Welcome to the latest installment of our ABM Academy alumni spotlight series, where we celebrate the practitioners who are defining the future of account-based marketing through bold decisions and innovative thinking.
This week, we’re delighted to feature someone whose career exemplifies the power of taking calculated risks and building something foundational from the ground up.
Meet Sloan Newman
Sloan is manager of ABM programmes for the Americas at NTT DATA, a trusted global innovator of business and technology services with over 190,000 professionals across more than 50 countries. As part of the $90 billion NTT Group, NTT DATA helps clients transform through consulting, industry solutions, business process services, and IT modernisation.
With over 20 years of experience crafting personalised marketing strategies for key accounts, Sloan is an award-winning ABM leader who has built his reputation on driving revenue growth and customer satisfaction through deeply considered, relationship-led approaches. His work at NTT DATA has been recognised by both Forrester and B2B Marketing – testament to the impact of the strategic ABM programme he’s designed and scaled across North America.
Sloan’s journey into ABM wasn’t entirely linear. Starting in B2C at an agency, he was always keen to truly connect with audiences and bring them relevant messaging to engage with brands. Fast-forward fifteen years, and he found himself at a career crossroads that would define everything that followed. We sat down with Sloan to learn about that pivotal decision, his philosophy on ABM, and what he’s building for the future.
The interview
You’re at a dinner party and someone asks what you do – how do you explain ABM?
ABM is relationship-led marketing. Instead of trying to reach thousands of people, we focus on our most important clients (based on the 80/20 rule) and create marketing strategies entirely around their needs, goals, and pain points, helping account teams open doors and deepen relationships that close deals.
How did you get into ABM? Was it intentional or by accident?
Honestly, a bit of both. I started off in B2C at an agency, always keen to truly connect with audiences and bring them relevant messaging to engage with a brand.
Fast-forward fifteen years. NTT DATA had two openings: one to launch the Strategic ABM programme for North America, alongside the CoE, another a more senior role in Partner Marketing. A friend said ‘ABM is the future of marketing. This is what you love, and you will never get bored.’ He was right!
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your ABM career, and did it pay off?
My biggest risk was turning down that Director-level position in Partner Marketing for ABM. On paper, it seemed like a step backward, but I saw it as an opportunity to build something truly foundational – from strategy to execution.
The decision has ultimately shaped my career. I was able to design and launch an ABM programme in North America, scale it, working alongside the CoE, and see our efforts recognised by Forrester and B2B Marketing.
What was your ‘lightbulb moment’ during the Academy course?
My lightbulb moment was realising that ABM can be a self-sustaining life cycle when structured as an interconnected ecosystem. The insight that 1:Many programmes can feed into 1:Few, and ultimately 1:1 engagements, creating a continuous flow of intelligence, relationships, and opportunity. Each layer strengthens the next, forming a cycle that sustains itself over time.
Understanding how these tiers work together not just sequentially, but symbiotically, reshaped how I think about building and optimising ABM strategies.
What’s in your ABM toolkit that you couldn’t live without – and what’s the most overrated thing everyone raves about?
I couldn’t live without teamwork. I am unable to do my role without all the amazing people that help me every step of the way.
Most overrated? Overly complex automation platforms. Tools are only as effective as the insights and orchestration behind them – in ABM, authenticity can’t be automated.
Fast-forward five years – what does success look like for you?
Success, for me, is continuing the evolution to global leadership – helping to develop and oversee a unified ABM strategy. I want to help NTT DATA design scalable, self-sustaining programmes, where each tier continuously fuels the next.
In five years, I’d like to be leading a global team that brings that vision to life, embedding ABM as a core growth discipline across the business.
If you could give aspiring ABM-ers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Stay curious and collaborative. Don’t just market to target accounts – embed yourself in them. Learn their language, challenges, and ambitions as deeply as your own company’s.
ABM isn’t about perfection – it’s about progress, partnership and persistence.
The takeaway
Sloan Newman’s career trajectory offers a masterclass in strategic risk-taking. When presented with what appeared to be competing opportunities – a senior director position versus launching an ABM programme – he recognised that building something foundational from scratch held more long-term value than accepting a more prestigious title. That decision to prioritise impact over optics has defined his career and resulted in industry recognition from leading analyst firms.
What sets Sloan’s approach apart is his systems-thinking perspective on ABM. Rather than viewing the traditional ABM tiers as discrete, independent strategies, he sees them as an interconnected ecosystem where each layer strengthens and sustains the others. This insight – that one-to-many programmes can feed into one-to-few, which in turn enable one-to-one engagements – creates a self-perpetuating cycle of intelligence, relationships, and opportunity. It’s a perspective that transforms ABM from a set of tactics into a sustainable growth engine.
His emphasis on teamwork as the most essential element in his ABM toolkit is particularly noteworthy. In an industry often fixated on technology platforms and automation tools, Sloan reminds us that ABM’s true power lies in human collaboration. The amazing people who help him every step of the way aren’t just supporting his work – they’re fundamental to its success. This human-centred philosophy extends to his views on what’s overrated in ABM: overly complex automation platforms and flash messaging in HTML emails. For strategic ABM at NTT DATA, simple text-based nurtures consistently deliver better ROI on open and engagement rates. It’s a powerful reminder that authenticity can’t be automated and that in relationship-led marketing, less is often more.
Looking ahead five years, Sloan’s vision centres on global leadership that embeds ABM as a core growth discipline across NTT DATA’s business. His goal isn’t simply to scale programmes geographically, but to design truly scalable, self-sustaining systems where each tier continuously fuels the next. It’s an ambitious vision that reflects his deep understanding of ABM’s potential when structured thoughtfully and executed collaboratively.
Perhaps most valuable is his advice to aspiring ABM-ers: embed yourself in your target accounts. This goes beyond superficial account research or persona development. It means learning your accounts’ language, understanding their challenges, and knowing their ambitions as deeply as you know your own company’s. This level of immersion transforms marketing from something you do to accounts into something you do with them – creating genuine partnerships built on progress and persistence rather than perfection.
At NTT DATA, Sloan has demonstrated that taking the road less travelled – choosing foundational work over prestigious titles, prioritising relationships over automation, and building ecosystems rather than campaigns – can create lasting impact and industry recognition. His journey from B2C agency work to award-winning ABM leader shows that with curiosity, collaboration, and courage, it’s possible to build something truly transformative.
Ready to build your own foundational ABM programme? Our next ABM Academy cohort is now enrolling. Discover our upcoming courses here.
Join us next time for our next alumni spotlight, featuring another exceptional practitioner from our community.
