Executive Guidance

Offering insights from Toptal’s key industry and consulting executives, the Executive Guidance blog is a hub for in-depth analysis of trends, strategies, and technologies that can help business leaders gain a competitive edge.

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How AWS Is Helping Enterprises Build, Scale, and Innovate With AI

Discover how AWS’s Head of Partner Solutions Architecture, Divyesh Shah, is helping enterprises scale responsibly and innovate faster through the power of cloud and AI. In this episode of the Executive Guidance podcast, Shah joins Toptal’s Cloud Services Practice Lead, TJ Urglavitch, to discuss how AWS builds trust, empowers collaboration, and drives transformation across industries.

41-minute episodeLearn More
TJ Urglavitch

TJ Urglavitch

This episode’s host, TJ Urglavitch, has over a decade of leadership experience in the hosting and cloud services industry. He helps organizations navigate the complexities of cloud computing adoption and transformation, ensuring scalable and efficient technology solutions.

Turning Personalization Into Performance: Lessons From Movable Ink

Discover how Movable Ink’s VP of Growth Marketing, Justin Keller, is redefining personalization at scale by blending creative automation, data-driven storytelling, and AI innovation. In this episode of the Executive Guidance podcast, Keller joins Toptal’s Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead, Jeff Gangemi, to discuss how brands can transform data into meaningful, one-to-one customer experiences that drive loyalty and growth.

43-minute episodeLearn More
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

This episode’s host, Jeff Gangemi, holds an MBA from Cornell University. He has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients.

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AI and the Future of B2B Marketing: Insights from Chili Piper’s Co-founder

Learn how Chili Piper’s Co-founder and Co-CEO, Alina Vandenberghe, balances culture and innovation in the AI era. In this episode of the Executive Guidance podcast, she shares insights on leadership, authenticity, and embedding AI into marketing.

42-minute episodeLearn More
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

This episode’s host, Jeff Gangemi, holds an MBA from Cornell University. He has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients.

Personalization at Scale: How AI Will Rewrite the Marketing Playbook

Jon Miller has spent his career building category-defining marketing platforms. Now, as co-founder and CEO of a stealth AI startup, he shares why the old marketing automation playbook is broken—and how AI will drive personalization at scale.

39-minute episodeLearn More
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

This episode’s host, Jeff Gangemi, holds an MBA from Cornell University. He has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients.

Business Model Innovation: Driving Resilience When Disruption Is the Default

Toptal’s Senior Client Solutions Advisor explores how leading companies like SAS and ServiceNow successfully updated their business models—and shares advice for other organizations looking to do the same.

11-minute readContinue Reading
Michael Valocchi

Michael Valocchi

Michael is the Senior Client Solutions Advisor at Toptal, providing strategic business advice to key clients. He has designed and directed management consulting practices at IBM, PwC, and, most recently, Cognizant, where he was head of consulting for the Americas and advised leaders across sectors, including telecommunications, media, and energy and utilities. Michael holds a BS in accounting from St. Joseph’s University and has completed advanced management programs at Harvard, Columbia, and Emory universities. He also serves as a guest lecturer at Columbia University and Baruch College.

Planning for Supply Chain Uncertainty: A New Framework to Guide Strategic Action in Manufacturing

Unpredictability has become the norm in manufacturing supply chains. Use this diagnostic framework to evaluate structural risk and prioritize strategic actions that build lasting resilience.

11-minute readContinue Reading
Michael Valocchi

Michael Valocchi

Michael is the Senior Client Solutions Advisor at Toptal, providing strategic business advice to key clients. He has designed and directed management consulting practices at IBM, PwC, and, most recently, Cognizant, where he was head of consulting for the Americas and advised leaders across sectors, including telecommunications, media, and energy and utilities. Michael holds a BS in accounting from St. Joseph’s University and has completed advanced management programs at Harvard, Columbia, and Emory universities. He also serves as a guest lecturer at Columbia University and Baruch College.

Who Owns the QSR Customer? Competing for Loyalty in a Platform-driven Market

As third-party platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats capture more of the restaurant market, quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are losing direct customer relationships. Two industry leaders discuss how to partner with a food-delivery app to strengthen brand loyalty and increase sales.

6-minute readContinue Reading
Chris Daniel

Chris Daniel

Chris is the GM of Consumer Products and Services at Toptal. A seasoned executive who has held leadership roles in technology startups and global consultancies like EY, Nielsen, and Capgemini, Chris has built innovative partnerships with Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure. Chris has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and math from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s in physics from Illinois State University.

How a Fractional CMO Can Accelerate Growth for Your B2B SaaS Company

Business-to-business SaaS companies are turning to part-time CMOs to boost growth while cutting costs. This advice from successful founders and CMOs will help your organization do the same.

13-minute readContinue Reading
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

Jeff is the Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead at Toptal. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from Cornell University with an emphasis in leadership and innovation. Jeff has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients. Before joining Toptal, he held senior management roles at Accenture Song, Material, and Telus International.

