Treasure AI Chief Product and Growth Officer Rafael Flores on evolving CDPs to activation platforms

Treasure AI Chief Product and Growth Officer Rafael Flores on evolving CDPs to activation platforms

Author: The Agile Brand August 17, 2026 Duration: 30:32

For about a decade, a customer data platform's job was to be the place your customer data lived. What happens to that job when the most valuable thing a system can do goes beyond remembering and evolves to deciding and acting?


Agility, in a category that's been declared dead more than once, isn't chasing whatever the market renames itself this quarter. It's being able to change what your product does without losing the thing your company is actually good at.


Today we're going to talk about what it takes to evolve a category from the inside. Specifically:

- Why fifteen years of data infrastructure turned out to be an advantage rather than baggage to shed.

- What actually changes — in the product and in the company — when a system stops solely storing customer data and starts acting on it.

- Where the line sits between a marketer steering an agent and a system running on its own.


This conversation also kicks off a four-part series we're running this week with the product team at Treasure AI: four leaders, four vantage points: the vision, the roadmap, the operational reality, and the design.


To help me start it off, I'd like to welcome Rafa Flores, Chief Product and Growth Officer at Treasure AI.


About Rafael Flores

As a proud immigrant from Honduras, Rafael's journey is rooted in three core values passed down from his family: the power of education, treating everyone with dignity—no matter their background—and lifting up the next generation. Once he was an wide-eyed kid with big dreams, and today, he's living them. He's dedicated his career to scaling SaaS companies from startup spark to high-growth success. At Meltwater, he played a key role in driving product innovation and market readiness that led to a successful IPO. At Datanyze, he led strategic initiatives that culminated in an acquisition by ZoomInfo—boosting their data intelligence footprint. At ARM, he spearheaded innovation in Retail SDK and IoT, opening new frontiers in connected experiences. And at 6sense, he led all automation, data, and AI-powered products, building inclusive teams and solutions that empower GTM leaders to sell smarter. At Treasure Data, he helped orchestrate a landmark $600M acquisition by ARM and secured record-breaking funding for the Customer Data Platform. Now, he's back—leading Treasure Data into a new era of intelligence and automation built for scale. It’s more than a comeback; it’s a homecoming. This is a team he deeply believes in—brilliant, driven, and purposeful. Beyond tech, he's a devoted father of three and married to a registered nurse whose compassion and strength inspires him every day. My expertise lies in product strategy, CDPs, data privacy, and scaling GTM solutions—from agile startups to Global 2000 enterprises. He's passionate about solving hard problems with technology, driving sustainable growth, and mentoring rising product leaders. As a member of the Forbes Technology Council, he aims to share insights, spark dialogue, and help shape the future of innovation—one conversation, and one leader, at a time.


Rafael Flores on LinkedIn


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Each conversation on The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX moves beyond surface-level trends to explore the practical realities of modern marketing. Host Greg Kihlström guides discussions with executives and thought leaders from prominent brands and technology platforms, focusing on the tangible strategies that drive growth. You’ll hear detailed explorations of topics like the real-world adoption of AI, the construction of effective first-party data strategies, and the evolving landscape of customer experience. This podcast is built for leaders who need to translate complex technological shifts into sustainable business value and deeper customer relationships. Rather than offering quick fixes, these episodes provide a deeper understanding of how to integrate marketing technology, artificial intelligence, and customer-centric thinking into a cohesive strategy. The dialogue consistently centers on building customer lifetime value, ensuring that every technological investment contributes to long-term brand strength. If you're looking for a clear, expert-level analysis of what actually works in today's market, this series delivers substantive insights directly from the professionals shaping the industry.
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