Observed Signal · Aug 18, 2026 · Commentary · Source: The Drum · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Optus' Brady Dennett: Curiosity Is Key Capability
Brady Dennett, director of mid-market and enterprise at Optus and juror for The Drum B2B Awards, argues that curiosity should be treated as a business capability worth investing in for 2026. He says curiosity enables teams to turn data into actionable insight, ask better questions, uncover customer problems and spot opportunities competitors miss. Dennett views AI as shifting marketing from reactive execution to proactive strategy — with AI handling administrative tasks and analytics while humans retain strategic judgment, trade-off decisions and trust-building. He recommends smaller cross-functional teams accountable to common growth metrics, resilience in experimentation, and locally designed AI tailored to Australia and New Zealand markets. Dennett also highlights the complexity and intellectual challenge of B2B marketing, where persuading groups of professional buyers requires brand trust, storytelling and commercial fluency.
Thought-leadership interview offering operational and strategic guidance for B2B marketers on AI use, experimentation, team structure and investing in human capabilities; useful but not industry-shifting.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Brady Dennett is director of mid-market and enterprise at Optus.
- Dennett serves as a juror on the Go To Market jury for The Drum B2B Awards.
- He recommends companies invest in curiosity as a business capability to improve questioning, insight and strategy.
- Dennett states AI will optimise execution and analytics while humans must make strategic judgments and trade-offs.
- He advocates smaller cross-functional teams accountable to the same top-line growth measures and resilient experimentation.
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Publicis Pro CEO: Brand Matters More in AI Age
Jon Lonsdale, chief executive of Publicis Pro and juror on The Drum B2B Awards Industry jury, argues that brand investment becomes even more important for B2B marketers in the AI era. He says AI is a seismic shift but that human judgment, taste and experience remain critical. Lonsdale predicts a closer alignment between brand building and sales conversion, expects opportunities to expand creator and influencer marketing into B2B in 2026, and urges the industry to attract new talent into B2B marketing. The article appears as part of coverage around The Drum B2B Awards, with entries closing July 23.
Bad B2B Is Boring, But B2B Isn't
Craig Duxbury, a global B2B marketing strategist and founder of Craig Duxbury Consulting, argues that the central problem in B2B marketing is low creative standards rather than AI, measurement, or brand-versus-demand tensions. Speaking as a juror for The Drum B2B Awards, Duxbury says the opportunity for B2B lies in raising creative ambition, understanding customers and buying groups more deeply, and connecting marketing to business value. He views AI as a productivity amplifier that exposes the quality of underlying strategy and processes, and he urges marketers to bridge the vocabulary gap with the boardroom and to orchestrate brand, creativity, data, technology and sales into a single engine. The Drum B2B Awards entries close July 23. Publication date: 2026-07-03.
The Drum B2B Awards 2026 Reveal AI Efficiency Gains, Creative Gap
The Drum analyzed over 500 entries for its 2026 B2B Awards, alongside anonymized judge call recordings, to assess the state of B2B marketing. The findings show that AI is widely credited for efficiency gains, with over half of entries citing improved outcomes, including cost reductions and faster asset production. However, only 5% of entries openly credited AI for creative work, revealing industry discomfort. Storytelling, emotion, and humor are now standard practice, and brand and demand metrics are increasingly reported together. Trust is shifting to industry voices, with 20% of entries using them. Notably, only 3% of entries reported measurable results from AI answer engines, indicating an untapped frontier in marketing to machines. The analysis suggests AI has won the efficiency argument, while human creativity remains central, and marketing to AI engines is a major growth opportunity.
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