Caitlin Hartney is Director of Strategy at Block Club, where she brings editorial rigor to a discipline that too often runs on instinct. With a background in journalism, and training from NYU and the University at Buffalo, she treats brand strategy the way a good editor treats a story: find the thing that's true, connect it to your audience, and say it in a way no one can ignore.

She's led positioning and messaging for companies navigating complex, trust-driven categories and built verbal identity and content strategy for leading B2B tech and SaaS brands like Plaid, Alloy, and Argyle. Across her work, she helps brands establish a point of view only they can own, then builds the language and editorial system to bring it to market. Lately that's meant going deep on AI search optimization (AIO/AEO/GEO) to influence AI models’ perception of her clients, so they show up when buyers ask for vendor recommendations.

Caitlin believes that B2B tech brands are facing a differentiation deficit as AI accelerates product and brand parity. The ones that will come out on top will have something worth saying and the means to say it distinctly. She writes regularly on B2B content strategy, fintech and SaaS branding, and where AI search is headed.