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Validity is set to make a significant impact at Salesforce Connections 2026, taking place from June 3-4 in the vibrant city of Chicago. This year’s annual gathering of marketers, digital commerce leaders, and customer experience professionals holds particular significance for the Validity team, as they prepare to showcase a newly integrated, end-to-end vision for marketing success, powered by the synergy of Validity and Litmus, alongside the introduction of their innovative AI-powered platform, Validity Engage. The event promises to be a pivotal moment for industry leaders grappling with the complexities of AI integration, CRM strategy, and the evolving landscape of digital marketing.
Salesforce Connections has long served as a premier forum where practitioners and decision-makers converge to exchange insights on effective strategies and explore future trends. The conference’s ethos, as articulated on its official website, emphasizes that "Marketing is no longer static. It’s always-on and agentic—and Connections is where vision meets strategy." This sentiment resonates deeply with the current challenges faced by marketing teams worldwide. Many organizations are still navigating pilot programs, addressing integration hurdles, and striving to pinpoint where artificial intelligence can genuinely enhance existing workflows, moving beyond theoretical discussions to practical, everyday application. The ability to bridge the gap between AI’s immense promise and its tangible reality in a Tuesday afternoon campaign push is precisely what renders Connections an invaluable experience. The candid "hallway conversations" and the spontaneous "wait, how are you handling this?" moments often yield more actionable intelligence than many of the main stage presentations, a testament to the power of community and peer-to-peer learning. This year, however, Validity aims to deliver compelling insights directly from its own theater session, promising a blend of strategic vision and practical application.
The Genesis of a Unified Solution: Validity and Litmus, Together
A crucial element distinguishing Validity’s presence at Salesforce Connections 2026 is the culmination of a strategic integration journey that began with the acquisition of Litmus by Validity. This pivotal development occurred approximately two months prior to Connections 2025, setting the stage for a year-long effort to merge the strengths of both entities into a truly comprehensive email solution. The integration, meticulously executed over the past year, has addressed a long-standing challenge for enterprise email teams: the need to consolidate disparate point solutions. Historically, marketing professionals have had to stitch together various tools for email validation, creation, testing, and analytics, often hoping for seamless interoperability that rarely materialized. The combined powerhouse of Validity and Litmus now offers an unprecedented, unified platform encompassing data quality and list validation, sophisticated campaign creation, rigorous quality assurance testing, robust deliverability monitoring, and insightful performance analytics—all accessible under a single, integrated umbrella. This strategic move fundamentally redefines what end-to-end email marketing success looks like, providing a cohesive ecosystem designed to streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and maximize ROI.
Riley Dambaugh, Demand Generation Manager at Validity, expressed palpable excitement regarding this integration, stating, "Salesforce Connections is always one of my favorite events! This year I’m especially excited to be showcasing what’s possible now that Litmus and Validity have come together—we have some really exciting new innovations that we can’t wait to talk about. Excited to meet you all face-to-face!" Her statement underscores the transformative potential of the combined offering, which promises to empower marketers with unparalleled control and visibility across the entire email lifecycle. The unified solution is designed not only to alleviate the operational burden of managing multiple vendors but also to foster a more strategic approach to email marketing, allowing teams to focus on creativity and impact rather than technical integration challenges.
Exploring the Cutting Edge: Validity’s Chicago Agenda
Validity’s presence in Chicago extends beyond its booth, featuring a highly anticipated session led by one of its prominent experts. Danielle Gallant, a familiar voice as co-host of the popular Email After Hours podcast and a regular guest on Validity’s State of Email Tactics webinar, will host a session titled, "3 ways to push your email ROI above 45:1 using AI." Scheduled for June 3 at 1:30 PM CT in the Theater, Gallant’s 20-minute presentation promises to be a deep dive into the practical applications of AI in email marketing. Attendees will gain valuable insights into why advanced AI adopters are statistically 75% more likely to achieve ROIs exceeding 45:1. Her session will unveil the full-funnel techniques employed by these high-performing teams, offering actionable strategies that attendees can implement within their own organizations. Gallant’s expertise, honed through her participation in popular sessions at Litmus Live 2026, positions her as a leading voice in the evolving conversation around AI and email.
