When AI and data come together, marketing initiatives for a business can suddenly become more powerful.

Snowflake’s Mike Gannon and Denise Persson talk with theCUBE about marketing initiatives during Snowflake Summit.

This has been the experience of Denise Persson (pictured, right), a nine-year veteran of Snowflake Inc., who is the company’s chief marketing officer. Persson has found that AI can transform campaigns through personalized approaches and a finely-honed message.

“Data was always my challenge in marketing,” she said. “Before, I had to go knock on IT’s door to get the data I needed. Now I have the data I need in real time, all the time. Marketing has always been about relevance and timing, and AI and data are really helping you with both today.”

Persson spoke with theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Dave Vellante at Snowflake Summit, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. She was joined by Mike Gannon (left), chief revenue officer of Snowflake, and they discussed Snowflake’s marketing initiatives and channel strategies. (* Disclosure below.)

Building relationships for marketing initiatives

In addition to leveraging AI for Snowflake’s marketing efforts, the company has been focused on building relationships with channel partners to help customers drive AI strategies. This will require a critical level of integration, as Gannon noted.

“We are leaning in heavily on the channel right now … we’re going to lean in with the ecosystem,” he said. “We’re doing that because it’s not just a Snowflake world. They are dependent on big partners in that ecosystem. We have to make sure we’re completely integrated with them. We’re going to be making big investments to make sure everyone’s talking the Snowflake language, and we’re making that readily available from a distribution perspective.”

A key element surrounding Snowflake’s marketing and channel strategies is advancing workforce skills so that AI becomes an ingrained part of every customer’s business. Snowflake has backed that effort with an investment of its own money to train and certify students and business professionals in high-growth and emerging markets.

“Just a few months ago, we announced that we’re making a $20 million investment in really helping upskill the workforce when it comes to AI,” Persson said. “When we talk to our customers today, especially in terms of their AI strategies, most of them have a very clear vision of what they want to do. They know that the technology is here today as well to do that, but they don’t have the skill sets internally.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Snowflake Summit:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Snowflake Summit. Neither Snowflake Inc., the primary sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE