Champion’s Spotlight

Demandbase: Can you share a bit about Deep Instinct and any unique challenges you have running an ABM program there?

Bryant Pulecio: Deep Instinct is in the cybersecurity space and marketing to this buyer category has its challenges. Vendors often make highly definitive claims like, “We stop breaches, period,” and prospects are watchful of hyperbole. How can you stand out when you actually have superior technology? It’s clear to us that when you bring next-gen tech to the market, your first order of business is to “unteach” clients what they have held to be true until now. Therefore, our content for top-of-funnel accounts must be much more educational in nature. The arrival of ChatGPT on the public stage has made these conversations easier. Our proprietary technology is Deep Learning-based, like many of the generative AI tools that have come out recently. Prior to all the buzz, it was challenging to explain the difference between Machine Learning and Deep Learning without sounding like science fiction.

Demandbase: How did you hear about Demandbase? Was your company already using ABM technology when you came on board, or did you help to bring in the technology?

Bryant Pulecio: At my previous company, we were heavy users of Engagio and initially used AdRoll for account-based ads, but later moved to Demandbase Classic. When Demandbase acquired Engagio, we quickly became early users of DemandBase One. 

When I joined Deep Instinct, we did a comprehensive bake-off, and Demandbase won. Our desire for speed-to-value led to a rapid, 5-week rollout, followed by a very iterative, crawl-walk-run approach. We wanted to modernize our ABM motion, so we were pushing the boundaries of the tool. For example, in addition to leveraging Demandbase Intent, we ingested several other intent data feeds to generate as much intelligence as possible when sorting accounts into their journey stages.

Demandbase: Why did you apply to be a Demandbase Champion?

Bryant Pulecio: We did some cool things with our implementation of Demandbase and I want to share what we learned. I also want to learn from the other Champions and see where we can improve our setup.

Demandbase: What have been the highlights of your career? 

Bryant Pulecio: Throughout my career, I’ve focused on digital marketing, launching many brands and websites, but what I’m most proud of is my work at Deep Instinct. We were tasked to build a high-performing, modern, intent-driven ABM engine, and we did it! DemandBase’s recognition of our work in a case study was the cherry on top.

Demandbase: What do you like most about your current role?

Bryant Pulecio: What excites me most about my current role is the ability to not only oversee web, but also Digital Marketing and the MarTech stack. I started out on the web side, but MarTech has long been a secondary passion of mine.It’s been great to apply my two areas of expertise into a single role.

Demandbase: Where do you want to grow from here? 

Bryant Pulecio: There’s always more to learn! I want to explore Buying Group AI when it’s available. Also, as we go from single to multi-product, we want to evolve our implementation to support that.

Demandbase: Any advice for others who aspire to be an ABM superstar? 

Bryant Pulecio: Find someone smart to learn from, start small, and work with those who will want to work with you. Once other sellers see the success you are having, they’ll want some of that, too.

Demandbase: What interests do you have outside of work? What do you do to reduce stress?

Bryant Pulecio: My wife and I both enjoy fantasy football and are in a league with many friends. We watch 49ers football games as a family, and I coach my son’s flag football league—so I guess there’s a pattern there (laughs).

Demandbase: Tell us something unique and unexpected about you.

Bryant Pulecio: I used to race cars when I was younger.

Demandbase: What is your superpower? What aspect of your personality helps you be most successful in your job?

Bryant Pulecio: The Web and MarTech spaces move fast, so what has served me best is being a fast learner. I absorb knowledge and new technology like a sponge.

Demandbase: In your Champions application, you shared quite a bit about your ABM program, your success, and how Demandbase is helping you. Is there anything you want to add or highlight? 

Bryant Pulecio: It takes a village! Our accomplishments are shared across the marketing team here at Deep Instinct, including our performance marketing agency (Kahena Digital).