Following Gallant’s session, attendees are encouraged to visit the Validity booth, where they can engage directly with the team and delve deeper into the topics discussed. Julio Lopez, Sr. Customer Strategist at Validity, articulated his enthusiasm for these interactions: "I’m most excited to talk with marketers about how they’re connecting the full email workflow—from data quality and deliverability through to content and performance—and where they’re unlocking the biggest impact. Connections is one of the best places to bring those pieces together and learn from others doing it in a way that goes beyond the hype." Lopez’s statement highlights Validity’s commitment to fostering a dialogue that moves beyond theoretical discussions to focus on tangible results and real-world impact, reinforcing the company’s practical, solution-oriented approach.
Introducing Validity Engage: Elevating Email Performance with AI
A cornerstone of Validity’s showcase at Salesforce Connections 2026 will be the formal introduction of Validity Engage, a groundbreaking AI-powered platform engineered to simplify the email workflow and maximize ROI from every send. This innovative solution comes at a critical juncture for marketing teams globally. Validity’s Q1 2026 Marketer Survey revealed a compelling trend: marketing headcounts are largely expected to remain flat throughout 2026, even as the demands for increased campaign volume and heightened performance expectations continue to escalate. In this challenging environment, AI emerges as a crucial lever for efficiency and effectiveness. However, its utility is contingent on seamless integration into existing workflows, ensuring it provides tangible, helpful assistance rather than adding layers of complexity. Validity Engage is specifically designed to address this imperative, embedding AI capabilities directly into the email lifecycle in a manner that genuinely supports marketers in achieving their objectives.
The platform leverages Validity’s vast data network to remove risk and significantly boost email performance, enabling teams to produce exceptional results in less time. Chris Shays, an Account Executive at Validity, shared his perspective on the platform’s potential: "Meeting with both our customers and prospects is something I always look forward to. Gaining an understanding of how they are implementing and utilizing Validity’s suite and how it impacts their day-to-day workflows and business needs is something I always look forward to discussing in depth. I’m very excited to have conversations around Engage to help prospects execute more consistent, high-quality email programs at scale." His remarks underscore the platform’s role in empowering marketers to achieve consistency and quality at an unprecedented scale.
Echoing this sentiment, Jeff Martin, another Account Executive, added, "I’m really excited to be attending Salesforce Connections this year and meeting customers and prospects in person. It’s always valuable to hear how teams are actually building and optimizing their email programs, and where they’re running into challenges. I’m especially excited to share how we’re helping teams streamline workflows and improve performance across the full email lifecycle, and to start introducing Engage as part of that next evolution." Martin’s insights highlight the platform’s comprehensive approach to optimizing the entire email lifecycle, positioning Validity Engage as a transformative tool for modern marketing operations.
AI in the Real World: Beyond the Hype Cycle
The prevailing theme resonating across industry conversations is a growing impatience with AI hype. Marketers are no longer content with abstract promises; they demand concrete evidence of what actually works. Validity’s research has identified several significant barriers to widespread AI adoption among marketers, including:
- Data Quality and Readiness: The foundational requirement for effective AI is clean, accurate, and well-structured data. Many organizations struggle with legacy systems, fragmented data sources, and inconsistent data hygiene practices, which impede AI’s ability to deliver reliable insights.
- Integration Complexities: Integrating new AI tools into existing marketing technology stacks often presents significant technical challenges, requiring substantial development resources and expertise that many teams lack.
- Lack of Skilled Talent: There is a notable shortage of professionals with the specialized skills required to implement, manage, and optimize AI solutions in a marketing context, from data scientists to AI ethicists.
- Trust and Transparency: Marketers need to understand how AI algorithms arrive at their recommendations and ensure that AI-driven decisions align with brand values and regulatory compliance, fostering a sense of trust in the technology.
- Defining Clear ROI and Use Cases: Moving beyond experimentation, many teams struggle to identify specific, high-impact use cases for AI that yield a clear return on investment, making it difficult to justify further investment.
- Ethical Concerns and Bias: Ensuring AI systems are fair, unbiased, and compliant with privacy regulations (like GDPR and CCPA) remains a critical concern, requiring careful consideration and robust governance frameworks.
