#818: Informatica's CMO Jim Kruger on data as the foundation for innovation

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

The Agile Brand

Business, Marketing

4.9 • 113 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the biggest barrier to your AI-powered future isn't the algorithm, but the state of your data from five years ago? Agility requires more than just fast decision-making; it demands a foundational trust in the data that fuels those decisions. It’s about having the right information, accessible and reliable, to pivot not just your campaigns, but your entire strategy. Today, we're going to talk about the often-overlooked foundation of marketing agility and AI innovation: the data infrastructure itself. We’ll explore how the role of the CMO is shifting from a master of messaging to a master of data strategy, and what it takes to lead a marketing organization when the quality of your data directly determines the success of your most ambitious technology investments. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jim Kruger, CMO at Informatica. About Jim Kruger Jim currently serves as the Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer at Informatica. He has 20+ years of B2B and B2C marketing experience in the areas of cloud, SaaS, services, and hardware solutions. Jim is a results-oriented, high-integrity leader with strong business acumen and an inclusive team-building vision. His top focus as a leader is to drive accountability and make every team member feel valued for their contribution.At Informatica, he leads the global marketing organization with the charter to accelerate cloud growth, expand into new markets and industry verticals, and lead the company's brand momentum. Jim Kruger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkruger1/ Resources Informatica: https://www.informatica.com Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Agile Brand
0:02.3	Welcome to Season 8 of the Agile Brand podcast.
0:10.1	This season we're going all in on expert mode
0:12.7	MARTEC, AI, and customer experience, talking with the people and
0:16.8	platforms behind the brands you know and love.
0:19.4	I'm Greg Kilstrom, your host, and I help Fortune 1000 companies make sense of
0:23.8	Martec, AI, and marketing ops.
0:26.6	Hit subscribe or follow to make sure you always get the latest episodes and leave us a rating
0:30.8	so others can find us as well.
0:32.8	And make sure you check out our sponsor, Tech Systems, an industry leader in full-stack
0:36.8	technology services, talent services, and real leader in full-stack technology services,
0:38.4	talent services, and real-world application. For more information, go to teK-systems.com. Now let's dive in.
0:48.9	What if the biggest barrier to your AI-powered future isn't the algorithm, but the state of your
0:54.1	data from five
0:55.0	years ago. Agility requires more than just fast decision-making. It demands a foundational
1:00.3	trust in the data that fuels those decisions. It's about having the right information,
1:05.1	accessible and reliable, to pivot not just your campaigns, but your entire strategy.
1:10.1	Today we're going to talk about the often overlooked foundation of marketing agility and AI innovation,
1:15.6	the data infrastructure itself.
1:17.6	We're going to explore how the role of the CMO is shifting from a master of messaging to a master of data strategy
1:23.6	and what it takes to lead a marketing organization when the quality of your data directly determines the success of your most ambitious technology investments.
1:32.2	Tell me, discuss this topic.
	...

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