AI takes center stage at Indigo Trigger's Lead-to-Cash Bash - and rewrites how media sells, markets, and operates
AI wasn't a side session at this year's Indigo Trigger Lead-to-Cash Bash. It was the throughline. Across sales enablement, audience targeting, political compliance, subscriptions, and operations, speakers showed a clear message: AI isn't a test project anymore. It's the engine behind faster ramps, cleaner execution and stronger revenue.
Hearst Newspapers rebuilds sales around AI
Hearst Newspapers opened the event with a practical blueprint. Katerina "Kat" White (director of sales operations and enablement) and Michael McCarthy (senior director of AI, Sales & Business Solutions) walked through a stack that actually moves the numbers: a cold-call simulator, coaching tools, automated prep, and cross-platform integrations.
The shift replaced a scattered toolset with a single enablement hub. Onboarding sped up, rep confidence rose, and adoption climbed. As White put it, "everything comes back to confidence."
Email targeting gets smarter - and more actionable
Greg Heiman (Site Impact) and Daniel Babb (Data Axle) reframed email as a precision channel. With 300 million consumer profiles and 1,000+ behavioral attributes, their models build audience segments that don't just fit - they act. As Babb noted, "AI isn't just finding audiences - it's predicting which audiences will take action."
Travel and automotive case studies showed wider reach, higher open rates, and stronger CTR. It's algorithmic audience-building overtaking guesswork.
AI agents step into operations - and free up headcount
Brian Kennett (Star Tribune), Shajan Thomas (Cox Media Group) and Paul Deraval (NinjaCat) focused on automation that sticks. Live demos showed agents writing SQL and Python, improving search campaigns, and handling political-ad compliance end to end.
Kennett's line summed it up: "By leveraging agentic tools, Star Tribune will be able to do more in a month than we used to do in a year." Cox Media Group reclaimed 20% of staff time by automating manual keyword review - roughly a full day a week per person. Deraval's "Negative Nancy" agent, built to detect and correct poor Google Ads performance, sparked a new norm: "The future LinkedIn profile of top sellers will highlight the AI agents they've built and deployed."
Pre-sales copilots: from lead scoring to ADA checks
Backed by grants from The Lenfest Institute, Allyson McKinney (The Seattle Times) showed copilots that score leads, generate outbound emails, retrieve collateral, and run ADA-compliance checks. Documenting workflows with Scribe helped reduce hesitation and speed up rollout. For sales teams, this means less prep and more time in market.
Kennett introduced "Virtual Brian," an agent trained on 3,500+ internal assets - from client email answers to training manuals - giving AEs near-instant access to practical knowledge. A built-in "Is this correct?" loop keeps mistakes in check. His reminder landed: "You still need human review. Always." For ADA and accessibility standards, see the W3C's WCAG guidance here.
SMS reactivations and smarter payments fuel subscription wins
Aaron Kotarek (Spokane Spokesman-Review) detailed a shift from email-heavy reactivation to an SMS-first approach that lifted reactivations by 350%+. Faster feedback loops and tighter segmentation did the work.
Anchorage Daily News CFO Joshua Petersen and Payway EVP Kimberly Miller argued that payment operations belong inside reader revenue, not the back office. Declines, expirations, and failed transactions are preventable churn - fixable when payment strategy is integrated with circulation workflows.
DOOH and agency-style services widen the revenue surface
Forum Communications and Vistar Media closed with a DOOH case study that tied location-level targeting to real outcomes. Over a 90-day test for an electronics brand, in-store sales rose 25% and search conversions climbed 18%. For PR and sales teams, this is a strong proof point for bundled, full-funnel programs.
What this means for PR and Sales leaders
AI is now standard infrastructure. The upside goes to teams who build, ship, and measure - fast. Here's how to apply these lessons this quarter:
- List your top 10 repetitive workflows. Replace two with AI immediately: sales call coaching, audience scoring, or compliance checks.
- Add a QA loop to every agent and copilot. Include a human "Is this correct?" step and document edge cases.
- Name and productize your agents (like "Negative Nancy"). Track hours saved and include them in rep profiles and proposals.
- Treat payments as a revenue lever. Automate dunning, fix expired cards, and align billing ops with CX and circulation.
- Pilot SMS reactivation on a narrow cohort. Test timing, consent flows, and message variants weekly.
- Document processes with step-by-step captures to drive adoption. Run 30/60/90-day enablement sprints.
- Pair DOOH with search and paid social. Share incrementality metrics in client QBRs.
The takeaway
Across sales, marketing, circulation, compliance and audience, the pattern is clear. AI adds speed, accuracy, and margin - and creates more confident teams. The organizations that build AI into daily workflows will move faster than the ones that debate it.
Want to upskill your team on tools like agents, copilots, and audience modeling? Explore role-based courses here: Complete AI Training - courses by job.
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