Ideas, analysis and communication insight for strategic thinkers in B2B tech
Research
WHAT 100 TECH COMPANY HOMEPAGE’S REVEAL
I analysed 25 start-ups, 25 mid-sized tech firms, 25 enterprise software companies and 25 IT services firms to see how tech companies explain who they are, what they do and why they matter? What I found was that tech companies suffer from ‘sameness’. Is this a problem? And if so, should you do something about it in an era where AI slop is turning ‘sameness’ into commercial risk. I invite you to read my analysis and download the research report, access below.
LEADERSHIP COMMS
The Executive Voice
Mid-Year Town Hall: A Critical Moment to Align
If employees leave your Town Hall repeating phrases instead of priorities, the message hasn’t landed.
The mid-year Town Hall is an opportunity to clearly and persuasively communicate the company’s strategy for the second half of the year. If you’re part of the senior leadership team (SLT), now is the time to start putting together your talking points instead of winging it just before the event. Because if you don’t prepare well and your message is vague, it can communicate that the company’s strategic direction is weak.
At the very least, resist bland euphemistic language (‘efficiency measures’, ‘cost reduction) because teams are looking for clear direction.
And especially, don’t make statements like, “We’re focused on accelerating growth, improving customer outcomes and driving operational excellence.” It sounds okay, but reveals nothing. Instead, stick with plain English and get to the point.
When preparing your Town Hall presentation, check that the following is being adequately communicated:
What we’re choosing to prioritise
What we’re choosing not to do
What has changed since the start of the year
What do teams need to understand, believe or act on
What should success look like by December
What behaviour do we want to drive after the meeting
What clear, simple and compelling words can we use to marshal the right actions. [This is where choosing one clear theme helps. Everyone presenting at the Town Hall can then speak to it and stay aligned].
Ultimately, the mid-year Town Hall will be a test of whether executive language lands as a clarion call or a whimper.
See Something Extra below for an example of how to create a Town Hall content playbook to ensure SLT and even external speakers share the same focus.
Simple language, specific details = clear direction and people mobilised
REVENUE COMMS
Communication That Earns Influence
Your Value Proposition Needs to Prove What Changes
As buyers assess what AI can automate or what they believe it can automate, sales messages need to tighten
I’ve talked about this before but the ‘promise of value’ is no longer strong enough to position us as the only choice to buyers. We need to talk about an outcome proposition.
A value proposition explains the promise: “We help businesses adopt AI safely.”
An outcome proposition makes the promise provable: “We help leadership teams move from AI experimentation to governed use cases with clear ownership, risk controls and a direct line to revenue, cost reduction or service improvement.”
This isn’t just about tightening sales language, it’s about strengthening the offer behind it.
Because in the AI era, buyers don’t care about grand claims of efficiency, productivity or transformation. They’re asking what’s faster, cheaper, easier, and why your role still matters?
Which is why (before the end of June) it’s important to take stock, whether:
Your buyer’s problem has changed but your offer/solution/service hasn’t
Your offer has moved on but your messages haven’t kept up (been updated).
Your product has matured but your value proposition still sounds generic.
It might also be a good idea to test your current sales language with existing clients and ask them:
Does this clearly describe the problem we solve for you? (You might be surprised by their answer).
Does it sound like us, or could any provider say it?
Does it reflect what you actually value about our work?
Does the outcome feel specific enough to matter?
Is the language plain enough to trust?
Where does it sound like marketing-speak rather than reality?
What proof would make this more believable?
The last question is important. Buyers are inundated by claims from tech companies, but they’re short on confidence in the claims.
Which is the other reason why tech companies need to cut the verbiage, that is, cut sales and marketing copy by 50% and say a few things well that speak to your commercial relevance.
It’s about providing solid evidence of results for current solutions or presenting a well developed use case that:
shows a real customer problem
has a strong technical or engineering foundation
is based on a specific setting or workflow
draws on early product signals or pilot results
comes with credible assumptions, and
shows a realistic path to proving outcome (simply told).
