Archives: Episode

AI adoption requires assessment beyond efficiency to unlock true business growth.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Steve Mast, Co-founder and Partner at Twenty44, an advisory firm helping businesses navigate and adopt AI. They discuss how organizations can assess their AI readiness through four key areas: knowledge levels, understanding limitations, selecting appropriate applications, and establishing ethical guidelines.

Mast shares his digital transformation strategy for implementing AI solutions, explaining how many organizations are stuck in what he calls the “wait-wow” cycle—where they experiment with AI but fail to gain traction. Through this digital transformation journey, they explore why many businesses, especially large enterprises, struggle with adoption rates hovering around 25% in the US and even lower in Canada, despite the technology’s transformative potential for digital innovation. “The real potential of AI is you start to unlock growth and that’s where we start to grow and create productivity inside of organizations,” Mast explains. “But we’re stuck in this idea of efficiency—doing my dishes, right? Those are very important things, but really the unlock or the real opportunity is when we meet this growth opportunity.”

McKinney and Mast also discuss the leadership requirements for successful AI implementation, examining how individual initiative is often more important than top-down directives. The conversation showcases Mast as a digital transformation leader who emphasizes why marketers and HR professionals should take ownership in AI adoption rather than leaving it solely to IT departments. Mast highlights the importance of involving teams in identifying AI opportunities within existing workflows while maintaining ethical standards.

Sponsors:

Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Unlocking authentic frontline worker feedback drives effective digital transformation and risk prevention in manufacturing industries.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Vivek Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of TeamForce AI, and Cecil Puvathingal, Vice President of Sales and Operations at QuestionPro. They discuss how creating psychologically safe environments for frontline workers can transform safety outcomes while addressing the challenge of gathering honest feedback from the 80% of the global workforce who don’t sit behind computers.

Both Puvathingal and Kumar share their digital transformation strategies for implementing frontline feedback solutions through automation integration and cross-team collaboration. “The number one problem for us is never the employees using our system,” Kumar explains. “The challenge is sometimes employer readiness around saying, wait, why do I want that?”

They explore the partnership between TeamForce AI and QuestionPro, highlighting a powerful digital transformation case study where a manufacturing company reduced safety incidents to zero by implementing a worker-suggested solution—filming family members discussing the importance of their loved ones returning home safely. The conversation demonstrates how digital innovation breaks down silos between management and frontline workers, offering practical frameworks for leaders to capture critical insights without disrupting workflow while driving improved safety outcomes.

Sponsors:

Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation’s 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000.

Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access.

For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/

Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Career development creates competitive advantages through effective talent management strategies.

Transform your market research into visuals that drive action.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Vashte Brilliant, founder of Slidedesignr, about transforming analytical insights into visually compelling presentations. They discuss how researchers frequently focus on meeting deadlines and checking boxes rather than conveying actionable insights that address the fundamental business questions that prompted the research.

Brilliant shares her journey from mechanical engineer to market research professional to presentation design expert by identifying a critical gap in the research process. Through her work with hundreds of insights professionals across organizations of all sizes, she outlines her five-step framework for creating powerful presentations: adopting an expert mindset, understanding the audience, creating a clear big picture from multiple data sources, visual writing that chunks information strategically, and finally implementing a beautiful design that underscores the strategic thinking. “The deliverable is that artifact. It’s the thing that lives on and captures all of your smart thinking [and] all of your hard work,” Brilliant explains. “People are going to be looking at that thing months later, even hopefully years later, and it’s the thing that everyone leaves until last.”

McKinney and Brilliant explore how poorly designed presentations can undermine a research firm’s credibility and sales process, while thoughtful, clear visual communication reinforces authority and differentiates the brand in a crowded marketplace. The conversation highlights how the shift to digital delivery has raised the stakes for creating memorable, impactful deliverables that stand out amid increasing digital noise, revealing that following a b2b marketing strategy framework for creating these deliverables actually reduces work and stress compared to last-minute approaches.

Sponsors:
Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Ever feel like your marketing plan is just… meh? You’ve got the pieces, but are they really working together?

We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move?

Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going.

Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Career development creates competitive advantages through effective talent management strategies.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Abhijit Bhaduri, an authoritative voice on talent management and social media influencer with nearly one million followers. They discuss how organizations that invest in career development gain a tangible edge in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, with findings from LinkedIn’s 2025 workplace learning report highlighting this connection.

Bhaduri, former General Manager of Global Leadership and Development for Microsoft, shares insights on how proper talent management impacts the sales team structure and organizational success. The conversation explores how career development is a retention tool, particularly for sales development professionals who build critical tacit knowledge and customer relationships. They examine the connection between b2b networking capability, personal branding, and career advancement in the AI economy. “Great organizations are built on great careers,” Bhaduri explains. “The businesses which are winning in the marketplace are also the ones which have invested heavily in career development.”

