Nearly half of marketing executives say they’re under growing pressure to prove ROI. At the same time, some companies are reimagining the scope and influence of today’s modern CMO. I don’t see this as the end of marketing leadership. I see it as a moment of opportunity. The role isn’t fading, it’s evolving faster than ever, with the chance to become a true growth leader.
As technology has infiltrated every corner of our personal and professional lives, the role of the CMO has become increasingly more complex. Data now drives almost every decision and AI is reshaping how people discover and experience brands, not to mention the lengths CMOs have to go to protect and defend our brand truth and reputation in the market. Expectations have grown inside companies as well with little understanding of the technical mechanics and data gymnastics we need to excel at. But most CMOs don’t oversee all of the critical platforms and tools needed to instrument full funnel visibility and reporting on their most important metric: revenue.
What we’re witnessing is more than a change in leadership responsibilities — it’s a wholesale rebalancing of marketing the skill mix, where the equity of science to art is more heavily weighted.
From 90% Art to 90% Science
In the 1990s, marketing was 90% art and 10% science, fueled by large agency pitches, advertising campaigns, and brand-oriented placements. Not today.
The CMO role has undergone one of the most significant transformations in the C-suite, shifting its weight from right-brain creative to left-brain analytical. Being great at “brand” is no longer what we’re being asked to bring to the table. Today’s marketing leaders are expected to hold what often feel like unofficial degrees in technology, data analysis, privacy, and operational rigor — all while managing the complexities of GTM strategy. Key stakeholders hold CMOs to the same standards as peers in finance or operations, and expect them to drive measurable growth and prove data-centric outcomes. Creativity still remains essential — brands are still built on trust, emotion, and storytelling — but there’s little room for creativity without quantifiable outcomes. The CMOs who succeed are those who master both: the art has become the heart, with the science becoming the mind.
Why Cross-Functional Experience Matters
The truth is CMOs make great business leaders. We touch every corner of the organization. Customer experience, platform automation, data science and agile operations are what it takes to be a modern day CMO.
Throughout my career, I have held roles with responsibility beyond marketing including sales, platforms, operations, channel and customer success — experiences that deepened my understanding of the business, strengthened my appreciation for peer organizations, and sharpened my instincts as a marketing leader.
To this day I lean on my experiences in roles outside marketing to and bring those learnings in. Having spent time in the developer ecosystem, I run my operating model using the agile methodology and scrum is part of how we work as marketers.
Earlier in my career, I had the opportunity to work in the Japan market, a very unique GTM with local nuances and cultural realities. That experience taught me humility, patience, and the discipline of taking the time to understand my blind spots when I take on new positions. It reinforced that leadership is about adapting to context and taking the time to understand what’s happening on the left side and right side of your organization. Those lessons are just as relevant today, as CMOs are expected to connect across functions, cultures, and global markets while guiding organizations through rapid change.
Today’s CMO must have the hard and the soft skills and be as comfortable discussing data models or AI use cases as they are debating creative concepts. The credibility to influence investment decisions and stakeholder alignment, begins with the ability to position your marketing function as a profit center versus a cost center.
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Servant Leadership in Practice
These experiences have also shaped my leadership style. My approach is grounded in servant leadership, which shifts the center of gravity from executives to employees. I am in service of my teams, I remove obstacles, I give input and direction when needed, and curate an environment for them to be successful.
This approach builds trust and empowers autonomous teams. It creates the psychological safety teams need to take risks, self-solution, and get work done. I find this approach builds confidence: if they need me I’m here, but they are empowered to drive to the outlined outcomes.
How AI and Data Are Accelerating Reinvention
External pressures are also accelerating this reinvention. AI and data are changing not only how marketing gets done, but also how quickly CMOs are expected to deliver results. The realities (or perceived realities) of time to ROI are shortening by the day.
AI-driven search and recommendation systems are redefining discovery and accuracy of information. The data feeding these engines is flawed and becoming difficult to control. This shift forces CMOs to reconsider how rankings and recommendations are built in a marketplace where customers rely on AI to do the heavy lifting and curating the world’s information.
At the same time, AI is compressing decision-making. Insights that once required weeks of analysis are now available in real time. That creates new opportunities to act quickly, but also raises the pressure on leaders to respond with speed and accuracy. CMOs must be prepared to guide strategies at the pace of the customer journey while ensuring decisions remain grounded in human judgment. AI can generate scale, but it is people that provide context, maintain authenticity, and ensure alignment with business goals and values.
The Future of the CMO Role
The expectations for today’s CMO is only growing; it’s changing at the pace of technology with new skill requirements constantly emerging.
The CMO of the future is both storyteller and operator, linking customer insights to the company’s objectives and key results. This role is accountable for measurable growth and is expected to collaborate across every function of the business. Creativity will remain essential, but it will work in concert with data fluency, technical expertise, and operational discipline.
Today’s marketing leaders sit at the epicenter of the enterprise, translating customer value into growth and elevating the CMO’s discipline as a growth leader within organizations.
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