The CMO’s Guide to Agile Marketing Transformation: Driving Performance With Limited Resources

Forward-thinking marketing executives are adopting Agile principles to boost speed, collaboration, and performance. Two Toptal Marketing Agency leaders share the key components of Agile marketing and how your team can implement them.

9-minute readContinue Reading
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

Jeff is the Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead at Toptal. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from Cornell University with an emphasis in leadership and innovation. Jeff has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients. Before joining Toptal, he held senior management roles at Accenture Song, Material, and Telus International.

The Adaptive Talent Imperative: How CPG and Retail Companies Can Transform With Cross-functional Experts

The biggest obstacle consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail companies face isn’t technology or capital. It’s finding talent that can bridge the gap between business strategy and technical execution in real time.

6-minute readContinue Reading
Chris Daniel

Chris Daniel

Chris is the GM of Consumer Products and Services at Toptal. A seasoned executive at the intersection of retail, consumer, and technology, he has held leadership roles in technology startups, global consultancies like EY, Nielsen, and Capgemini, and built innovative partnerships with industry leaders like Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure. Chris has a BS in engineering and math from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BS in physics from Illinois State University.

The Executive’s Guide to Using an SEO Audit for Strategic Growth

An SEO audit based on executive input can set your company up for sustainable growth and offer resilience in a volatile search landscape.

11-minute readContinue Reading
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

Jeff is the Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead at Toptal. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from Cornell University with an emphasis in leadership and innovation. Jeff has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients. Before joining Toptal, he held senior management roles at Accenture Song, Material, and Telus International.

The Ideal Marketing Agency Structure: Key Roles for Maximum Growth

Toptal parsed key hiring data to discover today’s most in-demand marketing agency roles and skill sets. Use the knowledge to inform your agency’s structure and recruit the bench of freelancers you need to grow your business.

7-minute readContinue Reading
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

Jeff is the Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead at Toptal. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from Cornell University with an emphasis in leadership and innovation. Jeff has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients. Before joining Toptal, he held senior management roles at Accenture Song, Material, and Telus International.

Two Paths to AI Innovation: Claude 3 on AWS vs. ChatGPT on Azure

Claude 3’s integration with AWS infrastructure is reshaping enterprise AI adoption and challenging OpenAI’s market dominance. Here’s what business leaders need to know as they evaluate their cloud and AI strategies.

12-minute readContinue Reading
TJ Urglavitch

TJ Urglavitch

TJ is the Cloud Services Practice Lead at Toptal. He has more than a decade of leadership experience in the hosting and cloud services industry and guides clients through the complexities of cloud computing adoption and transformation.

The Human Side of Cybersecurity: Lessons From Yahoo’s Director of Security GRC

As organizations face growing cyber risk and regulatory pressure, security leaders are being asked to do more than protect systems: They must enable the business. In this episode of the Executive Guidance podcast, Steven Asifo, Director of Security GRC at Yahoo, joins Zohra Ibrahimi, Toptal’s Information Security Practice Lead, to discuss how clarity, communication, and culture are redefining modern security leadership.

41-minute episodeLearn More
Zohra Ibrahimi

Zohra Ibrahimi

This episode’s host, Zohra Ibrahimi, is the Information Security Practice Lead at Toptal. Zohra has over 15 years of experience leading cybersecurity, risk, and compliance initiatives across Fortune 500 companies and highly regulated industries, helping organizations align security strategy with business objectives.

Redefining Go-to-Market Strategy With Focused Execution: Lessons from Pavilion CEO Sam Jacobs

Discover how Pavilion CEO Sam Jacobs is helping thousands of GTM executives redefine success through community, education, and principle-led leadership. In this episode of the Executive Guidance podcast, Jacobs joins Jeff Gangemi, Toptal’s Growth and Digital Marketing Practice Lead, to discuss the challenges of modern go-to-market leadership—and how clarity, values, and resilience drive sustainable growth.

41-minute episodeLearn More
Jeff Gangemi

Jeff Gangemi

This episode’s host, Jeff Gangemi, holds an MBA from Cornell University. He has spent the past 15 years building demand generation, content marketing, and digital programs that drive meaningful transformation and growth for both internal teams and external clients.

Cloud Cost Optimization: A Strategic Framework to Lower Costs and Increase Efficiency

Many companies overpay for cloud services. These cloud cost optimization techniques will help you negotiate favorable terms and discounts with your cloud provider and maximize efficiency.

7-minute readContinue Reading
TJ Urglavitch

TJ Urglavitch

TJ has more than a decade of leadership experience in the hosting and cloud services industry and guides clients through the complexities of cloud computing adoption and transformation. He holds a degree in accounting from Delaware County Community College and accreditations for both Scrum and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

3 Emerging AI Security Practices for Proactive Cyber Defense

Implementing AI can lead to significant new risks for organizations. Two information security leaders explain how improving governance, loss prevention, and monitoring can help CISOs strengthen their defenses.

7-minute readContinue Reading
Michael Figueroa

Michael Figueroa

Michael is a seasoned information security leader with experience at the Advanced Cyber Security Center and Toptal. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in high-tech crime investigations from George Washington University.

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