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  • #183
  • Oct 27 2026

Features Are Back: How B2B Messaging Is Changing for Sceptical Buyers with Adam Frank, VP of Marketing at Rootly

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A billboard in New York reads “Business software that doesn’t suck.” It’s bold and memorable, and according to Adam Frank, it’s exactly the kind of message that makes a sceptical buyer more sceptical, not less.

For years, B2B marketers have been told to lead with why and sell benefits, not features. Adam has found the opposite with some of technology’s most sceptical buyers. 

In this episode of the Finite Podcast, Jodi Norris sits down with Adam to unpack how to win over buyers who’ve heard every claim before. They discuss when features are the smarter conversation with senior buyers, why “saves you time and money” no longer lands, and how Adam runs almost all of Rootly’s demand gen through AI agents, starting each morning by reviewing their proposed changes in GitHub.

Adam Frank is VP of Marketing at Rootly, the AI-native on-call and incident management platform trusted by Nvidia, Replit, Canva, and DoorDash. With more than 20 years in B2B SaaS across product, marketing, and growth, he has been a developer, built products for developers, and marketed to them, giving him an unusually complete view of the sceptical buyer.

If your messaging is built on claims anyone could make, this conversation is a must-listen.

 

Inside you’ll find…

  • Why talking about features works with senior, experienced buyers, and when it backfires
  • How Rootly runs paid media and retargeting through a team of AI agents, with a human approving every change
  • Why your website should tell LLMs when not to mention you, and how poor-fit users spread scepticism to the buyers you actually want

And once you’re done listening, find more of our B2B marketing podcasts here!

The Finite by Clarity Podcast is sponsored by Clarity, a full-service digital marketing and communications agency. Through ideas, influence and impact, Clarity empowers visionary technology companies to change the world for the better.
 

Find the full transcript here:


Jodi Norris (00:01)
Hi Adam. Thank you for joining me on the Finite Podcast today.

Adam Frank (00:05)
Thanks for having me, Jodi.

Jodi Norris (00:06)
It's a pleasure to have you here. I know you have some controversial opinions, contrarian, I might say, so I'm excited to hear those and a bit more about your experience. I know you've worked a lot with sceptical audiences, which is the topic of our episode today. Before we get started, why don't you tell us a bit about your experience working with sceptical audiences, and your marketing career in general?

Adam Frank (00:36)
I've taken a bit of a different path into marketing than most. I've spent most of my time marketing to developers who, in my opinion, are some of the most sceptical audiences out there. I've been a developer myself, I've built product for developers, and I've marketed to developers. So I've gone the full gamut in and around the developer experience.

And in my opinion, I don't think it gets more sceptical than developers.

Jodi Norris (01:12)
Tell us about your team now. How big is it?