Julien Sauvage 🥖

CEO

San Francisco, California, United States21 yrs 5 mos experience

AI EnabledAI ML Practitioner

Key Highlights

10+ years leading marketing at iconic tech companies.
Expert in Go-to-Market strategy and brand storytelling.
Top Influencer and mentor in Product Marketing Alliance.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS marketing leader with extensive experience in product positioning and go-to-market strategies.

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Skills

Core Skills

Go-to-market StrategyPositioning (marketing)Brand StorytellingThought Leadership

Other Skills

AIAlgorithmsAnalyticsAnalytiqueBig DataBig dataBusiness AnalysisBusiness AnalyticsCRMCategory DesignCommunications AuditsCompetitive AnalysisContent MarketingContent StrategyCustomer Analysis

About

I help B2B SaaS companies go from “what do you do again?” to “how did I live without this?” Over the last 10+ years, I’ve led marketing at some of the most iconic (and category-defining) companies in tech — Salesforce, Gong, Clari — and now Cordial. From brand storytelling to GTM strategy, my teams have designed categories, launched products, repositioned companies, and created campaigns that punch way above their weight. Today at Cordial, I’m focused on helping retail brands win the battle for attention — with smarter AI, deeper customer signals, and personalized messaging that actually performs. I also teach with the Product Marketing Alliance and nerd out about positioning frameworks, lightning strikes, and the psychology behind why messages stick. If you’re a fellow marketer, builder, or founder — let’s connect.

Experience

21 yrs 5 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 2 mos

Average Tenure

1 yr 5 mos

Current Experience

Cordial

Chief Marketing Officer

Nov 2024 – Present · 1 yr 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area · Remote

· Repositioned the brand around a bold narrative: The Battle for Attention
· Driving GTM strategy across brand, demand, product marketing, ABM, customer advocacy, and events
· Launched Cordial Edge — an AI-powered personalization engine — at NRF
· Leading a lean team of 10 marketers supporting 30%+ YoY growth
· Created our “12 Big Rocks” framework to align marketing with revenue outcomes
· Driving activation across channels: social, content, sales enablement, PR, and web

Positioning (Marketing)Thought LeadershipCategory DesignBrand StorytellingGo-to-Market Strategy

Clari

2 roles

GVP, Marketing

Dec 2023 – Sep 2024 · 9 mos · San Francisco Bay Area · Hybrid

· Acted as interim CMO, owned the end-to-end marketing engine
· Created “Lightning Strikes” to drive market moments that moved pipeline fast
· Led thought leadership and content strategy to position Clari as the leader in Revenue Platform
· Orchestrated a new GTM playbook tied tightly to sales and product motion
· Team delivered consistent inbound volume, major launches, and brand lift — on repeat

Category DesignThought LeadershipPositioning (Marketing)Brand StorytellingGo-to-Market Strategy

VP, Brand, Content and Product Marketing

Jun 2022 – Dec 2023 · 1 yr 6 mos · San Francisco Bay Area · Hybrid

· Led the narrative: repositioned Clari around the Revenue Platform and redefined its category
· Launched breakthrough campaigns, creative events, and keynote-worthy product moments
· Built a content engine that fueled sales enablement, customer education, and inbound
· Partnered across sales, CS, and product to drive alignment on every launch
· Team = a tight crew of product marketers, storytellers, and category designers

Positioning (Marketing)Thought LeadershipCategory DesignBrand StorytellingGo-to-Market Strategy

Product marketing alliance

Product Marketing Alliance Mentor & Teacher

Jan 2021 – Sep 2024 · 3 yrs 8 mos

· Top Influencer (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
· Best Team of the Year Award 2021
· Teacher at PMA's Leaders Fellowship program
· Keynote speaker

Positioning (Marketing)Thought LeadershipGo-to-Market Strategy

Gong

Vice President, Product and Customer Marketing at Gong

Nov 2020 – May 2022 · 1 yr 6 mos · United States

· Launched new products, SKUs, and campaigns that made noise — and moved revenue
· Created standout stories across channels — from Celebrate keynotes to Super Bowl ads
· Drove Gong’s category dominance in Revenue Intelligence
· Built customer programs that turned users into evangelists (and case studies into art)
· Marketing wasn’t just creative — it was tied to pipeline, adoption, and expansion

Positioning (Marketing)Thought LeadershipCategory DesignBrand StorytellingGo-to-Market Strategy

Talend

Vice President, Product Marketing

Feb 2020 – Nov 2020 · 9 mos · Redwood City, California, United States

· Repositioned Talend in a crowded data space with sharper messaging and clearer value props
· Led GTM strategy across product launches, solution marketing, and integrated campaigns
· Built sales enablement programs that improved pitch consistency and competitive win rates
· Partnered with product and sales to align roadmap storytelling with market needs
· Drove increases in brand awareness, pipeline velocity, and ARR growth within 3 quarters

