned GTM Infrastructures Source: https://crysblack.com/my-latest-podcast-appearance-on-content-strategies-insights-into-building-aligned-gtm-infrastructures/ · 2023-12-27 I’m thrilled to share with you my recent experience as a guest on the “Content Strategies” podcast. In this episode, I had the opportunity to delve into a topic that’s close to my heart and crucial in today’s business landscape: building aligned go-to-market (GTM) infrastructures. A Glimpse into My Journey As many of you know, my background spans across technology, photography, and English, and it’s this diverse experience that has enriched my understanding of marketing in different contexts. Through my involvement with various startups and growth-oriented companies, I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges and successes that come with establishing an aligned GTM structure. Key Takeaways from the Episode In our discussion, I explored several critical aspects of GTM strategies: - The Importance of Aligned Goals: I emphasize the mantra, “First is aligned goals. If we don’t have aligned goals, we can’t succeed.” This sets the foundation for any successful GTM strategy. - Leadership’s Pivotal Role: I share insights on how CEOs and other top executives play a key role in creating and maintaining this alignment. - Transparency and Quality Content: We discuss how these elements are crucial in empowering sales teams and enhancing customer engagement. A Data-Driven Perspective I also touched upon the significance of tracking ROI in GTM structures. By utilizing dashboards and reports that track engagement and intent data, teams can better assess their marketing and sales strategies’ effectiveness, allowing for timely and effective adjustments. --- ### Joining the GTM Ambassadors: A New Chapter in Shaping the Future of Marketing Source: https://crysblack.com/joining-the-gtm-ambassadors-a-new-chapter-in-shaping-the-future-of-marketing/ · 2023-07-11 I’m thrilled to announce that I have joined the ranks of the GTM Ambassadors, an esteemed collective of go-to-market leaders initiated by GTM Partners. This group isn’t about promoting a single technology or brand—it’s about championing a vital shift in perspective. We’re advocating for a movement that recognizes a fundamental truth: your challenges aren’t isolated to marketing, sales, customer service, or product alone—they reflect a broader go-to-market problem. In the early days of the World Wide Web, I found myself programming at Virginia Tech, an experience that unknowingly laid the foundation for my journey ahead. This technical foundation, coupled with a move to Silicon Valley and a dive into the world of marketing at an early-stage startup, set the stage for my diverse, fulfilling career in marketing technology. My subsequent roles have provided me with invaluable experience and insight. As VP of Marketing at Origin AI, I’m currently spearheading marketing strategies for a pioneering company transforming WiFi signals into innovative WiFi Sensing technology. Prior roles at Aizon, Saama Technologies, and APTARE have allowed me to develop effective marketing analytics infrastructure, drive transitions to respected SaaS platforms, and lead successful rebranding and global expansion initiatives. These experiences have fortified my belief in the GTM movement. I’ve seen first-hand how a comprehensive and coordinated go-to-market strategy can dramatically impact a company’s success, transcending the traditional silos of marketing, sales, customer service, and product development. This new role as a GTM Ambassador offers me an exciting opportunity to share the best practices I’ve learned, contribute to the GTM movement, and help other marketers navigate the ever-changing terrain of the marketing world. I believe that GTM Partners brings us back to a time when marketers had a sharper, more pertinent focus—a focus that has often been blurred in the wake of acquisitions and the growth of larger analyst communities. I’m delighted to stand alongside my fellow GTM Ambassadors, all of us unified by a commitment to illuminate and overcome the challenges inherent in go-to-market strategies. Please join us in this journey, follow our insights, and become part of the future of the GTM movement. In the words of the GTM Partners founder, “You don’t have a marketing problem. You don’t have a sales problem. You don’t have a CS problem. You don’t have a product problem. What you have is a go-to-market problem.” And together, we are here to solve it. --- ### Harnessing ChatGPT: Transforming B2B Marketing Practices Source: https://crysblack.com/harnessing-chatgpt-transforming-b2b-marketing-practices/ · 2023-06-20 Are you intrigued by the buzz around AI in the marketing world but unsure where to start? Are you keen on understanding how AI can revolutionize B2B marketing, and more specifically, how you can leverage it in your own strategies? I’ve just published an insightful new blog post with the folks at CampaignStars that explores the incredible potential of ChatGPT, one of the leading AI language models. It’s no secret that AI can streamline our operations, boost productivity, and even outperform humans in specific tasks. But how can you translate these benefits into tangible marketing outcomes? In this post, we dive into five key applications of ChatGPT in B2B marketing: from enhancing customer interaction to aiding in sales enablement. We delve into practical examples, share tips for effective interaction with the AI, and even provide prompt ideas to help you get started. Whether you’re a seasoned B2B marketer or you’re just getting started with AI, our latest post is a must-read. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to elevate your marketing strategies with AI. Dive in now to uncover the potential of AI for B2B marketing. --- ### Steal These Prompts! Source: https://crysblack.com/steal-these-prompts/ · 2023-04-05 Excited to join Loren Greiff for her LinkedIn Live session on using prompts and ChatGPT to accelerate your job hunt content. Loren’s sessions are jam packed and fast paced! Take a look at the on-demand recording! https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7048734242477932544/ --- ### 5 Steps Needed to Create Great Tech Products Source: https://crysblack.com/5-steps-needed-to-create-great-tech-products/ · 2023-03-14 I’m thrilled to have been featured in The Product Manager in their Inspirational Women Leaders of Tech series, where I shared my insights on the 5 Steps Needed to Create Great Tech Products. I believe that building tech products that people love requires a deep understanding of people as well as the ability to disrupt ourselves regularly. Thanks, Hannah, for a wonderful discussion! Take a look at the video which was created in conjunction with the article. Authority Magazine 5 Things Video --- ### Expanding Your Existing Customers Source: https://crysblack.com/expanding-your-existing-customers/ · 2023-03-09 I was so excited to join Field Marketing Association for their workshop on, “Becoming Revenue Champions: Expanding Your Existing Customers.” I got to spend time with Palo Alto Networks and Spire to discuss how marketing helps retain and expand existing customers. As marketing departments are shrinking and budgets are tight, there is some practical advice from great industry leaders! Field Marketing Association – Becoming Revenue Champions Expanding Your Existing Customers --- ### What’s Your Tech Stack? Source: https://crysblack.com/whats-your-tech-stack/ · 2023-03-06 I always appreciate the Peak Community and the great team there and was honored to participate in their panel on, “What’s Your Tech Stack” recently. Take a look as I join Caroline Lobos to discuss marketing tech stacks and how they differ between large companies and earlier stage startups. In this panel, we discussed the marketing tech stack and why certain decisions were made. I approached this panel as a marketing advisor for seed-stage startups, discussed how small companies can have sophistication even with a small budget and limited tech stack. I focused on building the foundation for marketing, sales, and customer success and used my most recent start-up experience to reinforce what we can expect and what we can’t from building the foundational elements of a tech stack, especially in account-based marketing. --- ### First Place for Adaptic Health Source: https://crysblack.com/first-place-for-adaptic-health/ · 2022-10-28 I’m so excited for Adaptic Health and CEO, Luke Stewart, for his awesome presentation that brought Adaptic 1st Place in BMTT’s Pitch Competition. They were among great company of other entrepreneurs trying to overcome some of the industry’s biggest challenges. If you don’t know Adaptic Health yet, check out their web site! --- ### Building for the Win – How and when to grow your Marketing team Source: https://crysblack.com/building-for-the-win-how-and-when-to-grow-your-marketing-team/ · 2022-06-03 So excited to join the Peak Community to be a panelist on this webinar. Depending upon your company type (seed, series A-E/IPO), building out your team at each stage poses its on benefits and challenges. Having the right team members, as well as position prioritization, can make or break the success of your team – and the company’s bottom line. I joined Gaurav Bhatia, CMO at PenFed, Lisa Sharapata, CMO at BoostUp.ai, and Mudassar Malik, Vice President of Marketing at mobilLIVE Inc., as we took a look at: – Factors that drive team growth – How to prioritize roles you should fill, and at what stage – Team build do’s and don’ts --- ### Women Have Always Been Powerful Source: https://crysblack.com/women-have-always-been-powerful/ · 2022-02-01 I’m excited to have been selected to join what might be the most powerful network of women in the country. Chief is a private network built to drive more women into positions of power and keep them there. Chief is the only organization specifically designed for senior women leaders to strengthen their leadership journey, cross-pollinate ideas across industries, and effect change from the top-down. I’m humbled and honored to be included with this amazing group of women. --- ### Optimize Yield though Data Centralization and Process Visibility Source: https://crysblack.com/optimize-yield-though-data-centralization-and-process-visibility/ · 2021-03-16 So excited to present with Honeywell’s Tiffany Barnes for this joint webinar. In the increasingly complex world of pharma