Jessica Wetzel on Two Decades Connecting B2B Buyers and Suppliers

The next wave of careers in B2B eCommerce will look a lot like the last one, built role by role, often by people willing to be first. That was the thread running through a recent conversation with Jessica Wetzel, Director of Product Management at TradeCentric, the B2B integration platform that connects supplier eCommerce sites to buyer eProcurement systems through PunchOut Catalogs, Purchase Order automation, and Invoicing.

A Career Built on First-of-Its-Kind Roles

Wetzel did not set out to work in B2B. "When I graduated high school in 1999, B2B wasn't even on my radar. I'd drive past industrial parks and think nothing of them." Two decades later, she has spent her entire career in the space, and her path runs through roles that did not exist before she took them.

She started in B2B distribution in 2004, spending the first five years of her career in inside sales before moving into a brand-new eCommerce administrator role her employer created for her in 2009. "There was no blueprint — I drew it as I went. Every platform you bought was catered for B2C. There were no B2B modules, no out-of-the-box capabilities. B2B eCommerce Platforms simply did not exist."

The deeper challenge revealed itself through customer interviews. "Buyers were shopping online but they couldn't place the order. They had to enter their requisitions into a procurement system. We were getting orders by email and fax and those channels were outpacing eCommerce, even though the shopping was happening digitally." Wetzel conducted a vendor search and in 2012 became the fifth customer of PunchOut2Go — now known as TradeCentric — and built the integration program from that single connection to hundreds over several years.

The pattern repeated when she joined TradeCentric in May 2020. "It was COVID, and there was this surge for automation in supply chains. The company needed a formal product management department. So they brought me in as the very first product manager." Wetzel built TradeCentric's connector program, led the launch of PunchOut, Order, and Invoice automation for NetSuite ERP, rebuilt the Salesforce connector, and launched TradeCentric Analytics in October 2024.

The Through Line: Connecting Buyers and Suppliers

"I spent the first five years of my career in inside sales just talking with buyers and understanding what they needed, and trying to understand these complicated B2B procurement processes. Connecting buyers and suppliers to each other ended up being the through line of the rest of my career."

"I went to a conference recently and they were talking about proving the ROI on the digital channel. I've been in that conversation since 2009. What we're doing is helping the market understand how to measure and articulate the value of what they've built."

Why B2B is Worth Building a Career In

"It's such a ripe industry for innovation, and it's really fascinating. One day I'll talk to a coal mining equipment manufacturer, then it'll be another company that provides products for interior designers or hospitals."

"B2B buyers aren't browsing, they are working, and they need to get it done efficiently. The buying cycles are defined, the customer relationships are long-term, and that creates a kind of sustainability — professionally and personally — that you don't always find on the consumer side."

Where AI Earns Its Place in B2B

"B2B buyers have to be really sharp, meticulous, and accountable for every dollar they spend. But in reality, a lot of the people placing orders aren't procurement professionals; they're location managers, technicians, administrators. The near-term AI opportunity is to follow them through the process like a knowledgeable colleague over their shoulder, helping them act like a certified procurement professional would."

"The AI is going to need trusted, accurate supplier data, pricing, inventory, and product specs. What's interesting is that in our research, neither buyers nor suppliers want the other side owning that connection. They both point to the same answer: a trusted neutral intermediary."

Advice for Women, and Anyone, Entering B2B eCommerce

"Do it now. Don't think twice. B2B doesn't get the headlines consumer products do, but it runs hospitals and cures diseases. It stocks vet clinics, helps people build homes, and lays the infrastructure that gets kids to school and keeps fire trucks on the road. If you want to solve real problems and innovate, this is where you do it."

"Make your own role. There are a lot of stories like ours where people make their own roles in B2B, blazing their own trail. I went from a team of one to leading teams, and that opportunity still exists." "Most of the time, I did not know. I just had to learn how to do it. I didn't know how to write HTML when I became an eCommerce administrator. I learned it. I watched YouTube videos."

"There are so many different pieces in B2B that you can find the one that matches. A home for your personality is in there." "The ones who will succeed in the new era are those who have an integration infrastructure in place to build on AI capabilities."