It’s time to stop asking whether your message sounds compelling and start asking whether it helps a buyer see the outcome clearly enough to care.
MARKET PULSE
In The News
Satya Nadella: New Re-org Structure to Better Prepare for AI
According to Business Insider, published May 22nd, “CEO, Satya Nadella has dismantled the senior leadership structure that has run Microsoft for decades …” “It’s the latest step in his plan to reboot Microsoft for the AI era and transform it into a company capable of competing with its smaller, faster, technically sophisticated rivals.” The SLT has been retired “with Nadella creating smaller, flatter teams closer to the action.”
What’s really being communicated? Leadership is shifting from managing people at an operational level to managing the ‘doing’ and doers: technical projects and engineers on the ground.
AI Companies Send Their Engineers to Work on Customer Sites
According to this article, major AI companies are moving beyond selling tools and are now embedding technical specialists directly inside customer organisations. OpenAI’s new Deployment Company will place forward deployed engineers (FDEs) inside businesses to work with leaders, operators and frontline teams. Their role is to identify where AI can create the biggest impact, redesign workflows, and turn improvements into lasting systems. Anthropic and Google are taking a similar approach, hiring people who can work closely with strategic customers to drive adoption and build real-world AI applications.
What’s really being communicated? It seems implementing AI solutions isn’t that easy. Security is a huge issue. We’ve got some way to go before businesses are running autonomously. By the way, do you have some FDEs on standby? Because you’ll need them.
Phrase of the Week
Grounded AI refers to AI systems that generate answers, recommendations or actions based on reliable source material, business context, data, rules or evidence, not just the model’s general training or a vague prompt.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
”We need to rapidly rethink the new economics of AI across the company — just as we once did with the cloud.“
SOMETHING EXTRA
[sample]
Town Hall Content Playbook
Every Town Hall should have a clear theme and every contributing speaker (even external people) should align to the core theme as delivered by the CEO. In this way, strategic direction and priorities are remembered and more likely to be acted on. The following example of a ‘Content Playbook’ is simple and can even be texted via messaging channels like Slack, Messenger or WhatsApp.
[example of a Theme]
Proving AI as a Revenue Driver
CEO sets the agenda:
This Town Hall will position AI as a commercial growth lever, not just an efficiency tool.
CEO’s 3 key points:
AI must contribute to revenue, margin, customer growth or retention, not sit in isolated experiments.
Every function has a role in turning AI from capability into business impact.
The second half of the year is about proving where AI creates real commercial value.
SLT speaking framework:
Each leader should answer three simple questions:
1. What does AI change for our area?
Name the specific work, process, customer experience, risk or decision AI can improve.
2. How does that connect to revenue?
Show the line between the initiative and sales growth, customer retention, margin improvement, faster delivery, better conversion or new markets.
3. What proof will we track?
Use concrete signals: revenue influenced, customer uptake, conversion, cost-to-serve, sales cycle movement, productivity gain, defect reduction or retention.
Suggested department angles:
Sales: where AI helps sellers prioritise, personalise or shorten the path to decision.
Marketing: where AI improves targeting, message relevance and conversion.
Product: where AI creates features customers will pay for.
Operations: where AI reduces waste, delays or cost-to-serve.
Finance: how AI investment will be assessed against commercial return.
Core message:
We’re not talking about AI activity. We’re talking about AI contribution.
Research
WHAT 100 TECH COMPANY HOMEPAGE’S REVEAL
I analysed 25 start-ups, 25 mid-sized tech firms, 25 enterprise software companies and 25 IT services firms to see how tech companies explain who they are, what they do and why they matter? What I found was that tech companies suffer from ‘sameness’. Is this a problem? And if so, should you do something about it in an era where AI slop is turning ‘sameness’ into commercial risk. I invite you to read my analysis and download the research report, access below.
If this helped you think differently about communication, forward this newsletter to someone who leads, sells or explains complex ideas in tech.
For a different perspective, subscribe to my other newsletter, THE STATIC, a weekly, 5-minute read that decodes the nonsense in tech comms.
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