29 Top B2B Thought Leadership Practitioners and Experts to Follow

Karen Feldman
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer
Iron Mountain
/in/karen-feldman-217440/

Kate Houston
Head of Global Marketing
Executive Thought Leadership Programs
Amazon Web Services
/in/kateebingham/

Kevin Kailath
Group Marketing Manager, Integrated Marketing
Sales Enablement & Thought Leadership
LinkedIn
/in/kevinkailath/

Lucia Rahilly
Global Editorial Director & Deputy Publisher
McKinsey & Company
/in/luciarahilly/

Lynne LaCascia
Global Head of Brand, Creative, Content, Thought Leadership & Research
Cognizant
/in/lynnelacascia/

Mara Stefan
VP of Global Insights
ManpowerGroup
/in/marastefan/

Matthew Loys Duncan
Head of Thought Leadership on the Future of Work
Microsoft
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewloysduncan/

Melissa Catelli
Global Head of Brand, Content and Editorial Strategy
AECOM
/in/melissa-catelli/

Michael Brenner
VP, Thought Leadership & Customer Advocacy
Workday
/in/michaelbrenner/

Peter Linder
Head of Thought Leadership Americas
Ericsson
/in/peterglinder/

Savannah House Lundberg
Savannah House-Lundberg
Senior Manager, Thought Leadership Marketing
Autodesk
/in/savannahdhouse/

Sheila Bernus Dowd
Director, Content Marketing
Thought Leadership Content Intelligence, Activation and Operations
ServiceNow
/in/sheilabernusdowd/

Sonja Jacob
Thought Leadership & Content Strategy Leader
Cisco

We recently launched a new research report about the intersection of B2B thought leadership, content and influence. In true TopRank Marketing fashion, we’ve “walking the talk” by collaborating with influential voices on our research report content and we’re creating space to recognize the pros that are advancing the practice of thought leadership every day.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the B2B marketing and thought leadership pros who contributed to, Answer Engine: The State of B2B Thought Leadership in 2026. Here are those contributors and excerpts of the insights they shared in the report.

“Research gives you the evidence for your point of view and ensures it’s relevant to your audience. Without that foundation, you’re just publishing opinion.”

Cindy Anderson
CMO,
IBM Institute for Business Value
Co-author of The ROI of Thought Leadership
/in/clwanderson480/

“Data alone isn’t enough. The real skill is taking complex research and distilling it into frameworks people can actually use.”

Ty Heath
Director, Market Engagement, at The B2B Institute,
LinkedIn
/in/tyronaheath/

“The most effective leaders connect the dots to align brand strategy, buyer intelligence, and channel execution around a unified narrative. When thought leadership becomes the platform that ties it all together, every asset works harder.”

Janine Wegner
Global Integrated Thought Leadership Strategist,
Dell Technologies
/in/janinewegner/

“Thought leadership isn’t just data or expertise; it’s emotion with integrity attached to vision and direction. It’s showing people there’s a human on the other side who actually gives a damn.”

Brian Solis
Head of Global Innovation,
ServiceNow
/in/briansolis/

“The most trusted thought leadership comes from people and brands that show up consistently with fact-based insights that help readers think differently.”

Jeanne Hopkins
Vice President, Marketing
XTIUM
/in/jeannehopkins/

“Whether it’s a short video, an interactive data story, or a live event, experiential content builds trust and credibility in ways that a whitepaper never could. It’s what turns insight into influence.”

Tequia Burt
Founder,
The Influence Lab
/in/tequiaburt/

“We anchor our activation around a core report, then build a vast content ecosystem to drive traffic and showcase insights. Strong thought leadership provides an insight-driven framework that fuels channels well beyond launch.”

Jillian Ryan
Senior Manager,
Content Marketing Strategy
Intuit Mailchimp
/in/jillianryanwriter/

“To prove the value of thought leadership and to surface insights for optimizations, two things are crucial: unified analytics and a measurement model that translates multiple signals into a cohesive view.”

<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-82222" src="https://www.toprankmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jane-Bartel-AETL26.jpg" alt="Jane …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog

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29 Top B2B Thought Leadership Practitioners and Experts to Follow

“Research gives you the evidence for your point of view and ensures it’s relevant to your audience. Without that foundation, you’re just publishing opinion.”

“Data alone isn’t enough. The real skill is taking complex research and distilling it into frameworks people can actually use.”

“The most effective leaders connect the dots to align brand strategy, buyer intelligence, and channel execution around a unified narrative. When thought leadership becomes the platform that ties it all together, every asset works harder.”

“Thought leadership isn’t just data or expertise; it’s emotion with integrity attached to vision and direction. It’s showing people there’s a human on the other side who actually gives a damn.”

“The most trusted thought leadership comes from people and brands that show up consistently with fact-based insights that help readers think differently.”

“Whether it’s a short video, an interactive data story, or a live event, experiential content builds trust and credibility in ways that a whitepaper never could. It’s what turns insight into influence.”

“We anchor our activation around a core report, then build a vast content ecosystem to drive traffic and showcase insights. Strong thought leadership provides an insight-driven framework that fuels channels well beyond launch.”

“To prove the value of thought leadership and to surface insights for optimizations, two things are crucial: unified analytics and a measurement model that translates multiple signals into a cohesive view.”

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“Research gives you the evidence for your point of view and ensures it’s relevant to your audience. Without that foundation, you’re just publishing opinion.”

“Data alone isn’t enough. The real skill is taking complex research and distilling it into frameworks people can actually use.”

“The most effective leaders connect the dots to align brand strategy, buyer intelligence, and channel execution around a unified narrative. When thought leadership becomes the platform that ties it all together, every asset works harder.”

“Thought leadership isn’t just data or expertise; it’s emotion with integrity attached to vision and direction. It’s showing people there’s a human on the other side who actually gives a damn.”

“The most trusted thought leadership comes from people and brands that show up consistently with fact-based insights that help readers think differently.”

“Whether it’s a short video, an interactive data story, or a live event, experiential content builds trust and credibility in ways that a whitepaper never could. It’s what turns insight into influence.”

“We anchor our activation around a core report, then build a vast content ecosystem to drive traffic and showcase insights. Strong thought leadership provides an insight-driven framework that fuels channels well beyond launch.”

“To prove the value of thought leadership and to surface insights for optimizations, two things are crucial: unified analytics and a measurement model that translates multiple signals into a cohesive view.”

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