How Sales & Marketing Win in 2026

As buying behavior, data expectations, and AI-driven tools reshape go-to-market strategies, the line between sales and marketing is disappearing. In 2026, growth will belong to organizations where these teams operate as one revenue engine.

Strategic Takeaways

1. Revenue growth now depends on true sales-marketing integration: High‑performing organizations are moving beyond alignment meetings to operate sales and marketing as a single revenue engine.
2. Shared data is the foundation of modern go‑to‑market success: As buyers expect relevance and consistency across every touchpoint, siloed data breaks the experience. Teams that win are building a common view of the customer and using AI to turn insights into coordinated action.
3. Accountability must shift from functions to outcomes: The future belongs to organizations that measure success by pipeline, revenue, and customer impact, not by channel metrics or departmental KPIs.

Agenda

6 p.m. Doors open, networking begins
6:30 p.m. AMA Chicago president introduces the speakers
6:40 p.m. Speakers’ presentations begin
7:30 p.m. Q&A 
7:55 p.m. Wrap-up

Speakers

John Iwanski
Vice President of Marketing and Outreach
ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company

John Iwanski is a brand builder, content creator, passionate marketer, data consolidator, and silo breaker. A versatile leader with more than 25 years of experience in a variety of marketing, communications, and martech roles, he brings a unique perspective around marketing and brand development, content and business creation, organizational growth, and multimedia platform integration/implementation. John currently serves as Vice President of Marketing and Outreach for both ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. and the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS), focused on ISMIE’s continued national expansion and ISMS’s membership growth through collaborative strategies that embrace innovation and the use of data to drive results and improve ROI.

John’s LinkedIn

Tony Lenhart
Partner
Sales Empowerment Group (SEG)

Tony Lenhart, known as The Sales Drummer, is a seasoned sales leader and Partner at Sales Empowerment Group (SEG). Over the past decade, he has helped more than 100 organizations build or rebuild their sales teams as a fractional leader and advisor, coaching thousands of salespeople along the way. In 2022, Tony and his partners completed a private-equity transaction after rapidly scaling SEG’s outsourced sales team model, which has since expanded to include marketing and revenue operations services. Earlier in his career, Tony spent ten years at ADP, consulting with nearly 3,000 businesses. A Purdue graduate and adjunct instructor, Tony is also a lifelong drummer, golfer, water-skier, husband, and father of two.

Tony’s LinkedIn

Kendra Cato
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Advance Partners

Kendra Cato is a dynamic staffing industry thought leader, master connector, and business influencer dedicated to building meaningful relationships between people and organizations. With 20 years of expertise across strategic planning, sales, and M&A, she is a sought-after keynote speaker and co-author with The Lady Leaders Book Club of Rising with Courage and Together We Rise. Currently, as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Advance Partners / Paychex Funding Solutions, Kendra provides strategic funding solutions that help companies scale. She is also a founding member of Women of Color in Staffing, striving to make the industry more accessible, fulfilling, and lucrative for female leaders and their allies.

Kendra’s LinkedIn

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