Robert Chatwani on marketing productivity

What if your CEO asked you to double revenue without adding budget or headcount? Robert Chatwani, President and General Manager of Growth at DocuSign, believes not only is it possible - there's never been a better time to make it happen. In this conversation, Robert unpacks the frameworks and organisational changes required to achieve exponential growth with existing resources. From building agile growth squads that operate like engineering teams to leveraging AI agents for hyper-personalised prospecting, he reveals how DocuSign is transforming from an e-signature company into an AI-powered platform. If you're facing budget cuts but still expected to deliver results, this episode offers a roadmap. Guest Introduction Robert Chatwani is President and General Manager, Growth at DocuSign, where he leads the Marketing & Growth organisation to scale its digital strategy across marketing, product, technology and sales. Before joining DocuSign, Robert was CMO of Atlassian, where he helped scale the business to nearly $3 billion in revenue. He also spent more than a decade at eBay, ending his tenure as Chief Marketing Officer for North America where his teams supported $35 billion in trading volume. Robert is the 2023 American Heart Association Bay Area Heart Walk Chair and serves as a West Coast Board Member at the American India Foundation. Key Topics 🚀 The 2x-10x challenge: Why companies expect exponential output increases without adding resources, and why Robert believes marketing teams can deliver. 🎯 Thomas Barta's V-Zone framework: Maximising the overlap between customer needs and company needs to drive business impact and secure executive support. 📉 The harsh realities facing B2B teams: CAC is up 60% since the pandemic, traditional channels show diminishing returns, and most GTM models are obsolete - creating opportunities for teams willing to rethink their approach. 🧭 Operating principles over company values: DocuSign's five core principles - "we before me," "dreaming big," "take action," "ignite the way," and "delivering customer delight" - that guide team behaviours and decisions. 🔁 Growth squads and agile methodologies: Why effective GTM teams operate like engineering teams with two-week sprints, daily standups, and experiment backlogs instead of traditional campaign structures. 🔬 Building a culture of experimentation: Robert's framework for systematic testing - generating ideas, prioritising experiments, executing with discipline, and scaling what works. 🤖 AI-powered prospecting in action: How DocuSign used AI agents to turn tens of thousands of exhausted leads into millions in the pipeline, generating 60 replies and 15 meetings within 72 hours. 🏗️ Designing for the future you want: Why leaders must ask whether their current team structure and capabilities match what they would design from scratch to achieve ambitious growth goals. Resources & Links People Mentioned: 🔵 Thomas Barta-Marketing leadership expert and author of "The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader" 🔵 Jeff Bezos-Founder of Amazon, referenced for the "two pizza team" principle Companies & Platforms: 🔶 DocuSign-Agreement management platform 🔶 Atlassian-Collaboration software 🔶 eBay-Online marketplace 🔶 Amazon-Benchmark for experimentation culture 🔶 Netflix-Benchmark for experimentation culture 🔶 Airbnb-Benchmark for experimentation culture 🔶 Uber-Benchmark for experimentation culture Concepts & Frameworks: 🎯 The V-Zone (Value Creation Zone)-Maximising overlap between customer and company needs 📖 The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader-Book by Thomas Barta and Patrick Barwise 🍕 Two-Pizza Team-Amazon's principle for keeping teams small (5-8 people) Subscribe to the xG Weekly Newsletter for weekly insights on B2B growth across APAC: https://xgrowth.com.au/newsletter Contact & Credits Host: Shahin Hoda Guest: Robert Chatwani Produced by: Shahin Hoda and Alexander Hipwell Edited by: Alexander Hipwell Music by: Breakmaster Cylinder APAC's B2B Growth Podcast is Presented by xGrowth https://xgrowth.com.au/