Human Connection in B2B Relations...

Human Connection in B2B Relationships: What AI Should Actually Do | Jing Kuang

The Human Connection Podcast by Karl Pontau
S2 · E253
Oct 6, 2026
21:06

Episode notes

"When data is not an issue anymore, the final control and the privacy will become a huge defining moment." — Jing Kuang

At a Series B–D company, your most valuable client relationships live in three people's heads and a CRM nobody updates. Then someone walks into a meeting and asks a question the other person already answered last time. (Karl did exactly this the day after a trip. Humbling.)

In this episode of The Human Connection Podcast, Karl sits down with Jing Kuang to talk about building business relationships in the AI era, without handing the relationship itself to a bot. Jing is building Cresca, a consumer AI startup creating a private memory layer for the people who matter most. She's also Founding Partner at Y+ Ventures, backing consumer AI founders from angel through seed. Before that she:

  • Managed brands at Procter & Gamble
  • Founded Jonstone Brand Consulting and built two DTC brands
  • Led more than $50 billion in cross-border M&A as CEO of Yongjia Capital

She's watched every era where "the data is the product." She's betting this one belongs to whoever gives humans the final say.

What you'll get from this episode:

  • Why AI should do the relationship admin (notes, follow-ups, meeting prep) so you can actually show up for the conversation
  • The multitasking myth: why typing notes while someone talks quietly costs you the relationship
  • How the "trust economy" is becoming the real moat for AI companies, and for any company holding client data
  • Why privacy and human control are the defining product decisions of the AI era, and what social media got wrong
  • How AI collapsed product-market-fit testing from years to days, and what early-stage founders should do first

No matter if your business is B2B or B2C, it's H2H: human to human. Happy connecting.

#HumanConnectionPodcast #B2BRelationships #StartupLeadership #RelationshipDrivenGrowth #H2H

===

You can connect with Jing Kuang here:

https://cresca.ai/

You can connect with Karl Pontau here:

www.vouchedconnections.com

www.thehumanconnectionpodcast.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kpontau

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbf_bDWwB9KVrFn5Sj3u2w?sub_confirmation=1

Please like, subscribe, and share this episode with somebody you care about!

Keywords

growth
leadership
listening
team
human
connection
emotions
decisions
AI