McKinney and Bhaduri also discuss his book, Career 3.0, which outlines six essential skills for thriving in today’s economy: learning, teaching, brand-building, storytelling, network navigation, and managing one’s career like a venture capitalist. The discussion emphasizes how organizations can foster deeper expertise through what Bhaduri calls the “three E’s”: education, exposure, and experience – creating mutually beneficial growth for companies and professionals interested in how to move beyond simply improving their social selling index on LinkedIn and instead trulty experience digital transformation with postitive career implications.

Sponsors:
Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Ever feel like your marketing plan is just… meh? You’ve got the pieces, but are they really working together?

We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move?

Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going.

Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance.

Data quality transforms business decisions from guesswork to strategic success.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Guy Solomon, Dooblo‘s CEO, about data quality’s fundamental role in digital transformation strategy. They explore how the quality of data collection directly impacts decision-making across global organizations, from major corporations to aid organizations working in emerging markets.

With over 20 years of experience, Solomon shares his digital transformation journey, explaining how the traditional market research pyramid builds from data collection through reporting and insights to final decisions. Through this digital transformation case study, they examine the challenges of digital surveys in emerging markets, including infrastructure limitations, internet literacy barriers, and the critical importance of maintaining methodological rigor across different data collection modes. “If I’m basing all of my insights and reporting on data, half of it is true,” Solomon explains. “What’s the probability of my decision at the top to be successful?” 

McKinney and Solomon discuss how digital transformation trends in survey methodology must balance efficiency with accuracy, exploring how AI and multimode survey capabilities can enhance data quality while maintaining the human element in data collection. Their conversation highlights real-world examples of how proper data collection transforms decision-making across industries, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right tools and methodologies for different global contexts. One of these tools is Dooblo’s SurveyToGo and you can learn more about how it is an invaluable tool for multimode surveys in market research. To learn more, simply book a demo. 

Sponsors:

Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Master the art of strategic LinkedIn engagement beyond viral moments.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney shares powerful insights about effective B2B social selling and thought leadership on LinkedIn. Drawing from LinkedIn’s Thought Leadership Impact Study of 3,600 management-level professionals, she examines six key practices that drive meaningful engagement and business growth, starting with understanding your LinkedIn social selling index (SSI). McKinney explores critical findings from the study, including how 71% of professionals find most thought leadership content lacks value, while 65% say quality content significantly improves company perception.

She also breaks down essential strategies like the Rule of 15 for content balance, emphasizing value-driven posts over sales messaging. She explains the importance of creating audience-centric content, addressing industry blind spots, and the importance of challenging conventional wisdom. “Your audience isn’t just looking for information,” McKinney explains. “They’re looking for insights that help them make better decisions.”

While most B2B professionals focus on reaching massive audiences, McKinney demonstrates how strategic thought leadership targets the right 100-500 connections who truly matter for business growth. These proven frameworks, along with tools for networking, help leaders build trust, showcase expertise, and develop authentic professional relationships that drive measurable results.

Sponsors:
Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but somehow they keep slipping through the cracks?

Here’s the thing – most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. They just need a systematic way to turn those contacts into revenue. They need a way to reactivate dormant connections and give them a reason to engage and even buy.

Little Bird Marketing’s Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a plan that is focused on building a sales pipeline and ultimately, predictable growth. We focus your sales and marketing efforts on one goal only and employ strategies for real wins that are measurable and replicable.

And the best part? You don’t need a massive budget to make it happen.

Ready to turn those missed opportunities into new wins? Click here to learn how we build predictable pipelines for sustainable growth. 

Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

AI transforms medical documentation from burden to breakthrough.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Dr. Michael Ewing, Chief of Surgery at Corpus Christi Medical Center and co-founder of MedQuill, the engine behind SurgeOn Scribe. They discuss how AI revolutionizes healthcare documentation by addressing the significant challenge of physician charting time and documentation accuracy.

Ewing shares his digital transformation strategy for implementing AI solutions, explaining how the technology captures patient conversations while maintaining HIPAA compliance and seamlessly integrating across multiple Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. Through this digital transformation case study, they explore the impact on healthcare delivery, including time savings, improved patient interactions, and enhanced documentation accuracy.

“With SurgeOn Scribe, doctors reclaim valuable hours in their day,” Ewing explains. “And focus on better patient care – and that’s why we’re there at the end of the day.”

McKinney and Ewing also discuss the broader implications of digital transformation in healthcare, examining how AI tools can reduce physician burnout while improving patient outcomes. The conversation highlights real-world examples of how digital innovation is transforming traditional medical practices, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the human element in healthcare while leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and accuracy.

Sponsors:
Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Market research gets an innovation makeover by integrating digital innovation and psychological insights.

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest Stefanie Francis, founder of Hootology, about modernizing market research through digital transformation. Francis, an experienced market research professional and former NYU adjunct professor, brings insights from her innovative approach to combining qualitative and quantitative research methodologies at scale.

