Dell — Power Map

Dell Opal 2026 Stage: Proposal Value: $200K Close: 2026-03-27 Updated: 2026-03-11
3/11 Update Note: No meeting notes dated after 2026-02-24 exist in the vault. All intel below reflects the state as of the 2/20 Exp POC Kickoff and 2/24 POC Sync + Exp POC Follow-Up. Stakeholder dispositions and engagement status are current as of those meetings. The Opal track (Evan/Ryan) remains dark — no new contact documented.
Champion
Economic Buyer
Technical
Blocker / Gatekeeper
Unknown / Gap
Partner
Optimizely
Tier 1 — Executive
CMO — Blocker Pattern
Jerry Tunnel
Chief Marketing Officer
Final authority for larger marketing investments. 10% YoY spend reduction mandate through AI efficiency. Three prior failed RFPs to replace Adobe died at C-suite level. Pattern of lacking "intestinal fortitude" to rip out incumbent. Do not engage directly until Liana and Liz have built the internal business case.
Economic Buyer — SVP
Liz Matthews
SVP Marketing (one step below CMO)
Required for $200K+ investment approval. Executes CMO mandate. No direct engagement with Optimizely on Opal track. Accessed only through Liana. Represents budget gate between Liana and Jerry.
Tier 2 — Budget & Decision
Economic Buyer — MarTech
Liana
CMS/MarTech Decision-Maker
All CMS/martech purchasing decisions. Hired from Hilton ~6 months ago to modernize martech stack and push Adobe out. "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Detail-oriented, politically savvy. Involved in CMP demos, has seen Opal for content orchestration. Reports to Liz Matthews.
Champion / Budget Authority
Ryan Schaaf
MarTech Innovation Lead — AI Solutions
Budget authority for AI solutions. Optimizely "fanboy" — sent Evan to Opticon. Wants to expand Optimizely footprint at Dell. Strong internal credibility. Reports to Liana. No contact since December. Not engaged in current Experimentation POC track. Unknown if priorities have shifted.
Tier 3 — Champions (Actively Selling Internally)
Primary Champion
Evan Greenbaum 41+ DAYS STALE
MarTech Innovation (Jasper Product Owner) — NYC-based
Wants to reduce Jasper limitations; sophisticated content operations; PowerPoint generation. Personal win if he brings a better AI platform. Ryan trusts his evaluation — "if Evan says thumbs up, Ryan's gonna be like, great, let's buy Opal." 41+ days without contact since 1/14 handoff. Credit usage dropped. Risk of going cold or defaulting to Jasper renewal.
Internal Advocate
Ryan Schaaf
MarTech Innovation Lead
Bridges CMS and Opal evaluations. Attended roadshows and events. Key endorsement chain: Evan validates, Ryan endorses, Liana approves. No contact since December — re-engagement critical.
Tier 4 — Technical Evaluators
Experimentation POC Lead
Debra Greene
Experimentation Team Lead
Owns Experimentation POC. Focused on multi-project architecture (130+ live activities), API-fetched content, data accuracy, visual editor quality. Supportive but rigorous. "I can't believe we're doing a POC" — momentum despite complexity. Disabled Adobe Target WYSIWYG because too slow. Stressed by Carol's timeline pressure. Separate reporting line (CTO path).
End User / Technical Lead
Fernando Dalpiaz
Experimentation End User
Production architecture: cookie persistence, cross-project communication, API integration. 10+ years on Adobe Target — deep institutional knowledge. Hands-on demo participant; thinking about future-state (feature flags, server-side). Supportive and pragmatic. Encountered API blocker (PATCH deletes variations) — resolved via MCP server path.
End User / Campaign Focal
Izabella De Moura
Experimentation End User
Practitioner perspective — needs the tool to work for daily campaign operations. Neutral, early-stage. Joined POC kickoff and 2/24 sync. Asked clarifying questions about traffic allocation. Scheduled for Friday follow-up demo (2/28). Needs to see herself using the tool daily for buy-in.
Tier 5 — Blockers & Gatekeepers
Blocker — IT / Security
Unknown UNIDENTIFIED
Enterprise Security Review
Cookie governance, script placement, change management for head tag modifications. Dell has strict cookie whitelisting. Not yet surfaced. Cookie whitelisting in progress for Experimentation POC — use as model. Could add 4-8 weeks to any deal close.
Blocker — Timeline Pressure
Carol TITLE UNKNOWN
Dell Leadership (CTO org, above Debra)
Pressing for faster evaluation timeline — "we need this done yesterday." (per 2/24 POC sync). Risk: impatience could lead to premature kill of evaluation. May be above Debra in CTO org. Potential exec sponsor or EB equivalent for Exp track. Identify full name and title urgently.

