Jo Peterson and Brenda Cowie Join Talking Headless for Thanksgiving

Talking Headless · Thanksgiving Episode

An independent analyst and a vendor executive join me live on LinkedIn on Wednesday, November 25, 2026, at 12:00 PM EST.

Analyst relations (AR) is relationship work, and Thanksgiving week gives us a good reason to celebrate the people who make it run. On Wednesday, November 25, 2026, at 12:00 PM EST, I'm hosting a special Thanksgiving episode of Talking Headless with two of them: Jo Peterson and Brenda Cowie.

Talking Headless exists to raise the visibility of the AR profession and the technology analysts who shape how B2B buyers see a market. Every episode doubles as a lesson in how vendors and analysts work together. This one brings an independent analyst and a vendor executive to the same table.

Jo Peterson Sees the Market From the Analyst Chair and the Buyer Chair

Jo is the founder and chief analyst of ClearTech Research, where she covers cloud, cloud security and artificial intelligence (AI) security. She is also chief information officer (CIO) at Clarify360. Her path started in the U.S. Air Force, where she served as a cryptologic language analyst. She went on to become one of the first female presales engineers at MCI, and she holds an MBA and a master's degree in information technology ("Meet Jo Peterson").

Jo co-founded Cloud Girls, a nonprofit community advancing women in cloud and emerging technology, and serves as its co-chair. She also hosts ClearTech Loop, a podcast with ten-minute episodes on cybersecurity, cloud and AI for technology leaders short on time ("ClearTech Loop").

Her dual role is the part marketing leaders should study. She evaluates vendors as an analyst and buys technology as a CIO, so she hears your pitch from both sides of the table.

She evaluates vendors as an analyst and buys technology as a CIO, so she hears your pitch from both sides of the table.

Brenda Cowie Builds North American Businesses Through Partners and Analysts

Brenda is Senior Vice President of North America at Qualiware, an enterprise architecture and digital transformation software company. She leads the business in the region with a mandate to grow the team and expand its partner ecosystem ("Qualiware Appoints").

Her career runs through enterprise architecture software. She founded the North American practice at BiZZdesign and later joined ValueBlue to lead sales across the Americas, with a charter that included building partnerships with analyst communities (ValueBlue).

That charter is why she belongs on this show.

Brenda has spent years building markets from the vendor side, and a vendor entering or growing in a region earns credibility in part through the analysts who cover its category. She knows what that work looks like from the executive seat.

Independent Analysts and Regional Leaders Belong in Your AR Plan

The strongest AR programs I've seen treat independent analysts as a core channel. Independents like Jo publish on their own schedule and host their own shows, and buyers hear them in places a formal research report never reaches.

Regional leaders deserve a seat in that program too. Brenda's job is to grow a North American business, and the analysts covering her category influence how buyers in her region see her company. This episode puts both perspectives in one conversation, so bring questions for each of them.

Join Us Live on Wednesday, November 25, 2026

Talking Headless streams live on LinkedIn and the Playaz Production Network at 12:00 PM EST. Save your seat for the live episode.

Follow my guests before the show: Jo Peterson and Brenda Cowie.

New to the show? Catch up on previous episodes on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Works Cited