They discuss how emerging technologies and digital transformation reshape traditional market research methods through gamification and enhanced data collection. Francis explains the “quantification of qual,” highlighting different approaches to gathering consumer insights in today’s segmented market landscape. They explore the practical applications of gamified platforms in market research, including their ability to facilitate cross-team collaboration and maintain a comprehensive customer database. They talk about how these platforms facilitate real-time, synchronous conversations with larger groups while retaining the depth of qualitative research.

“If we’re doing research in five years the same way we’re doing it now as Hootology, call us on it because society is changing so much,” Francis explains. “How can we not get so caught up in [how] it’s always been done and [evolve]?”

McKinney and Francis also discuss digital transformation strategy in market research, emphasizing the importance of combining traditional and innovative approaches. They explore digital transformation examples from Francis’s experience, highlighting the potential of gamified platforms to enhance data quality and consumer understanding. The conversation touches on the evolution of market research methodology and the role of digital innovation in creating more engaging and effective research experiences.

Sponsors:

Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went.

Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That’s why she’s developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise.

Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today!

Is optimizing existing tech more efficient than chasing the shiny, new object? Is your company flush with technology but still faced with productivity challenges? Did your last technology onboarding fall flat?

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney, talks with Jane Hales, co-founder of Sapio Research, strategic partner for Seamless.AI, and most recently, founder of partofthe.team, about developing effective digital transformation strategies for businesses. Hales brings significant expertise in helping companies optimize their technology and processes, successfully systemizing Sapio Research to run efficiently without her daily involvement!

McKinney and Hales discuss how companies create operational gaps between changing business strategies and updating processes, usually a drastic difference of four to five years. Organizations face common challenges, such as unused software licenses, failed CRM implementations and the tendency to focus on edge cases rather than common scenarios. 

“About a third of [a company’s] software licenses and apps [are wasted],” Hales explains. “If you could put a third extra revenue or profit on your bottom line, wouldn’t that be fantastic?”

They also discuss the value of bringing outside expertise to optimize existing technology investments rather than constantly adopting new solutions. Hales emphasizes the importance of understanding and documenting processes before attempting to automate or transform them digitally. Her methodology includes practical solutions that enhance digital transformation customer experience, such as screen recording routine tasks for documentation, building process libraries for onboarding and training, and integrating core systems (what she calls “hero packages” – CRM, CMS, and project management systems)

Sponsors:
Priscilla McKinney here, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing. I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book: 

Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind

The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Priscilla McKinney has taught many forward-thinking B2B professionals how to build a personal brand and create a presence on social media that advances their careers, showcases their thought leadership, and creates dynamic relationships that expand their network. She has put together a giveaway with the tools to make your social influence life easy.

Click HERE for a chance to win this exciting package of goodies to start building your social influence today! 

Market research, no matter how advanced the technology it uses, still needs astute judgment… and the best judgment comes from humans. 

On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney, gives her patented Conference Flyover of Question Pro’s XDay 2024 in Austin, TX. XDay is a premier event where the best and brightest in market research come together to both network and share insights. 

Mckinney, along with Little Bird Marketing CRO, Stephanie Douglass, talk with industry experts, such as Garry Batroff of Thematic and Ibby Sayed of Cotera (who is also a fellow podcaster).

Question Pro’s Cecil Puvathingal joins Priscilla in a conversational recap about what they heard and felt throughout the day. There were moments of inspiration – both personal and professional. They talk about conversations they had throughout the day about solving timely problems in market research, digital innovation, data integrity, customer satisfaction, employee relations, communication gaps, maintaining a high survey response rate, and the impact of AI.

Listed below are the names and LinkedIn accounts of this episode’s guests. If you like what they do or have to say, then please feel free to reach out to them, and also let them know that Priscilla McKinney and Stephanie Douglass sent you their way: Ibby Sayed, Gary Batroff, Cecil Puvanthingal, Stanley Gibbs, James Canga and Jeff Noonan.

Also included here are several keynote speakers mentioned in the interviews: L. Danielle Petty, Mainak Mazumdar, Tim Sanders (who, by the way, is also a published author), Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth, Stan Sthanunathan, Julie Rodda Ph.D, Stephanie Murphy Ph.D, Mainak Mazumdar and Vivek Bhaskaran. 

Sponsors: 

Priscilla McKinney has taught many forward-thinking B2B professionals how to build a personal brand and create a presence on social media that advances their careers, showcases their thought leadership, and creates dynamic relationships that expand their network. Now, she has put together a giveaway with the tools to make your social influence life easy.

Click HERE for a chance to win this exciting package of goodies to start building your social influence today! (drawings to be held at stated dates)

Glimpse is a next-generation market discovery platform uniting human insights and AI-enhanced performance. 

It empowers marketers, researchers, and creators to make effortless decisions, create powerful content, and gain a perpetual advantage. The platform allows users to ask questions, find audiences, and analyze diverse data sources, uncovering behavior, emotions, awareness, and purchasing decisions through AI. Glimpse’s capabilities extend beyond surveys, offering enterprise-grade digital twins and AI personas for real-time conversations with key audiences. 

To learn more, visit Glimpseahead.ai.