Optimizely Team

AE — Account Owner
Matt Emerson Payne
Account Executive
Owns account. Active on Exp POC calls (2/20, 2/24). Framing commercial strategy. Responsible for re-engaging Evan/Ryan on Opal track.
Overlay AE — Opal
Conor Leary
Opal Overlay AE
Opal specialist. Owns Opal track. Must independently re-engage Evan separate from Exp POC.
Solutions Consultant
Zach Coulter
SC — Experimentation Lead
Technical lead for Exp POC. Demoing platform, diagnosing API blockers, responsible for multi-project architecture proposal with Simone.
Lead Solutions Architect
Simone
Enterprise Solutions Architect
Enterprise implementation specialist (Capital One, Nike). Being brought in to validate multi-project architecture proposal for Dell. Not yet on a call.
Opal Product — NYC
Lauren
Opal Product Team Lead
NYC-based. Planned for NYC onsite with Evan — has not yet been scheduled.

Signature Path

1
Technical Validation
Evan Greenbaum
POC use cases undefined for Opal track. Experimentation POC underway separately. 41+ days stale.
2
Team Lead Approval
Ryan Schaaf
Budget authority for AI solutions. Must endorse after Evan's thumbs-up.
3
MarTech Budget
Liana
All CMS/martech decisions. Reports to Liz Matthews.
4
Exec Budget
Liz Matthews
SVP Marketing. Required for $200K+ investment.
5
IT / Security
Not identified
Enterprise security review inevitable. Not yet surfaced.
6
Procurement
Not identified
Paper process completely unknown. Critical gap.
7
Exec Sign-off
Jerry Tunnel
CMO. Final authority. Blocker pattern — 3 prior failed RFPs.
8
Signature
Not identified
Signatory unknown. Could be Liz, Liana, or Procurement.

Competitive Landscape

Jasper (Incumbent)
Paying customer — status quo bias
HIGH THREAT
Weakness: Single text area for brand guidelines. Limited content operations sophistication. Cannot generate PowerPoint.
Counter: Position content operations differentiation. PowerPoint generation as unique capability. Brand governance depth. Build Opal vs. Jasper 1-pager for Evan to circulate internally.
NA10/Nateen
Familiar, possibly freemium
MEDIUM THREAT
Weakness: Unknown positioning at Dell. Good technical questions about agent orchestration suggest evaluation.
Counter: Surface competitive status during re-engagement. Understand what Dell is using them for.
Adobe Gen Studio
Failed 6-month POC — eliminated
LOW THREAT
Weakness: Branding compliance, AI quality, analytics gaps. Dell said "thank you, no thank you."
Counter: Use as proof point that Dell needs a sophisticated platform, not another lightweight AI tool.
Adobe Target (Experimentation)
Incumbent being replaced
MEDIUM — INERTIA RISK
Weakness: WYSIWYG so poor they disabled it. Server-side SDK evaluation failed. Manual traffic splits. 10+ year lock-in.
Counter: Experimentation POC actively addressing. Mutual exclusion groups, visual editor quality, multi-project architecture are validation points. MCP server path preferred over raw API.

