WINNERS' CIRCLE

Pay First, Collect Later: Rewiring the Electronics Trade-In | Roger Brown

Most trade-in programs ask you to mail your phone into a black box and just wait. Roger Brown and the team at Allstate Protection Plans decided to do the opposite with Staples Canada, paying customers up front and letting the device follow. It won them a 2026 Sustainability Award, and the reason it works has almost nothing to do with recycling.

The Real AI Infrastructure Bottleneck Isn't Chips, It's Electricity | Selva Murali

Everybody's talking about GPU shortages, but according to one of our own award judges, that's not really the story anymore. He builds the chips going into AI factories at AMD, and he told us plainly what's actually running out first. Spoiler, it's not silicon.

Why "Not If, But When" Is an Excuse: Building Identity-First, Proactive Cyber Defense | Chris Schueler

Chris Schueler is helping large, complex organizations rethink cybersecurity for an AI-accelerated threat environment. At Cyderes, Chris leads a pure-play cybersecurity company focused on managed security, transformation, operations, identity, non-human identity, and proactive threat defense. Cyderes recently won a Fortress Cybersecurity Award, with Chris recognized as an executive leadership winner. In this episode, Russ and Chris discuss how his early military experience building one of the first Army security operations centers still shapes how he builds security teams today, why the old mindset of "not if, but when" can become an excuse, and how Cyderes' Meridian platform stitches together cyber threat data with identity and non-human identity signals so organizations can prevent threats before they spread.

Why Non-Human Identity Security Is Cybersecurity's New Front Line | Keith Hollender

Fortress Cybersecurity Award winner Keith Hollender, CEO of Arcova, joins The Winners' Circle to unpack how AI is speeding up both attackers and defenders. He also explains why non-human identity security has quietly become the most urgent conversation in enterprise cybersecurity today.

How Napier Uses Generative Engine Optimization to Get B2B Brands Cited by AI | Mike Maynard

Mike Maynard, chairman of Napier and one of our longtime Business Intelligence Group judges, ran over a thousand prompts through four different AI engines to see what actually gets a B2B brand cited. Turns out the old SEO playbook is only half the story now. He walked Russ Fordyce through what Napier found, and honestly, some of it will surprise you.

Mike Maynard on Napier, GEO, AI, and the Future of B2B Marketing

In this episode, Russ interviews Mike Maynard, Managing Director of Napier, about the evolving landscape of B2B marketing in the age of AI. They discuss the importance of human expertise alongside AI in content creation, the shift from traditional SEO to generative engine optimization, and the challenges of data overload in marketing strategies. Mike shares insights from his career and emphasizes the need for marketers to adapt their approaches to leverage AI effectively.

Precision Selling: Turning CRM Data Into Decisions | Becca Toth

Sales teams do not need more dashboards, they need to know what to do next. Becca Toth, CMO of SugarAI, joins the Winners' Circle to unpack precision selling, the thinking behind her team's SAMMY Award win, and how AI layered over CRM and ERP data finally puts reps back in front of customers.

Becca Toth on Sugar AI, and Precision Selling

In this episode, Becca Toth of SugarAI discusses the evolution of CRM systems in the age of AI, emphasizing the shift from traditional data-heavy approaches to precision selling that offers clarity and actionable insights for sales teams. Becca highlights how SugarAI integrates CRM, ERP data, and revenue signals to enhance decision-making and improve customer engagement, amidst the challenges of user adoption and changing business needs.

How SugarAI Is Redefining CRM for the AI Era | Becca Toth

Sales teams do not need more dashboards, they need to know what to do next. Becca Toth, CMO of SugarAI, joins the Winners' Circle to unpack precision selling, the thinking behind her team's SAMMY Award win, and how AI layered over CRM and ERP data finally puts reps back in front of customers.

How Skyhigh Security Builds Data Protection Into the Platform to Stop Shadow AI | Sanjay Castelino

Sanjay Castelino, President of Skyhigh Security, joined the Winners' Circle to talk about why so many companies still treat data protection as an afterthought instead of a design principle. It is a timely conversation, especially with shadow AI risk climbing inside nearly every enterprise right now, and Skyhigh just took home a 2026 Fortress Cybersecurity Award for Data Protection because of it.