Positioning (Marketing)Thought LeadershipBrand StorytellingGo-to-Market Strategy

Salesforce

2 roles

Senior Director, Product Marketing, Einstein

Jun 2016 – Feb 2020 · 3 yrs 8 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

· Led technical product marketing for Einstein, Salesforce’s flagship AI platform
· Launched Einstein at Dreamforce ‘16 — the biggest product launch in company history
· Built and scaled GTM: demos, content, pricing & packaging, and enablement
· Created the Einstein Champions program to amplify customer voices
· Enabled 200+ SEs with a full certification program
· Presented at Dreamforce keynotes, executive briefings, and third-party events
· Influenced $100M+ in ARR and drove exponential product adoption

Positioning (Marketing)Go-to-Market Strategy

Director, Product Marketing, Analytics

Feb 2015 – May 2016 · 1 yr 3 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

· Led technical product marketing for Wave Analytics
· Secured leadership placement in Gartner MQ through analyst engagement
· Launched vertical-specific solutions: Analytics for Sales, Service, and Communities
· Built scalable demo assets used by 1,000+ AEs and SEs
· Generated 5x pipeline and ARR through targeted campaigns and programs

Positioning (Marketing)Go-to-Market Strategy

Sap

Director, Product Marketing, Analytics

Oct 2013 – Oct 2014 · 1 yr · Palo Alto, CA

My responsibilities include core messaging/ positioning, develop picture-perfect content and create killer demo scenarios.

Positioning (Marketing)Go-to-Market Strategy

Kxen

3 roles

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Nov 2011 – Oct 2013 · 1 yr 11 mos

I am responsible for all aspects of outbound marketing content needed to support marketing efforts and sales cycles in the company.

Positioning (Marketing)Go-to-Market Strategy

Technical Director, Social Network Analysis

Promoted

Jan 2011 – Oct 2011 · 9 mos

Worked on proof of concepts, pilots and go-live deployments at 50+ customers across a spectrum of industries, including communications, finance, retail and e-Business

Presales engineer

Jan 2009 – Apr 2011 · 2 yrs 3 mos

Specialized in Predictive Analytics and Social Network Analysis
International experience:
in many industries: Telco, e-Commerce, Automotive, Bank, Retail, etc.
and many Horizontals: CRM, Fraud, R&D (Reliability, Performance), etc.

Diagnostica stago

Data Science Project Manager

Sep 2007 – Dec 2007 · 3 mos · Paris Area, France

Project Manager for the Chronometric Signals Processing.
Expert Consultant for the statistical analyses (involving decision tree techniques).

Sfr

Senior Consultant in Predictive Maintenance

Apr 2007 – May 2007 · 1 mo · Paris Area, France

Analysis of thermal failures in the shelters of SFR in France.
Creation of failure clusters, statistical data analyses.

Altran

Senior Consultant

Nov 2005 – Dec 2008 · 3 yrs 1 mo

Head of the ALTRAN Statistics and Optimization Offer.
This Offer aimed at helping our clients to :
save time,
analyze data,
model phenomena / processes,
optimize outputs / costs,
through innovative, statistical techniques that we developed and/or specialized into.

Airbus

Senior Consultant

May 2005 – Feb 2006 · 9 mos · Nantes Area, France

In the Assembly Unit for Airbus airframes in the Nantes Factory, achieved the Optimization of the process parameters of the automatic riveting machines, using adapted DoE, Modelling and Optimization.
Resulted in the determination of the process parameters with the greatest influence, Optimization of these parameters and Statistical Process Control.

Psa peugeot citroën

Consultant in Statistics & Modeling

Sep 2004 – Sep 2005 · 1 yr · Paris Area, France

In an Innovation Project for Advanced Diesel Engine Control (EURO 5), developed and performed Designs of Experiments on the engine.
Carried out statistical studies of sensors performance through DoE. Developed a Matlab tool for combustion analysis, and some adapted statistical tools, designed for the identification of control estimators.

Renault f1

Data scientist & Statistician

Jan 2004 – Jan 2006 · 2 yrs · Paris Area, France

In the context of the Development of the Renault F1 Formula 1 engine (seasons 2004 and 2005):
Statistical analyst for the optimization of Renault F1’s engine power. Post-processing both Simulation and Engine bench data, carried out Data analysis on engine parameters, created complex regression models, and optimized these Engine power models. Results : Significant gain in engine power.
Also achieved reliability modeling and training. Created Innovative method based on Weibull analyses, using various failure databases. Developed specific software tools using adapted statistical methods. Gave an advanced training program to the Renault F1 Reliability Group.
For Renault, expert statistical engineer for the modeling of Low-frequency phenomena in the car (engine). Developed optimized statistical models, using Genetic Algorithm optimization.