Informal Influence Network

Evan Greenbaum → endorsed by → Ryan Schaaf. Ryan sent Evan to Opticon, runs MarTech Innovation. If Evan says thumbs up, Ryan approves. This is the critical endorsement chain.
Ryan Schaaf → reports to → Liana. Ryan bridges CMS and Opal evaluations. He has credibility because he leads AI solutions and is a known Optimizely champion.
Liana has disproportionate influence — hired from Hilton specifically to modernize martech stack and push Adobe out. Has executive backing that prior martech leaders did not.
Debra Greene operates in a separate reporting line (IT org, CTO path) from the MarTech Innovation team (CMO path). Experimentation and Opal are connected deals but different org charts and budget lines.
Carol (Dell leadership, title unknown) applying timeline pressure on Experimentation POC per 2/24 sync. May be above Debra in CTO org. Potential exec sponsor or EB equivalent for Exp track. Identity must be resolved.
CMO vs. CTO org split: Opal sits under CMO org (Liana/Ryan/Evan). Experimentation sits under CTO/CIO org (Debra's path). Separate budget approvals but commercially connected.
WPP handles all digital and brand work. Not yet brought into evaluation (Dell said don't bring partners yet). Could become ally or blocker depending on existing AI tool commitments.
Oracle partnership (NDA): Dell partnering with Oracle to cut cloud costs 60% (~$500M/yr). Accelerating CMS evaluation and creates organizational momentum for change.

Map Gaps

Who signs the contract?
Cannot close without identifying signatory. $200K at a Fortune 50 — could be VP, Procurement, or Legal.
Ask Evan during re-engagement: "When you've bought software before, who signs the contract?"
Approval thresholds for $200K?
Determines whether this stays in Liana's authority or escalates to Liz/Jerry. Deal architecture may need to fit under a threshold.
Ask Ryan — he has bought AI tools before (Jasper). He knows the process.
IT/Security review required?
Could add 4-8 weeks. Cookie whitelisting already flagged for Experimentation POC.
Surface during Evan call. Reference Experimentation POC security process as template.
Jasper contract renewal date?
If Jasper renews before Opal POC completes, switching cost doubles and urgency collapses.
Ask Evan: "When does your Jasper contract come up for renewal?" Time-sensitive.
AI governance committee?
Fortune 50 AI governance could add 2-4 months and introduce new stakeholders with veto power.
Ask Ryan — he owns AI solutions and would know.
AE handoff email sent?
If not, 41+ days of silence means Dell thinks Optimizely ghosted them on Opal.
Matt must confirm immediately and send if not done.
Carol's full name, title, and authority?
Pressing for faster Experimentation evaluation. Unknown if she influences or controls Opal track. Could be exec sponsor or budget holder for Exp.
Ask Debra or Fernando in next Experimentation check-in.
Paper process / procurement timeline?
Enterprise procurement at Dell could take 30-90 days. March 27 close target is already tight.
Must surface before proposal is submitted. Ask during any stakeholder conversation.
Multi-project architecture resolution? Added 3/11
Dell's 130+ activity single-call Adobe Target setup is unresolved. Without Zach/Simone architecture proposal, Exp POC cannot progress to production planning.
Zach to deliver architecture diagram (validated by Simone) ASAP.
Opal Dev Agent full enablement? Added 3/11
Some newer capabilities were not available during 2/24 demo. Fernando's test produced unexpected results. Documentation gap noted.
Conor to confirm with Opal team which features are enabled; push for full capability access.

Summary Assessment

Active — Experimentation Track
Debra Greene, Fernando Dalpiaz, and Izabella De Moura are engaged in a live POC with regular check-ins. Matt Emerson Payne and Zach Coulter are managing this track well. Carol is pushing for speed. This track has momentum.

Open blockers: Multi-project architecture (Zach/Simone to resolve), WYSIWYG scrutiny at Friday demo, Akamai caching validation (Simon/Raj bandwidth dependent), MCP server path for Fernando.
Dormant — Opal Track
Evan Greenbaum and Ryan Schaaf have not been contacted in 41+ days. AE handoff intro email to Evan may not have been sent. Opal POC use cases undefined. Credit usage dropped. This track is at serious risk of dying through neglect.

Required action: Conor must independently re-engage Evan. NYC onsite with Lauren's Opal team is the highest-leverage move. Do not rely on Exp POC momentum to carry Opal.
Unengaged — Executive Tier
Liana, Liz Matthews, and Jerry Tunnel have no visibility into Opal evaluation. No business case exists. No budget conversation started. March 27 close target is not achievable without immediate action on all three tiers.
Last Updated: 2026-03-11 — INTERNAL USE ONLY