Meet Our Accelerators
Tracy Humphries, Advisory Board Member at Ventures Accelerated
“Almost 70% of the buyer journey now happens online, but in an age of AI, trust and authenticity have never been more important.”
Meet Tracy Humphries, Advisory Board Member at Ventures Accelerated and Head of US & EU Regional Marketing at ProBio CDMO, part of GenScript. With more than 25 years of experience across life sciences, Tracy has built a career at the intersection of science, marketing, and commercial strategy.
Known for her customer-centric, lifecycle-driven approach to B2B marketing, Tracy leads international teams across the US and Europe and brings deep insight into how life science companies can build trust, align marketing and sales, and engage customers in an increasingly digital and AI-driven environment.
In this interview, she shares her perspective on the key challenges facing B2B marketers today and the trends shaping the future of life science marketing.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’ve worked in life science for over 25 years, as a scientist, marketer, commercial leader and product manager. I’m known for being a customer-centric lifecycle product marketing leader. Mostly I’ve worked in clinical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life science markets and I’ve really enjoyed seeing the rise of advanced therapeutics and precision medicines. I think the life science industry is incredibly exciting right now and I’m so glad that I can be part of that.
What challenges are B2B marketers facing right now?
We’ve seen a big move to digital engagement where almost 70% of the buyers’ journey is now done online, without meeting potential suppliers. Our customers prefer self-serve options but in an age of increasing AI, there is also increasing distrust for digital content. We’ve embraced lifecycle marketing to ensure there is a circular approach to nurturing customer relationships and it’s important that companies can demonstrate authenticity and purpose throughout their communication strategy.
What is lifecycle marketing and why should we care about it?
Lifecycle marketing views the buyer journey as a continuous loop, where the customer could enter and exit at multiple places. It recognises that in comparison to a traditional funnel view, that we don’t consume content in a linear manner and indeed may stumble upon or search for several pieces of information from a company. B2B marketers need to care about this, because B2B sales are likely to involve teams and be drawn out, so you may have multiple people accessing different information over time.
If nearly 70% of the B2B journey is online, then why do we need sales?
The line between sales and marketing is blurring and all good marketing strategies should be addressing how to help the sales team reach key target customers. B2B sales are often complex and at the end of the day they are still based around an emotional decision, the right fit if you will. Marketing lays the groundwork, but a good commercial team is still essential to close that emotional decision. When marketing and sales are not aligned, we may miss that “right fit” feeling.
What will marketers be looking at in 2026?
AI and the use of large language models is a huge opportunity for marketers, so it’s vital we understand how to optimise content for these models and how we can utilise them for personalisation. Customer experience across all touchpoints is going to be a key differentiator for companies, so it’s important to consider that handshake between marketing and sales as part of this. In addition to this, consumers are embracing genuine ethics and good values from companies, so good thought leadership content is vital.