The key takeaway from this research is clear: the teams achieving success with AI are not necessarily those with the largest budgets. Instead, they are the ones who have diligently undertaken the "boring work" of cleaning and organizing their data, defining precise outcomes, and constructing workflows that are intuitive, usable, and trustworthy for human operators. This pragmatic approach aligns perfectly with Salesforce’s broader vision for "Agentforce" and the development of AI-first CRM experiences, emphasizing practical utility and seamless integration into everyday business processes.
Grace Dixon, Sr. Account Manager at Validity, encapsulated this sentiment: "At these events, it’s always really refreshing to see marketers in-person and share genuine excitement and ideas. I look forward to hearing about how teams are continuing to approach AI and marketing transformation in the real world, and to leaving with new perspectives that reshape how I deliver value for our amazing customers when I get back!" Her statement highlights the collective desire within the industry to move beyond superficial discussions to embrace practical, transformative applications of AI.
Connecting with the Validity Experts
The Validity team is dispatching a formidable group of experts to Chicago, eager to connect with attendees and share their insights. This diverse delegation ensures that visitors to the Validity booth will have the opportunity to engage with specialists across various facets of email marketing and customer engagement.
Brady Edwards, Sr. Account Manager, articulated his focus for the event: "I am looking forward to engaging with our community of customers and partners at Salesforce Connections. My focus is on understanding how our clients integrate our solutions into their unique workflows to drive meaningful results. I am particularly excited to discuss how the recent integration of Litmus and Validity provides an expanded, end-to-end solution for modern marketing teams." His emphasis on client integration and the power of the combined Litmus-Validity offering underscores the practical value proposition.
Courtney Grab, Director of Customer and Lifecycle Marketing, shared her enthusiasm for the caliber of attendees: "Connections brings together the exact people I want to connect with—email and CRM marketers who are genuinely pushing what’s possible in their marketing programs. It’s one of those events where the hallway conversations are just as valuable as the keynotes, and this year Validity is showing up in a big way. See you in Chicago!" Her perspective reinforces the collaborative and innovative spirit that defines Salesforce Connections.
Jim Tobolski, SVP of Global Account Management, highlighted the human element of these interactions: "Every year, Salesforce Connections reminds me of what makes this industry so inspiring. I look forward to the amazing conversations that start with curiosity and turn into a genuine exchange about what’s possible. My number one priority is to connect with as many people as possible. Whether you’re a longtime customer, someone we’ve just started working with, or you’re simply navigating what an AI-first marketing strategy actually looks like in practice—I want to connect." Tobolski’s broad invitation emphasizes Validity’s commitment to fostering meaningful relationships and guiding marketers through the complexities of modern digital strategy.
The Enduring Relevance of Email in the AI Era
Despite the emergence of numerous new communication channels, email continues to hold its ground, not as a legacy channel, but as the cornerstone of digital marketing strategy. Year after year, email consistently delivers the highest return on investment in marketing. In 2026, its role has only become more complex, more capable, and more central to the operations of successful marketing teams.
Recent data from Validity’s 2026 Email Deliverability Benchmark Report indicates a positive trend: global inbox placement rates improved to an impressive 87.2 percent in 2025, marking a 3.7 percent year-over-year uplift. This suggests that while the landscape is evolving, the fundamental effectiveness of email remains strong. Simultaneously, the advent of AI is reshaping what it means to "reach" a subscriber, with innovations like message summaries, intelligent sorting, and advanced filtering mechanisms altering how users interact with their inboxes. Marketers must now contend with not just delivering an email, but ensuring its content and relevance cut through AI-driven curation.
Research from Salesforce’s own State of Marketing report further solidifies email’s importance and the role of AI, revealing that high-performing marketing teams are 2.2 times more likely to leverage AI than their underperforming counterparts. This statistic underscores that the critical question at Connections 2026 is no longer whether to invest in AI, but rather how to invest in it strategically and correctly to maximize its impact on channels like email. Validity’s offerings, particularly the integrated Litmus platform and the new Validity Engage, are precisely designed to empower marketers to navigate this sophisticated environment, ensuring their email programs are not only delivered but also resonate powerfully and drive measurable results.
The Validity team eagerly anticipates engaging in these crucial conversations and more at Salesforce Connections 2026, ready to share their expertise and innovative solutions with the wider marketing community.