manufacturing, data is everything, but many are still operating in data silos. Analyzing data from disparate sources along the manufacturing line, even in GxP environments, can provide insights that help improve overall process efficiency. Join this webinar to learn how breaking data silos and using batch visualization technologies can help you improve yield, reduce release cycle times, and bring product to the market faster. Watch the webinar on demand! Link will take you to Pharma Manufacturing’s website who is hosting this content. --- ### AI IRL Podcast Episode 20: Can AI Save Billions in Clinical Research Costs? Source: https://crysblack.com/ai-irl-podcast-episode-20-can-ai-save-billions-in-clinical-research-costs/ · 2019-05-20 So excited to sit down with Ryan Lester on his AI In Real Life podcast to provide some real world context on where AI is helping the clinical development life cycle. There is a lot of great things happening in AI right now and I’m so excited to share what Saama is doing to help pharma bring drugs to market more quickly using the latest in technology. UPDATE: AI IRL is no longer active so I have copied the content here. The original can be found on the Way Back Machine. Here is the recording. AI IRL PODCAST EPISODE 20: CAN AI SAVE BILLIONS IN CLINICAL RESEARCH COSTS? When the cost of drug development has increased a few hundred fold, how do you find a way to cut expenses and time? AI to the rescue. AI is poised to make a major change in the economics of medical research, according to Crystal Black, Director of Marketing Programs for Saama Technologies, a unified, AI-enabled clinical data analytics platform. “We’re geared toward the mission of helping pharma companies save lives faster. We believe that trends, data, and analytics can help with that.” Saama’s primary purpose is to work with life sciences and pharma companies to deliver impactful outcomes from complex data as well as machine-augmented, AI-enabled analytics to drive new types of user experiences. These experiences include conversational interfaces similar to Siri that can do a deep data dive. The Natural Language Understanding (NLU) engines allow users to quickly find information without having to go through mountains of data tables and dashboards. This requires bringing in data from different areas and ensure it’s harmonized which can be extremely difficult.   But AI can take the data in Excel files with pivot tables and produce actionable insights in 15 minutes instead of 15 days of data crunching in a spreadsheet. Bringing Down Drug Costs “Drug development costs are skyrocketing. Just a few decades ago, the cost to run a clinical trial was $30 million. Today it’s more like $3 billion. It’s crazy.” Costs are rising in part due to inefficiencies in how the industry is processing the data. “The data issues fall into a couple of areas,” said Black. “Too much data, as well as not enough data.” The tonnage of data is mind-boggling: - Patient monitoring devices produce over 86,000 readings per day. - By 2025, 70% of clinical trial participants will be using wearable technology, creating even more data. - There are 2 billion data points in a typical phase two trial that runs for six months with a hundred patients. That equals 200 billion data points. On the “too little data” side, 80% of healthcare data is unstructured. That unstructured data goes untapped and that creates delays within patient recruitment, site inefficiencies, issues with patient engagement, and retention. These can add years to a trial. Saama is trying to help pharma companies tease out the wisdom that’s sitting in biomedical texts and medical notes. This is an area where AI is particularly helpful. Using NLU, the AI parses all of that unstructured data and formats it into structured data that can be analyzed and centralized where researchers can start to find meaning. Properly organizing the information can help researchers quickly find the right principal investigator and the right patients for clinical trials. Finally, you can also use collective insights from historical trials to modify current and future protocol designs. These insights from past field trials can be useful to avoid repeating errors, omissions, or even safety concerns. --- ### How AI Is Helping Market Products That Ultimately Save Lives Source: https://crysblack.com/how-ai-is-helping-market-products-that-ultimately-save-lives/ · 2018-11-05 So honored to have joined MRP as a guest on their latest episode in our Artificial Intelligence for B2B Marketing podcast. Discussing what it means to be using NLU (Natural Language Understanding) to capture data in the language of nurses and doctors, we then look to turning that data into usable analytics. https://www.mrpfd.com/resources/how-ai-is-helping-market-products-that-ultimately-save-lives/ --- ## Contact Let’s Connect Whether you’re exploring fractional CMO support, AI enablement for your team, or just want to talk strategy — I’d love to hear from you. Fill out the form below and I’ll get back to you within one business day. Prefer email? crys@crysblack.com - Email: crys@crysblack.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalblack/ - Book time: https://app.usemotion.com/meet/crys-black/crys-speaks